what year are silver dollars made of silver

[LucyLynn]

Ah, the million-dollar question about the silver dollar! When did the "silver" in the name stop being a statement of fact and become more of a nostalgic memory? Let's dive into the coin jar of history.

If you're thinking of the classic, hefty silver dollars that cowboys might have slammed on a saloon bar, you're picturing the good stuff. The iconic Morgan Dollars were minted from 1878 to 1904 and had a brief encore in 1921. Following them was the elegant Peace Dollar, produced from 1921 to 1928 and again from 1934 to 1935. Both of these famous coins were made of 90% silver. So, to be precise, 1935 was the final year that a dollar coin intended for your pocket was made of 90% silver.

But wait, the story has a plot twist! After a long hiatus, the U.S. Mint brought back the dollar coin from 1971 to 1978 with the Eisenhower "Ike" dollar. Now, the shiny Ikes you'd get as change were just copper-nickel clad coins with no precious metal. However, the Mint knew collectors still had silver fever, so they also produced special collector's versions in blue and brown packaging that were made of 40% silver.

So, the simple answer is 1935 for the last circulating 90% silver dollar. The more nuanced, "I'm a coin expert" answer is that you could still find special issue dollars with 40% silver up until 1978.