The 1889 Silver Dollar is highly sought-after because of two main reasons: it is a member of the in-demand Morgan Dollars, and it contains a key date of the coveted coin series. This is the value guide of the 1889 Silver Dollar or, as many prefer, the 1889 Morgan Dollar. We’ll discuss the coin’s history, appearance, varieties, and common error coins.
| Circulated
(G4 – AU58+) |
Uncirculated
(MS60 – MS68) |
|
| 1889-P Morgan Dollar | $36 – $63 | $70 – $35,500 |
| 1889-P Proof Morgan Dollar | – | $1,425 – $67,500 |
| 1889-CC Morgan Dollar | $595 – $22,000 | $24,000 – $1,200,000 |
| 1889-O Morgan Dollar | $36 – $250 | $250 – $85,000 |
| 1889-S Morgan Dollar | $45 – $285 | $275 – $65,000 |
1889 Silver Dollar: Historical Context
The population of the 1889 Morgan Dollar has suffered threats and enjoyed boosts since its release in the late 19th century. The First threat came with the Pitman Act of 1918, which authorized the melting of over 270 million silver dollars (some of which were 1889 Morgans).
In the 1960s, the U.S. Mint discovered a pile of uncirculated Carson City Silver Dollars locked away in a long-forgotten vault. Once word got out, everyone lined up to trade in their silver certificates for these pristine coins.
And when there was a hike in silver prices, silver refineries pulled Silver Dollars from circulation and condemned them to the melting pot. They were particularly fond of cartwheel silver coins from the Carson City Mint, knocking down the population of coins from this facility and making the 1889-CC Morgan Dollar a key date.
1889 Silver Dollar: Appearance and Physical Features
Since a coin’s appearance is the first thing you notice, it is a logical place to begin our 1889 Silver Dollar Value guide.
The 1889 Silver Dollar (as its name suggests) is a silver dollar coin both in appearance and metallic makeup. It’s made of 90% silver and 10% copper blended and forged into a perfectly round coin.
In pristine condition, the shine of the 1889 Morgan Dollar reflects light to form a windmill of light and dark surfaces. This effect is particularly famous with the Morgan Dollars and has been dubbed the Cartwheel Effect.
1889 Morgan Dollar: Physical Characteristics
| Physical Feature | Notes |
| Color | Silver |
| Metallic Composition | 90% Silver
10% Copper |
| Weight | 26.73 grams |
| Diameter | 38.10 |
| Edge | Reeded |
The Obverse
You’re probably wondering why we’re calling it the 1889 Morgan Dollar, and it’s because of the coin’s designer, George T. Morgan. A Britain-born engraver, Morgan came to the United States with a strong recommendation from the London-based Royal Mint.
His design for the obverse included:
- The bust of Liberty
- The legend “E PLURIBUS UNUM”
- The date “1889“
- His initials “M.”
- The inscription “LIBERTY“
- 13 stars
The Reverse
For the reverse, Morgan used the following elements:
- A bald eagle clasping an olive branch and a bundle of arrows
- A wreath of olive sprigs tied by a bow
- His initials “M.”
- The inscription “IN GOD WE TRUST.”
- The country of issue “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA“
- The mint mark “CC,”” O,” “S,” or neither
- The denomination “ONE DOLLAR“
1889 Silver Dollar: Varieties
The 1889 Morgan Dollar was struck by a few branches of the U.S. Mint that we don’t hear from anymore. In addition to the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints, production occurred in their Carson City and New Orleans sister mints. Below is a breakdown of the value of their coins.
1889-P Silver Dollar Value
- U.S. Mint: Philadelphia
- Mintage: 21,726,000
- Mint Mark: None
In addition to striking the standard regulars, the Philadelphia Mint made prooflike coins of varying qualities. The value of these coins typically varies depending on their condition and strike quality.
Circulated 1889-P Silver Dollars will be regular with no prooflike qualities. In this state, they’ll be worth $36 in good condition and $63 in the AU58+ state.
When it comes to mint state 1889-P Morgan Dollars, they are worth between $70 and $35,500, depending on their condition and the quality of their strikes.
| Coin Condition | Estimated Value | ||
| Regular Strike | Prooflike | Deep Prooflike | |
| Good (G4) | $36 | – | – |
| Very Good (VG8) | $37 | – | – |
| Fine (F12) | $38 | – | – |
| Very Fine (VF20) | $43 | – | – |
| Extremely Fine (XF40) | $50 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU50) | $55 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU58) | $62 | – | – |
| Uncirculated (MS60) | $70 | $75 | $100 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS65) | $345 | $1,000 | $2,950 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS66) | $875 | $3,400 | $13,750 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS68) | $35,500 | – | – |
The sales prices that these coins realize on the open market are consistent with their value estimates. The highest price ever recorded is $25,300, and it came from the only MS68-graded 1889-P Silver Dollar ever offered for sale at an auction.
