These Trade Dollars were coined to compete favorably with silver $1 from other countries. Starting in 1873, American $1 coins were 90% silver and 10% copper. Seems the US has a goldilocks problem with its $1 coins, and as it turns out, only the $1 bill is just right! American Dollars – Coins, Bills, and Metal Composition Anthony $1, and that one got rejected for being too small. But the coins were unpopular and only lasted until 1978 since people felt they were too big. This brought the overall metal composition to 91.67% copper and 8.33% nickel. Its pure copper core was coated with 75% copper and 25% nickel to mimic the silver sheen. To control the coin shortage, the mint introduced $1 in base metals, beginning with the Eisenhower Dollar in 1971. This is sometimes called silver stacking because citizens can later re-sell the coins for their melt value, so these $1 coins are a convenient form of bullion. Finally, in the 1960s, silver prices led to massive hoarding. And in the 1850s, the gold rush made a silver $1 more valuable than a gold $1, so the coin export business resumed. Early on, $1 were coins exported, melted, and brought back as bullion. While gold is generally more valuable than silver, there were certain seasons when silver currency made more sense. Several ladies posed as the Goddess of Liberty, and she was depicted in various iterations and poses including Flowing Hair (from 1794), Draped Bust (from 1795), and Seated Liberty designs (from 1836). The device is the portrait or image on a coin, while the background of the coin is called the field. These golden dollars include Sacagawea, American Innovation, and Presidential $1 coins.įrom 1794 to 1971, silver $1 coins bore Lady Liberty as their device. The US began minting $1 in 1794, and over the years, these coins have come in both specie (gold and silver) and base metal (copper, tin, zinc, etc.) The US also has golden dollars, which are different from gold dollars because they have no gold content, just the color. Let’s do the math and dig into the facts to conclusively confirm the 1971 Silver Dollar Value. The silver $1 variants contained 40% silver and 60% copper and came from San Francisco. In 1971, Eisenhower Dollars were produced in both silver and clad (cupronickel) versions. But early silver dollars earn premium prices at auctions, so they’re still worth exploring, if only for their melt value. It was known as a Silver Certificate, and even today, $1 coins are unpopular because people prefer $1 bills. The first official American Dollar was a note, not a coin.

Value of silver dollar 1972