How many ounces of silver are in a Morgan Dollar?
Executive summary
The Morgan silver dollar is a 90% silver, 10% copper U.S. coin whose pure silver content is 371.25 troy grains — equal to roughly 24.057 grams or about 0.7734 troy ounces of silver per coin [1]. Many dealers and reference sites reaffirm this figure, commonly reporting 0.77344–0.77345 troy ounces of fine silver in each vintage Morgan dollar [2] [3] [4].
1. The simple answer — how many ounces of silver are in a Morgan Dollar
A vintage Morgan Dollar (minted 1878–1904 and 1921) contains 0.7734 troy ounces of pure silver, a figure derived from the coin’s legal composition of 90% silver and its total weight of 412.5 grains (26.73 grams) which yields 371.25 grains (24.057 g) of fine silver [1] [5].
2. Where that number comes from — the math behind the ounce
The Morgan’s total weight is 26.73 grams (412.5 grains) and the legal alloy is 90% silver, 10% copper, so the pure silver weight is 26.73 g × 0.90 = 24.057 g; converting grams to troy ounces (31.1034768 g per troy ounce) gives ≈0.7734 troy ounces of silver [1] [5].
3. Why sources sometimes show different numbers — total coin weight vs. fine silver weight
Some publications quote the coin’s total weight in troy ounces (about 0.8594 troy ounces for 26.73 grams) and others quote the fine silver weight (≈0.7734 ozt); confusion arises when writers don’t distinguish “total weight” from “fine silver content,” so a 0.859 ozt total-weight figure is not the silver content but the coin’s overall mass including copper [6] [5] [7].
4. Consensus among dealers, bullion sites, and reference works
Major numismatic references and bullion dealers align on the 0.7734–0.77345 ozt silver content number for vintage Morgans — Wikipedia records 0.7734 ozt of pure silver [1], dealers such as WholesaleCoinsDirect and SD Bullion list 0.77344–0.77345 troy ounces [2] [3], and auction/retail sites repeat the same 0.7734 figure [8] [4], indicating strong market and scholarly consensus on the silver content despite occasional rounding differences.
5. Modern Morgan issues and potential sources of further confusion
Recent Mint releases and special commemorative “Morgan-style” coins can differ in fineness and stated weights (for example, modern .999 fine commemoratives around 0.859 troy ounces total weight are marketed separately from historic 90% pieces), so it is important to verify whether a particular “Morgan” coin is a vintage 90% silver dollar or a modern strike with different specifications [9] [7].
6. Practical implication — melt value vs. numismatic value
For bullion calculations, multiply the fine silver content (0.77345 ozt) by the current silver spot price to estimate melt value; collectors and dealers stress that most Morgan dollars trade at numismatic premiums above melt because rarity, date, mintmark, and condition matter far more to total value than the 0.7734 ozt of silver alone [3] [5] [10].