Other notable sales include:
| Variety | Grade | Sales Price | Auction Firm |
| Regular Strike | MS67 | $24,000 | Heritage Auctions |
| Regular Strike | MS67 | $17,000 | David Lawrence |
| Regular Strike | MS67 | $16,450 | Heritage Auctions |
| Regular Strike | MS67 | $18,400 | Heritage Auctions |
1889-P Proof Silver Dollar Value
- U.S. Mint: Philadelphia
- Mintage: 811
- Mint Mark: None
Out of the 811 strikes, we believe that only 235 examples survived. Some coins will be showing moderate cameo contrast, but most of them will have little to no cameo. The value of the base proof coins ranges from $1,425 to $40,000.
The proof cameos will be asking for more on the count of their superior eye appeal. They start appearing in the MS61 grade and are reasonably available through the grades until MS68. They are worth between $2,250 and $67,500.
| Coin Condition | Estimated Value | |
| Proof | Cameo | |
| Uncirculated (PR60) | $1,425 | – |
| Uncirculated (PR61) | $1,675 | $2,250 |
| Uncirculated (PR62) | $2,300 | $2,600 |
| Uncirculated (PR63) | $3,150 | $3,850 |
| Uncirculated (PR64) | $4,000 | $5,200 |
| Uncirculated (PR65) | $6,500 | $7,500 |
| Uncirculated (PR66) | $8,300 | $14,250 |
| Uncirculated (PR67) | $15,500 | $21,000 |
| Uncirculated (PR68) | $40,000 | $67,500 |
| Uncirculated (PR69) | – | – |
In 2022, an 1889-P Proof Silver Dollar showed up for auction in Deep Cameo. Not to say that these coins don’t exist in Deep Cameo, but auction records do not show other Deep Cameo 1889 Silver Dollars. This particular example was graded the equivalent of PR66 DCAM by NGC, and it sold for $19,200.
Plenty of 1889-P Proof Silver Dollars have sold for more. One noteworthy auction involved a coin-graded PR68CAM, which was pedigreed to the JFS Collection. This Morgan Silver Dollar sold for a mind-boggling $74,750.
1889-CC Silver Dollar Value
- U.S. Mint: Carson City
- Mintage: 350,000
- Mint Mark: CC
You have a better chance of landing an 1889-CC Morgan Dollar in circulated condition than you are in its mint state. In circulated condition, you’ll find both regular struck and prooflike silver dollars. In this condition, their values range between $595 and $22,000.
In mint condition, this variety is the most valuable 1889 Morgan Dollar by a mile. Their values typically range from $24,000 to $1.2 million. To this day, no 1889-CC Silver Dollar has sold for anything close to $1.2 million. The closest contender was of the MS68 quality, and it sold for $881,250. But this sale was a decade ago when gas prices were just $3 a gallon.
| Coin Condition | Estimated Value | ||
| Regular Strike | Prooflike | Deep Prooflike | |
| Good (G4) | $595 | – | – |
| Very Good (VG8) | $685 | – | – |
| Fine (F12) | $975 | – | – |
| Very Fine (VF20) | $1,900 | – | – |
| Extremely Fine (XF40) | $3,875 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU50) | $6,650 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU55) | $9,400 | $15,000 | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU58) | $18,250 | $22,000 | – |
| Uncirculated (MS60) | $24,000 | $28,500 | $30,000 |
| Uncirculated (MS64) | $85,000 | $97,500 | $110,000 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS65) | $290,000 | $400,000 | – |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS66) | – | – | – |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS68) | $1,200,000 | – | – |
1889-O Silver Dollar Value
- U.S. Mint: New Orleans
- Mintage: 11,875,000
- Mint Mark: O
1889-O Silver Dollars are fairly common in every grade until MS64. They are quite rare in the MS65 state and extremely rare in the MS66 grade. Most of the uncirculated lot will be regular-struck 1889-O Silver Dollars, with a few prooflike and deep mirror prooflike examples starting to show up in the AU58 state. In these conditions, the value of the 1889-O Silver Dollar ranges from $36 to $250.
In mint condition, they are worth between $250 and $85,000, depending on their grade and the quality of their finish. In 2019, an 1889-O Silver Dollar sold for a life-changing $84,000. It was graded MS65DMPL with a deep prooflike finish.
There’s only one finer example among auction records, and it sold for $15,950 with a grade of MS66DMPL. But there’s an asterisk against this sale; it sold almost three decades ago in 1995. I bet if it sells today, it would attract better bids.
| Coin Condition | Estimated Value | ||
| Regular Strike | Prooflike | Deep Prooflike | |
| Good (G4) | $36 | – | – |
| Very Good (VG8) | $42 | – | – |
| Fine (F12) | $47 | – | – |
| Very Fine (VF20) | $50 | – | – |
| Extremely Fine (XF40) | $55 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU50) | $60 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU58) | $200 | $200 | $250 |
| Uncirculated (MS60) | $250 | $295 | $365 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS65) | $3,800 | $8,500 | $22,500 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS66) | $1,600 | – | $85,000 |
1889-S Silver Dollar Value
- U.S. Mint: San Francisco
- Mintage: 700,000
- Mint Mark: S
Last but not least is the 1889-S Morgan Dollar. It may not be as abundant as the 1889-O Silver Dollar, but the 1889 Morgan Dollar is quite common even in the higher grades. A circulated 1889-S Silver Dollar holds values ranging from $45 to $285.
