Hello, My father got a silver dollar for his pay while in the military. It was his first silver dollar so he kept it in his pocket for many years. He's gone, now, so I'm trying to remember what he told me about it, and to see if it has any value. Let me preface by saying the coin is so worn you can only see a vague outline of the lady's head (a morgan, maybe?) on the front - no date, no sides, nothing else except for a crack, that goes right through the coin from front to back, that he told me was there when he got it. I believe he said that the dollar was dated 1920? or 1928 (he was born in 1928, so my memory may be faulty here) and I remember being in awe that he got such an "old coin" that was new while he was in the military in the mid-late 1940's. My question is, do I have anything worth anything other than memories of my father? How should I take care of it from here? I appreciate any information - and please be brutally honest; I'm not expecting anything exciting based on its present condition. Thanks. L J
Welcome to the forum. If either of those dates is correct, you have a Peace Dollar, with an effigy of Liberty on the obverse and a side view of an eagle with folded wings perched on a rock on the reverse. In general it's the least valuable of the silver dollars. A Morgan dollar has a different Liberty effigy, and the eagle on the reverse has outstretched wings and is holding arrows and a branch in its claws. Morgans were minted from 1878-1921 (with almost two decades missing), and Peace dollars were minted from 1921-1935 (with a few years missing). Whichever it is, your coin has a great deal of family historical value to you , but its cash value is only somewhere in the vicinity of $4.60 - the current value of the .77344 troy ounces of silver it contains . In the condition you describe it carries no numismatic premium. Because of the special memories it has for you, you might want to consider just carrying it as a "pocket piece". Sadly, it's really past needing any preservation in an Airtite holder, or some similar plastic capsule sized to hold the coin to protect its condition.
Thanks so much for such a quick reply! I edited the date in my first post, not sure of the exact one. The figure on the obverse is a larger lady's silhouette with a crown, a bun and flowing hair (I'm just looking at a very vague outline) - I figured morgan by the looks & nothing else. The back has no markings now, having been worn away. I did use a magnifier to see if I could see anything else. The only other marking was the crack, which I believe came from the mint as a damaged/error. I remember being disappointed in him for having the coin in his pocket so worn away when it might have brought some $$ value in later years. Anyhow, I really appreciate the knowledge; I didn't want to spend oodles of time and care on a coin of no value except for what's in my heart. Of course I'll care for it, but I won't worry about it like I do the other coins I have. I have the memories, and you're right, that's worth more to me than the coin itself. Many many thanks for helping set my mind at ease! L J
Thanks that's great! - but no, the crown isn't that big or thorny although I do see some smaller ones...it's smaller on the top of her head, like a tiara, and her mouth is definitely closed, less neck and it's a larger silhouette than what your picture shows. Where the hair flows towards the right, this one flows downward. My daughter describes it as if she has a pony-tail with locks hanging down instead of out (if any of this makes any sense), and the bun is bigger. We can't see the back - it is completely bare. L J
Here's what we think it looks like if you can imagine this thing worn down so there are no words or date:
in that poor condition the value would only be about 5 usd for its bullion content its prob a 1921 a common date
