1885-S Morgan Silver Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 1,497,000 made
- Mintage
- 1,497,000
- 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 1885-S Morgan Silver Dollar worth?
Collectors pay a real premium for this date, worn or not, because far fewer were made than usual. Uncirculated pieces go much higher.
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
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1885-S Morgan Silver Dollar rare?
- Somewhat. 1,497,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1885-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 1885 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 1885 are scarcer?
- The 1888-S at 657,000, the 1889-S at 700,000, the 1886-S at 750,000. So the 1885-S is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1885-S Morgan Silver Dollar coins were made?
- 1,497,000.
What to check on your 1885-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 1885-CC (228,000 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.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more. 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 1885-S
San Francisco made 1,497,000 in 1885, down from 3.2 million in 1884. The next year it made 750,000 (1886-S).
The other mints made far more that year: 1885 alone came to 18 million, roughly 12 for every 1885-S. If you're checking a pile of 1885 coins, the S is the one to look for. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1902-S (1,530,000) and the 1891-CC (1,618,000).
San Francisco struck the Morgan Silver Dollar in 28 issues between 1878 and 1921. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1893-S (100,000). Within the 1880s it's 11th smallest of 37, between the 1883-CC (1.2 million) and the 1887-S (1.8 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 | 1885 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1,497,000 |
| 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 1885 Morgan Silver Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 Morgan Silver Dollar | 17,787,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1885-S Morgan Silver Dollar | 1,497,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1885-O Morgan Silver Dollar | 9,185,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1885-CC Morgan Silver Dollar | 228,000 | 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.