1883 Morgan Silver Dollar

Like most of the other years during the 1880s, the 1883 Morgan Silver Dollar saw relatively few die variations. While VAM (Leroy C. Van Allen and A. George Mallis) collectors may note minor variations that are each worthy of separate listings, for the most part, 1883 Morgan Dollar collectors will stick to assembling a run of date and mintmark combinations included in the proceeding list.

The 1883 Morgan Silver Dollar was produced in four mints: Carson City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. The most valuable 1883 Morgan Silver Dollar carries the "CC" mintmark used by the Carson City Mint. It always carries a premium value because of very low production, making it the rarest 1883 Morgan Dollar. The New Orleans Mint used an "O" and the San Francisco Mint an "S”. The main mint in Philadelphia did not use a mintmark. Proof examples of Morgan Dollars from all years, including 1883, are rare which makes them expensive.

1883 Morgan Silver Dollar Mintage Figures

•          1883: 12,290,000; $35+
•          1883-CC: 1,204,000; $200+
•          1883-O: 8,725,000; $35+
•          1883-S: 6,250,000; $35+
•          1883 Proof: 1,039; $3,000+

Don’t overlook the scarceness of any Carson City Morgan Silver Dollar. Like countless other Morgan Dollar issues, the actual number of existing Carson City mint pieces is often terribly misrepresented by official mintage numbers. Under the Pittman Act of 1918, more than 270 million Morgan Silver Dollars were melted. While there is no way to know precisely how many coins of each date were officially melted, what coin collectors can say for certain is that many of these pieces were Carson City coins and, given the extremely high popularity of Morgan Dollars, there simply aren’t enough Carson City silver dollars to satisfy current demands. It is therefore wise to seek out the best Carson City silver dollars you can afford to help increase your chances of a handsome return on your investment should you decide to sell your coins down the line.