What is a 1879 silver dollar worth?

Answer 1

In average condition, it's worth $8 to $10

More:This is a complex coin with a few varieties. First of all, 1879 was a year that the Morgan Dollar was produced. It was minted at four mints: Philadelphia, Carson City, New Orleans and San Francisco.

USA Coin Book lists the following prices and varieties:

Philadelphia (no mint mark): In worn Good condition, it is worth about $20. In MS60 mint condition, it is worth $40 but in MS65 Brilliant Uncirculated condition, it is worth about $1,000. Philadelphia also minted proof coins, which are worth $2,800 in PR63 condition.

Carson City (small "CC" mint mark): There are two varieties that came out of Carson City. The first is the clear and normal "CC" mintmark and the other had a "CC" minted over "CC", sort of like a doubled die. They are worth about the same until they get into uncirculated conditions.

In worn Good condition, it is worth about $163. In MS60 mint condition, it is worth $4,100 for the clear CC and $4,300 for the "CC over CC" variety. But in MS65 Brilliant Uncirculated condition, it is worth about $32,000 for the clear CC and $40,000 for the "CC over CC" version, which is a substantial difference.

New Orleans (small "O" mint mark): In worn Good condition, it is worth about $20. In MS60 mint condition, it is worth $86 but in MS65 Brilliant Uncirculated condition, it is worth about $3,450.

San Francisco (small "S" mint mark): There are also two varieties from San Francisco, one that had the reverse from 1879 (the normal one) and another that had the reverse of 1878 from the previous year. Basically, the mint used leftover coins from 1878 and minted them with the 1879 date. Again, they are worth about the same unless you are dealing with higher and uncirculated grades.

In worn Good condition, it is worth about $20. In MS60 mint condition, it is worth $46 for the normal version and $110 for the "reverse of 1878" version. But in MS65 Brilliant Uncirculated condition, it is worth about $163 for the normal version and $7,800 for the "reverse of 1878" version.

See the links below to view prices of the coins for each mint for other intermediate conditions.