In most cases, 100-year old United States silver dollars in average (not completely worn) condition are typically worth more than their silver price value alone. In order to check out your silver dollars, we recommend acquiring a Redbook of US coins--issued each year to update collectors of fair retail values of all US coins--it's very useful for doing some value checking.

In many cases, mintages of silver dollar coins were in the tens of millions. Now, certain dates in each of the series of silver dollars trade for very large amounts of money due to either their lower mintages or their rarity (low survival rate.) The most expensive Silver Dollar ever sold? One that brought over $4.1 million--a stunning example of the 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar that has always been highly prized by astute (and wealthy) collectors. (Find rare Silver Dollars and other rare silver coins for sale)

On the other end of the spectrum, are very worn down Morgan or Peace Silver Dollars. Morgans were issued  from 1878 -1921 and Peace dollars were minted afterwards from 1921-1935.  Struck in .77345 troy ounces of pure silver, even worn these command a premium over their silver weight in today's market. Of course, the higher the grade, generally, the more they're worth, of course.

We have recreated a Silver Dollar Chart with photos, dates, silver content, and other specifications. Generally speaking, United States Silver Dollars dated 1935 or earlier are made from 90% silver, 10% copper - with a total silver content of around 0.77-0.78 troy ounces. However with silver dollars from 1965 onwards, things get more complex. For example, "Eisenhower" silver dollars (1971-1978) were issued in both proof and circulation versions; the circulation versions contained no silver, the proof versions have 40% silver. 

Today's United States Silver Dollar--the Silver American Eagle, trades very closely to the silver price and is considered a bullion coin. They trade for up to $5-$10 over the spot price of silver, depending upon how many you acquire.  You can find some Silver American Eagle coins for sale.

Here is some useful information regarding the different design types of US silver dollars dating back to the 1790's.

 

Silver Dollar Designs and Specs: