The 1884 Morgan dollar is a beautiful collectible coin for all coin collectors. Its price continues to rise in the market and you can find different values depending on where it was minted.
The rarest and uncirculated coins can be worth thousands of dollars. While the more common specimens are affordable, they still sell well on the market and are beautiful pieces in any collection.
In this guide, we will not only explore the different prices of the 1884 Morgan dollar, but we will also learn about its history, the different minting houses, and everything that makes the 1884 silver dollar a good acquisition for any collector.
1884 Morgan Silver Dollar Details
These are the details you should know about the 1884 Morgan Silver Dollar:
- Category: Morgan Dollars
- Mint: Carson City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans
- Mintage: 28,136,875
- Obverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Reverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Composition: Silver
- Fineness: 0.9
- Weight: 26.73g
- ASW: 0.7734oz
- Melt Value: $17.43 (9/2/2023)
- Diameter: 38.1mm
- Edge: Reed
Size and measurements
The Morgan silver dollar has a diameter of 38.1 mm, which is considered a large size when compared to other minted dollars. However, the weight and size are one of the most striking characteristics and are valued by collectors, since they consider them easy to maneuver and with a very good balance.
They have a weight of 26.73 grams and a thickness of 2.4 mm. It is decorated at the edges with smooth grooves around its entire circumference. Thanks to their particular size, they have been given the nickname “Cartwheel” as they are slightly larger than other coins of the same type.
Mint
The 1884 Morgan Silver Dollar coin was minted at several mints in operation at the time. The four mints were Philadelphia, Carson City, New Orleans, and San Francisco. That is why Morgan Silver Dollars have a mint mark indicating where they were made.
On the obverse of the coin you can find between the letters “D” and “O” of the word “DOLLAR” the different initials that identify the minting houses.
Those with the “CC” mark refer to Carson City, the letter “O” is for New Orleans, the letter “S” is for San Francisco and those that were minted in Philadelphia have no mark at all.
Not all of them have the same value since they were minted in different quantities and that can greatly change the current price of the coins.
In Philadelphia, more than 14 million coins were minted, followed by New Orleans where almost 10 million coins were minted. San Francisco only produced 3,200,000 coins, while Carson City only produced 1,136,000 coins.
We’ll get into the value of each coin in more detail later, but it’s a good idea to check the mint marks on any coins you have, as you may have hidden treasure that you’re unaware of.
Observe side
George T. Morgan is the designer of the obverse and reverse of the coin. The coin was made at a time when it was not considered acceptable in the United States to mint coins with someone’s face on them. That is why the obverse is decorated with the face of “Lady Liberty”. It is supposedly the same image as one of the Statue of Liberty.
The image is decorated with two cotton flowers and some wheat heads. This symbolizes the important role agriculture played in the United States at that time.
The coin is also decorated with 13 stars, which represent the 13 colonies that led to the American Revolution and gave rise to the United States of America.
Finally, it has the phrase “E Pluribus Unum”. It is a Latin phrase that translates as One of many.
This reinforces the idea of the 13 stars. Since the time of the founding fathers, many more states joined to form what is now the United States.
Reverse side
As we said before, the l reverse is also the design of George T. Morgan. It is designed with an American eagle with outstretched wings and in its talons, it carries an olive branch and arrows.
The eagle with spread wings is inside a laurel wreath, synonymous with triumph. The American eagle has always been used as a symbol of strength by the United States and the arrows and an olive branch in the talons have an ambivalent meaning.
On the one hand, the olive branch is a sign of peace, but on the other hand, the arrows leave a clear message that the country is strong enough to defend itself against any aggression.
Another unique name for this coin is “vulture dollar” since many consider the eagle to be more like a vulture.
Also Read: Top 21 Most Valuable 2000 P Sacagawea Dollar Coin Worth Money
1884 Morgan Silver Dollar Value Chart
| Mintmark / Year | Good | Fine | Extremely Fine | Uncirculated |
| 1884 No Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value (Philadelphia) | $19.41 – $22.00 | $19.41 – $22.00 | $21.55 – 24.42 | $39.49 – 44.74 |
| 1884 O Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value (New Orleans) | $20.61 – $23.35 | $20.61 – $23.50 | $22.58 – $25.58 | $39.49 – $44.74 |
| 1884 S Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value (San Francisco) | $19.41 – $22.00 | $22.58 – $25.80 | $39.00 – 44.19 | Rare |
| 1884 CC Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value (Carson City) | $60.00 – $107.00 | $76.00 – $126.00 | $103.00 – $133.00 | $159.00 – $276.00 |
1884 Morgan Silver Dollar Value and Varieties Guide
Now that we have a table with the values of the coin depending on where it was minted and in what state it is, let’s talk about each case and we will try to give information about the real prices at which these coins have been sold today.
1884 No Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value
- Category: Morgan Dollars (1878-1921)
- Mint: Philadelphia
- Mintage: 14,070,875
- Obverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Reverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Composition: Silver
- Fineness: 0.9
- Weight: 26.73g
- ASW: 0.7734oz
- Melt Value: $17.18 (2/10/2023)
- Diameter: 38.1mm
- Edge: Reeded
Some 14 million coins were minted in Philadelphia, so it’s not hard to find 1884 Morgan dollars without mint marks. That’s why even if you have them preserved and Uncirculated, they won’t be worth more than $50.
However, this is not the highest degree of preservation of the coin. There is the grade of “Gem Quality” represented by the code MS65, in which the coin acquires a value of about 375 dollars.
There are also more valuable coins called “proof” and “mirror proof”. Here the number is considerably reduced and you can sell a test coin for around 750 dollars.
While a deep mirror-proof coin (MS65DMPL) can be worth around 6250 dollars.
