1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 12,760,000 made
- Mintage
- 12,760,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 26.73 g
- Diameter
- 38.1 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.7735 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Prooflike or deep mirror fields (PL, DMPL)
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar rare?
- No. With 13 million made, it's one of the most common Morgan Silver Dollars.
- Is the 1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.7735 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1881 Morgan Silver Dollar?
- On the reverse, below the wreath and above the letters "DO" in DOLLAR. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1881 are scarcer?
- The 1886-S at 750,000, the 1885-S at 1,497,000, the 1884-S at 3,200,000, plus 5 more. So the 1881-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar coins were made?
- 12,760,000.
What to check on your 1881-S
- Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1881-CC (296,000 made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. Look at the hair above Liberty's ear, the cheek and the breast feathers on the eagle. Prooflike (PL) and Deep Mirror Prooflike (DMPL) surfaces add large premiums.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value. San Francisco Morgan dollars are usually well struck with frosty luster, which is why S-mint coins are popular in high grades.
The story of the 1881-S
Output at San Francisco climbed to 12,760,000 in 1881, from 8.9 million the year before. The next year it made 9.3 million (1882-S).
1881-CC came to 296,000 and 1881-O came to 5.7 million and 1881 came to 9.2 million, so neither mint's 1881 coin is much scarcer than the other.
San Francisco struck the Morgan Silver Dollar in 28 issues between 1878 and 1921. By mintage this one lands in the more common half, while the key for that mint is the 1893-S (100,000). Within the 1880s it's 31st smallest of 37, between the 1880 (13 million) and the 1884 (14 million).
Bland-Allison dollars (1878 to 1885)
The Bland-Allison Act of February 28, 1878 required the Treasury to buy a minimum value of silver each month and coin it into dollars. George T. Morgan's design went into production within weeks. The first Philadelphia coins show eight tail feathers on the eagle. The count was soon cut to seven. Some dies show seven feathers punched over eight.
Carson City struck its first Morgans in 1878. New Orleans began in 1879. Most of these dollars never circulated and sat in bags in Treasury vaults for decades. When the government sold its remaining Carson City dollars by mail between 1972 and 1980, many CC coins of the early 1880s reached collectors in uncirculated condition, including the scarce 1881-CC and 1885-CC. Bag marks from that long storage are common.
How to recognize it
George T. Morgan's Liberty faces left wearing a cap with wheat and cotton and a band inscribed LIBERTY, with E PLURIBUS UNUM above and the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with outstretched wings holding arrows and an olive branch above a wreath, with IN GOD WE TRUST above it. The mint mark is below the wreath, above the DO of DOLLAR.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Morgan Silver Dollar (1878–present) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 12,760,000 |
| Face value | $1 |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 26.73 grams |
| Diameter | 38.1 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.7735 troy oz (24.057 g) |
| Designer | George T. Morgan |
Other 1881 Morgan Silver Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1881 Morgan Silver Dollar | 9,163,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar | 12,760,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1881-O Morgan Silver Dollar | 5,708,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1881-CC Morgan Silver Dollar | 296,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
Mintage: Morgan dollar (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.