How do I tell a Morgan dollar from a Peace dollar?

Look at the reverse. A Morgan has an eagle inside a wreath. A Peace dollar has a different eagle and the word PEACE. They are separate series, including in 1921, when both designs were struck.

Which years did the Mint strike Morgan dollars?

Circulation Morgans run 1878 through 1904, then 1921. There is no 1905 through 1920 Morgan in the original series.

What are original Morgan dollars made of?

Circulation pieces are 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. Stack's Bowers prints 26.73 g and 38.1 mm on its Morgan resource page. Those are specs, not a price.

Should I weigh a dollar to decide if it is a Morgan?

No. Peace dollars are the same general size and the same silver standard. The design tells them apart. Weight does not.

That silver dollar with Liberty and the eagle is a Morgan

How to tell a Morgan dollar from a Peace dollar, including the year both designs exist. Specs are cited. The mintage chart stays on the Morgan page.

Pull the dollar out and look at the back before you read the date. A Morgan has Liberty on the front and an eagle with a wreath on the back. A Peace dollar is the other big silver dollar people mix into the same tube. Its reverse says PEACE. Same pocket, different series, different page.

1921 is the year people get wrong

Most Morgans are 1878 through 1904. The presses stop, then 1921 comes back as a Morgan and, the same year, as the first Peace dollar. A 1921 date does not tell you which design you are holding. Read the eagle. If there is no 1905 through 1920 Morgan in the original series, that is because the Mint was not striking this design, not because a date fell off.

The Bland-Allison Act of February 28, 1878 is the statute that put the standard silver dollar back into coinage. George T. Morgan's head of Liberty is the design collectors mean. The act is not a price list, and it is not a mintage table.

Year-by-year counts, mint marks, and the named keys live on the Morgan dollar page. Philadelphia has no mint mark. O, S, CC, and the 1921 D are the letters people argue about. Carson City is a mint, not a grade.

Silver content is not the offer

Circulation Morgans are 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. Stack's Bowers prints 26.73 g, 38.1 mm, and that 90 percent line. Numista's Morgan type page is the thickness reference this site already uses. Neither page is bidding on the coin in your hand.

Bag marks on the cheek are normal. They come from other dollars in a bag. A wiped coin that looks "too clean" is usually worth less to a dealer than the dirty one you were about to polish. Leave it alone.

If you are selling a handful rather than building a set, start with how to sell a coin collection and then the dealer directory. Bring the holders the coins arrived in.