There are also MS67 or MS68 coins. The highest price paid for such a coin has been $66,000 in 2022.
1884 O Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value
- Category: Morgan Dollars (1878-1921)
- Mint: New Orleans
- Mintage: 9,730,000
- Obverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Reverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Composition: Silver
- Fineness: 0.9
- Weight: 26.73g
- ASW: 0.7734oz
- Melt Value: $17.18 (2/10/2023)
- Diameter: 38.1mm
- Edge: Reeded
If your coin has a wedge mark with the letter O, it means it was made in New Orleans.
Something curious happened with these coins since less than 10 million were minted, but their price is almost the same as the coins minted in Philadelphia.
This is because more coins of this type survived. They are even more numerous in higher grades. An MS65 coin for example is only worth about 265 dollars.
Just in the category of MS67 or higher quality, the number of coins decreases and you can find copies for 6 thousand dollars.
The most expensive coin of this type is an MS68 which was auctioned in 2005 for $31,625.00. Now that same coin is valued at 40 thousand dollars.
1884 S Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value
- Category: Morgan Dollars (1878-1921)
- Mint: San Francisco
- Mintage: 3,200,000
- Obverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Reverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Composition: Silver
- Fineness: 0.9
- Weight: 26.73g
- ASW: 0.7734oz
- Melt Value: $17.18 (2/10/2023)
- Diameter: 38.1mm
- Edge: Reeded
A little over 3 million coins were minted in San Francisco and the “S” wedge coins are considered to be the most volatile and rare to assign a value to.
A coin classified as extremely fine is worth 3 times more than any of its New Orleans or Philadelphia peers.
Only 53 coins qualified as MS63 are registered and they are worth more than 50 thousand dollars.
There is only one copy MS67 and MS68 and their prices are 735 thousand dollars and 900 thousand dollars.
1884 CC Mint Mark Morgan Silver Dollar Value
- Category: Morgan Dollars (1878-1921)
- Mint: Carson City
- Mintage: 1,136,000
- Obverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Reverse Designer: George T. Morgan
- Composition: Silver
- Fineness: 0.9
- Weight: 26.73g
- ASW: 0.7734oz
- Melt Value: $17.18 (2/10/2023)
- Diameter: 38.1mm
- Edge: Reeded
The coins minted in Carson City did not exceed 1,136,000. However, it is the currency that has acquired great value in a very short time.
They were first auctioned in 1941 at $3 each. That same coin had a value of 85 thousand dollars in 2015.
However several Carson City coins exist in very good condition. This is because many of these coins never entered circulation, and were sold by the General Services Administration Treasury in the 1960s.
There are almost 9,000 MS65-rated coins with a stable price of $600 each. The best-preserved example is an MS67 valued at just over $32,000, but it has sold at auction for over $150,000.
Also Read: Top 19 Most Valuable Morgan Dollars Worth Money
1884 Morgan Silver Dollar History
It’s good to start the history of this coin by explaining why the silver dollar came into being in the first place.
Before silver dollar coins were minted, silver was devalued as large amounts of silver were mined to make coins and this led to a loss in value.
In 1873 a law controlling the supply of coins was enacted in order to demonetize silver bullion.
All mints were ordered to stop production. It was quite a stir at the time when many people were left with large amounts of silver coins that had lost their value and were no longer legal tender.
Because of this the Free Silver Movement was started and the Bland-Allison law reintroduced silver coins in 1878. Said law forced the United States treasury to buy from two to four million in silver bullion so that they could later be minted as currency.
The Morgan dollar was introduced in 1878 in honor of George T. Morgan, the man who designed these coins, which were minted until 1904.
The 1884 silver dollar is the seventh in the series. 28 million coins were minted that year, most made in Philadelphia. And a smaller percentage in New Orleans, San Francisco, and Carson City.
After they ceased production in 1904, they were minted again in 1921 at a new mint in Denver. But it was the only year in which they were minted again.
A modern version of the coin would then emerge in 2021, commemorating 100 years since the coins were last made. The price of these coins was 85 dollars each and they sold out less than an hour after they went on sale.
Also Read: Top 19 Most Valuable Silver Eagles Worth Money
1884 Morgan Silver Dollar Grading
Morgan Silver Dollar coins have different grades and classifications. So that you know how to identify a quality coin, we leave you this video in which you can learn about the different grades of this coin.
List of 1884 Morgan Silver Dollar Errors
The wedge of coins cannot be perfect and they leave various errors. The Researchers Leroy C. Van Allen and A. George Mallis spent extensive study time identifying all of the Morgan Silver Dollar’s errors, depending on the mint marks and die.
The term used to identify coin die errors is called VAM and is classified into three:
1. 1884-P VAM-3
The obverse shows the date to the right and both sides of the coin feature a large dot after the engraver’s initial “M”. This coin was found in grade MS63 and sold for $325,000.
2. 1884-P VAM-4
Similar to VAM-3, the only difference is that the dot on both sides of the coin is slightly smaller and is not stamped in the exact position. It was auctioned in 2019 at 449 dollars.
3. 1884-O VAM-6
In this case, the mint mark has been struck twice above the original O. The mintmark is also slightly moved to the left. One of these copies was auctioned in 2018 at 3,250 dollars.
It is good to know that having a different mark or a minting error can multiply the value of your coin. Here is a video for you to learn more about minting errors and the different variations that can add value to your coin.
1884 Morgan Silver Dollar FAQ
How much is an 1884 Morgan silver dollar worth today?
The NGC Price Guide has determined that a Morgan dollar can be worth between $30 and $63. But keep in mind that in the open market, these same coins have been sold for up to 34,500 dollars. That is without taking into account the very high-quality specimens, which can be worth almost a million dollars.
How much silver is in an 1884 silver dollar?
A morgan dollar is made up of 90% silver.