Silver Dollar Melt Value: How Much Silver Is in a Morgan, Peace & Eisenhower Dollar

If you've inherited a few old silver dollars or pulled one from a collection, the first thing worth knowing is its silver dollar melt value — what the metal alone is worth. Morgan and Peace dollars each hold 0.7734 troy ounces of pure silver, a figure that sets a hard floor under their price no matter how worn they are. This guide shows exactly how much silver in a silver dollar of each type, how to calculate the melt value yourself, and which modern dollars actually contain any.

Silver Dollars at a Glance: Quick Value Overview

A "silver dollar" isn't one single coin — it's several different US dollar coins minted across more than a century, and not all of them contain silver. Before we get into the math, here's the quick picture of which dollars hold real metal and roughly what it is worth.

Among silver dollars, the two big ones — the Morgan dollar (1878–1904, 1921) and the Peace dollar (1921–1935) — are both 90% fine and contain the same amount of pure metal. The later Eisenhower dollar (1971–1978) is mostly copper-nickel with none, except for specific collector versions. Knowing which is which is the first step to figuring out how much your silver dollars are worth.

Melt values shown use a fixed $75/oz example so the math stays clear. Use the live calculator for today's exact figure.

How Much Silver Is in a Morgan or Peace Dollar

This is the question almost everyone starts with, so let's answer it precisely. A Morgan or Peace silver dollar contains 0.7734 troy ounces of pure silver. Both coins share the same specification: a total weight of 26.73 grams, struck in an alloy of 90% fine metal and 10% copper.

That copper is why the coin weighs more than its pure-metal content — the 90% figure refers to purity, while the 0.7734 ozt is the actual silver weight (ASW). When you work out the morgan dollar melt value, you use the 0.7734 figure, not the full coin weight.

How to Calculate Silver Dollar Melt Value

The melt value of a silver dollar is simple to work out once you know the metal content. The formula is the same one used for any precious item — metal weight times the spot price.

For one of these dollars, that's 0.7734 ozt multiplied by whatever the metal trades at today. The peace dollar melt value works out identically, since both coins match. Here's a worked example using a fixed teaching price so you can see the steps clearly.

To value a group of coins, just multiply by the number you have. Ten Morgan dollars at $75 silver would be about $580.05 in melt value (0.7734 × $75 × 10). The live silver price changes every day, so for the exact current figure, our scrap silver calculator applies today's spot price automatically — handy when checking a dealer's offer.

How Much Does a Silver Dollar Weigh?

A standard Morgan or Peace silver dollar weighs 26.73 grams, or about 0.86 troy ounces of total coin weight. Of that, 0.7734 ozt is pure metal and the rest is copper. The coin measures 38.1 mm across — noticeably larger and heavier than a modern dollar coin.

Weight matters for two reasons. First, heavily worn coins lose a tiny amount of metal, so a circulated dollar may weigh slightly under 26.73 grams. Second, weighing is the best way to spot a fake — a genuine silver dollar should be very close to 26.73 grams. If you want to check your own coins, our guide to weighing silver walks through the right scale and method, and the silver weight chart lists specs for every US coin.

Eisenhower & Modern Dollars: Which Ones Have Silver?

This is where many people overpay or undervalue coins, so it's worth getting right. After the Peace dollar ended in 1935, the next circulating dollar was the Eisenhower dollar (1971–1978) — and most of them contain no silver at all.

Regular Eisenhower dollars struck for circulation (Philadelphia and Denver, no mint mark or "D") are copper-nickel clad, the same as a modern quarter. They have no melt value beyond their face. However, the US Mint also sold special collector versions struck at San Francisco ("S" mint mark) that are 40% silver, containing 0.3161 troy ounces of silver each. The Susan B. Anthony (1979–1999) and Sacagawea/Presidential dollars that followed contain none either.

Silver Dollar Value Chart by Type

Here's a complete reference for the silver content and example melt value of each silver dollar type, so you can identify what you have and estimate its value at a glance.