Mint 1889-S Morgan Dollars can have values of as low as $275 in the MS60 state or as high as $65,000 in the MS66DMPL.
Unfortunately, these coins struggle to meet their estimated values in the open market. The highest price ever realized on the auction block is $52,875. The Morgan dollar involved was graded MS66DPL by NGC, and it was almost flawless. This coin can’t even hide behind the veil of time as it was sold in 2020.
A similarly-graded coin sold in 2003 for $14,950, a decent price for its time.
| Coin Condition | Estimated Value | ||
| Regular Strike | Prooflike | Deep Prooflike | |
| Good (G4) | $45 | – | – |
| Very Good (VG8) | $55 | – | – |
| Fine (F12) | $65 | – | – |
| Very Fine (VF20) | $70 | – | – |
| Extremely Fine (XF40) | $100 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU50) | $135 | – | – |
| About Uncirculated (AU58) | $200 | $225 | $285 |
| Uncirculated (MS60) | $275 | $290 | $500 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS65) | $1,850 | $4,600 | $32,000 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS66) | $4,800 | $17,500 | $65,000 |
| Brilliant Uncirculated (MS67) | $30,000 | – | – |
1889 Silver Dollar: Valuable Error Coins
The Morgan Dollars are quite famous for using a couple of flawed dies. So much so that Leroy Van Allen and George Mallis have made a name for themselves studying these dies. Thanks to their efforts, we got the VAM varieties of errors.
Below are the VAM varieties relevant to the 1889 Silver Dollar and their respective values.
Pitted Reverse: VAM 5A & VAM 28A
By the time the U.S. Mint got to the 1889 Silver Dollar, the Morgan Dollar dies had suffered significant erosion. Some eroded dies developed tiny pits that would impress equally tiny lumps on the fields of the coins they struck. For the 1889 Silver Dollar, the problem was endemic to the reverse dies native to the Philadelphia Mint.
1889-P Morgan Dollars with this error will be in uncirculated and about uncirculated conditions. Wear has a way of filing down these tiny bumps. In About Uncirculated conditions, they are worth between $60 and $105. In their mint state, these coins are worth between $100 and $675.
Double Ear: VAM 18
The double ear is a double die error that causes doubling around Lady Liberty’s ear. A coin with this error would appear as though Lady Liberty has two ear lobes. Among the 1889 Morgan Dollars, this issue was particularly prevalent among the 1889-P Silver Dollars.
In About Uncirculated conditions, their values typically range between $70 for specimens of the AU50 quality and $88 for example in the AU58 state. In mint condition, these coins are worth between $90 and $4,400.
Bar Wing: VAM 19A & VAM 22
Coins of these varieties will appear as though the bald eagle lumps the edge of its right wing. Two of the leaves on the right tip of the wreath will also show similar lumps. This error was unique to 1889-P Morgan Dollars.
Coins of these varieties are available in all conditions up to MS66. In circulated conditions, their values range between $54 and $118. The uncirculated lot, on the other hand, will be worth between $120 and $2,750.
Die Clash: VAM 1A
The New Orleans Mint had at least one set of dies that clashed without a planchet between them. The dies ended up imprinting themselves on their opposites. 1889-O Morgan Dollars with this error will have a faint outline of Ms. Liberty’s profile on the reverse. Her lips will be visible beneath the eagle’s right wing.
In circulated condition, 1889-O Morgan Dollars with this error will have values that range from $164 to $1,100. In mint condition, their values pick up from $2,000 to $52,500.
Oval O Mint Mark: VAM 2
A few 1889-O Morgan Dollars were struck with the Oval O mint mark, and their values have increased for it. In circulated conditions, they are worth between $69 and $450. And as you would expect, there’s more demand for them in their mint states. In these conditions, they are worth $575 in the MS60 condition and $1,650 in the MS64 state.
Double Date: VAM 6
When a double die error solely affects the date of a coin, we call it a double date. And in the 1889 Silver Dollar, this problem was prevalent among the 1889-O Morgan Dollars. The uncirculated lot will have values that range from $69 to $300, while in mint condition, they’ll be worth between $325 and $3,250.
Final Thoughts
If there’s an important takeaway from this value guide, it would be that the 1889 Silver Dollar is not short of varieties. If you’re looking for a coin to keep you busy in the next few years, this would be it.
It is valuable in every condition (circulated or otherwise), and it is in high demand. You can start by collecting circulated examples and then graduate to uncirculated gems and VAM varieties.
Jenson is a professional numismatist, a dedicated coin collector, a graduate of the College of Business at Oregon State, a life member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), and an overall coin nerd. He is the founder of Coin Value List.