1878 Morgan Silver Dollar

The 1878 Morgan Silver Dollar features a likeness of Miss Liberty on the obverse and an American bald eagle on the reverse. While Morgan Silver Dollars are technically called Liberty Head silver dollars, they are more widely known by their namesake designer, George T. Morgan. 1878, the first year of the Morgan Silver Dollar series, features a wide array of varieties, many of which are based on the number of tail feathers seen on the eagle.

The 1878 Morgan Silver Dollar was produced in three mints: Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Carson City. The most valuable 1878 Morgan Silver Dollar carries the "CC" mintmark used by the Carson City Mint. It always carries a premium value because of very low production, making it the rarest 1878 Morgan Dollar. The San Francisco Mint used an "S". The main mint in Philadelphia did not use a mintmark.

1878 Morgan Silver Dollar Mintage Figures

•          1878, 8 Feathers: 749,500; $40+
•          1878, 7 Feathers: 9,759,300 (all types); values indicated below
•          1878, 7 Over 8 Clear Double Feathers: $35+
•          1878, 7 Feathers 2^nd Reverse: $35+
•          1878, 7 Feathers 3^rd Reverse: $35+
•          1878 CC: 2,212,000; $150+
•          1878-S: 9,774,000; $35+
•          1878, 8 Feathers Proof: 500; $4,000+
•          1878, 7 Feathers Proof: 250 (all types); values indicated below
•          1878, 7 Feathers, 2^nd Reverse Proof: $3,500+
•          1878, 7 Feathers, 3^rd Reverse Proof : $16,000+

It is important to remember when evaluating the overall value and scarcity of any 1878 Morgan Silver Dollar that millions of these coins were melted during the early 20th century and again during the silver boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Therefore, you cannot assume the currently existing population for a given date is close to its original mintage figure. For, in many cases, the mintage numbers often grossly misrepresent on the positive side the actual current population of 1878 Morgan Silver Dollars.