Home >> Collecting >> Coin Collecting

How to Identify Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars

Morgan silver dollars, named after the engraver, were produced at several mints: Philadelphia, Denver, New Orleans, Carson City, San Francisco and, in 1921, at the Denver mint. These silver dollars, struck at the Carson City mint are a fun reminder of the silver boom in Nevada at the end of the nineteenth century. One can identify Carson City dollars by the mint mark on the reverse.

Things You'll Need

A digital scale

Instructions

- 1
  Identify the year the coin was produced. American coins have dates on them representing the year that the coin was struck, typically on the obverse (front). On the Morgan dollar, the date is located at the lower center, below the bust. Morgan silver dollars were struck at the Carson City mint from 1878 to 1885 and again from 1889 to 1893.
- 2
  Identify the mint mark on the reverse (back). On the reverse is a large eagle and below that eagle is sometimes a mark that indicates what mint the coin was struck at. If it is blank, it is from Philadelphia. If it has a "CC" below the eagle, it was struck at Carson City.
- 3
  Verify that the coin is silver and does not have the word "replica" or "copy" stamped on it. These coins are often replicated, sometimes in base metal. A proper Carson City Morgan dollar should be 26.73 grams.

Coin Collecting