Junk Silver Dollars - Not Your Usual Bag of Junk - These are Hand Selected and Sorted, VG Graded, Silver Morgans and Peace Dollars

Junk Silver Dollars are a great way to diversify your precious metals portfolio. Silver Morgan and Peace Dollars minted prior to 1935 and in VG (very good) condition are an excellent way to purchase silver.

We are bullish on silver and believe it still has a long way to go. Silver dollars are a great, cost effective way to buy silver for the long run. They have a higher silver content than Junk Silver half-dollars, quarters and dimes, and they offer the possibility of higher appreciation.  They allow you to diversify your silver holdings while letting you hold an important piece of American history in your hand. These are treasured pieces of American history, which you can own and pass down to the next generation. Once the demand for these silver dollars starts to increase, so will their premiumⁱ.

The History of the Morgan Dollar

The Morgan Silver Dollar is the most popular coinⁱ ever minted by the United States. The weight (412 ½ grains) and finenessⁱ (.900) which equates to .77344 troy ounces of pure silver, was instituted with the Bland-Allison Act.

The impetus for the Morgan Dollar came from America's richest silver strike, the great Comstock lode in northern Nevada. The Federal government was the obvious customer for the silver coming from the mine and lobbyists successfully required the United States Treasury to purchase between $2 and $4 million worth of silver bullionⁱ per month and coin it into silver dollars.

The new silver dollar was designed by George T. Morgan. Morgan was brought from England to serve as "Special Engraver" for the director of the Philadelphia Mint, Henry R. Linderman, in 1876. Ordinarily, coin design was left to the Chief Engraver, then William Barber. A sham competition between the two men was staged and, as the protege of the Director of the Mint, Morgan's design was chosen.

On the front of the coin Morgan created a head of Lady Liberty, based on his Philadelphia schoolteacher-model Anna Willess Williams, and graced the back with an eagle.

The first Morgan Dollars were struck on March 11, 1878, in Philiadelphia. The first coin is on display at the Hayes Library and Museum in Fremont, Ohio. It had a metallic content of 90% silver and 10% copper. While most of the Morgan Dollars were minted in Philadelphia, a small mint was established in Carson City, Nevada to press the coins near the Comstock lode. The mine, however, played out shortly thereafter and the Carson City mint closed forever in 1893.

More than 500 million Morgan Dollars were minted until production stopped in 1904, after the statutary 25-year run for a coin design. The silver dollars were never really popular - most were circulated in the sparsely populated West - and huge stockpiles were on hand. In 1918, more than 270 million Morgan Dollars were melted down to provide war-time silver for Great Britain. In 1921 another 86 million Morgan Dollars were coined but production was halted in 1922 for the commemorative Peace Dollar to mark the end of World War I. The design was so popular it became the regular silver dollar and the Morgan dollar was never minted again.

In death, as in life, the Morgan Dollar was ignored by the public until 1972, when the General Services Administration auctioned off a lot of 2.9 million scarce Carson City Morgan Dollars it had in its vaults. Suddenly the Morgan Dollar was hot among collectors.

A couple of years later LaVere Redfield died. Redfield was a stock and real estate investor who made millions in Reno, Nevada. Redfield distrusted paper money and didn't have much confidence in banks, either. When possible, he tried to convert his cash into "hard money." As he bought them, he put the silver dollars in bags and stored them in his basement. He would eventually wind up with 400 bags filled with about 1,000 silver dollars each.

Redfield died in 1974 and while doing an appraisal of his estate, the Internal Revenue Service uncovered the stash of silver dollar-stuffed bags. The story goes that Redfield placed a note in the treasure asking the discoverer not to alert the IRS of the hoardⁱ. The 411,000 silver dollars - weighing 11 tons - fetched $7.3 million at auction - the largest documented numismaticⁱ transaction in history.

The dealers who purchased the Redfield hoard gradually dispersed the silver dollars into the collecting community, further stimulating interest in the coin. Today, the Morgan Dollar, ignored in circulation, is one of the most famous and desired American coins in existence.

We are proud to be able to offer them to you at this time.

The History of the Peace Dollar

 The idea for the Peace Dollar came from Frank Duffield, editor of the The Numismatist, the magazine produced by the American Numismatic Association. In a paper he published in the magazine’s November 1918 issue, he wrote about the need for a coin to commemorate the eventual end of World War I, by stating:

"An event of international interest, and one worthy to be commemorated by a United States coin issue, is scheduled to take place in the near future. The date has not yet been determined, but it will be when the twentieth century vandals have been beaten to their knees and been compelled to accept the terms of the Allies…"

However, the Peace Dollar was not the next Silver Dollar to be minted, as the US Mint resumed production of the Morgan for one last year in 1921. During that year, President Harding signed an executive order to have an open design competition for the new Peace Dollar. The competition was won by Italian sculptor, Anthony de Francisci. The Peace Dollar was first minted in December of 1921 until 1928, and then again in 1934-35. The specifications as to weight and fineness are the same as the Morgan Dollar.

By the Numbers

So why would we recommend buying silver dollars, when the premium for other “junk silver” coins is so much lower? For two reasons. First, the higher premium works both ways. Yes, you’ll pay a higher premium when you make your purchase, but history suggests you will recover it when you sell.

Second, unlike “junk silver” dimes, quarters, and half-dollars, the Morgan and Peace silver dollars we’re recommending could increase in value for two reasons – a higher silver price and their historical interest. In fact, the silver dollars we’re recommending today have sold for much higher premiums in the past. Now they seem to have been forgotten by the market, but that is likely to change. We suggest you purchase some before Mr. Market remembers once again how much he likes these coins.

For a limited time, and subject to availability, we are able to offer 100-coin bags of Peace or Morgan silver dollars in VG condition. This applies to the Peace dollars and both the pre-1921 Morgan dollars and ones minted in 1921. Note that each bag contains 100 silver dollars. 

Call us today to order your piece of history, at 800-831-0007 or e-mail us. We are always ready to assist you in diversifying not only your assets, but your precious metal holdings as well.