A $1 face value in 90% silver dollars contains 0.7734 ozt of silver. Trade dollars are slightly heavier than Morgans and Peace dollars.

Morgan Dollar Key Dates & Mint Marks

This is where a silver dollar can be worth vastly more than its metal — and it's content the basic melt calculation never tells you. The mint mark, found on the reverse below the wreath bow, identifies which mint struck the coin: no mark (Philadelphia), CC (Carson City), O (New Orleans), S (San Francisco), or D (Denver, 1921 only). That single letter can turn a $40 coin into a five-figure rarity.

A handful of dates are famous among collectors. The 1893-S is the rarest circulation Morgan, with just 100,000 struck — even worn examples reach five figures, and mint-state pieces have sold for hundreds of thousands. The 1895 Philadelphia, the "King of Morgans," exists only as roughly 880 proofs and routinely sells above $100,000. The 1889-CC is the key Carson City date. These are the coins worth checking for before anyone melts a Morgan.

Carson City ("CC") Morgans carry a premium in every grade thanks to the mint's brief 1870–1893 run and Old West history.

A Brief History: Why Morgan & Peace Dollars Exist

Understanding the history explains some quirks that catch people out. The Morgan dollar was born from the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, which forced the Treasury to buy silver and strike it into dollars. It ran until 1904, paused, then returned briefly in 1921. That 1921 revival is why some years are far more common than others — and why Denver struck Morgans only in that single year.

Two history facts directly affect value today. First, the Pittman Act of 1918 melted over 270 million Morgan dollars to supply silver to Britain during WWI — which is why fewer than an estimated 15% of all Morgans struck survive, making some "common" dates scarcer than their mintages suggest. Second, the Peace dollar replaced the Morgan in late 1921, running until 1935; it shares the Morgan's exact silver content but its own design and date-rarities. So 1921 is the only year both Morgan and Peace dollars were struck.

How Grading Affects a Silver Dollar's Value

For coins above melt, condition is everything — another factor the melt formula ignores. Silver dollars are graded on the 70-point Sheldon scale, from heavily worn (Good) up to flawless Mint State (MS-70). A common-date Morgan in worn condition might bring only a small premium over its silver, while the same date in MS-65 can be worth many times more.

The jump is dramatic at the top: an 1884-S Morgan is worth around $30 in average condition but six figures in mint state. This is why sending a potentially valuable coin to a grading service like PCGS or NGC can pay off — professional authentication and grading both confirm the coin is genuine and establish the grade that drives its market value. For common worn coins, though, grading costs more than it's worth, and melt value remains the sensible benchmark.

Melt Value vs Collector Value: Why It Matters

Here's the most important thing to understand: melt value is the floor, not the ceiling. The melt value tells you the minimum a silver dollar is worth — what the metal alone would fetch. But most of these coins sell for more than melt because of collector demand.

The gap can be enormous. A common circulated Morgan might sell for just a few dollars over its melt value, while a rare date or mint mark — like an 1893-S or a Carson City ("CC") issue — can be worth hundreds or thousands of times its silver content. Condition (grade) and rarity drive that premium, not the metal.

So melt value matters most in two situations: when a coin is too worn or common to carry a collector premium, and when you simply want to know the baseline before selling. Before melting or selling any silver dollar at melt, it's worth checking the date and mint mark against a price guide — an ordinary-looking coin is occasionally a valuable one. For everyday junk-grade coins, though, melt value is the realistic figure, and you can sort and value them alongside other coins using our junk silver calculator or the broader silver coin value guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: Know Your Silver Dollar's Floor Value

Whether you have one inherited coin or a whole roll, knowing the melt value gives you a confident starting point. Morgan and Peace dollars each hold 0.7734 troy oz of silver, worth about $58 at an example price of $75 per ounce — and that figure is the floor beneath any collector premium. Eisenhower dollars only carry silver in their 40% "S" mint collector versions, so always check the mint mark.

Once you know which coins you have, the calculator below will calculate scrap silver price and melt value at today's live spot rate, in any currency — so you'll know exactly what your silver dollars are worth before you sell.