What Are GSA Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars?

From 1878 until 1921, the official silver dollar used in circulated was the Morgan Dollar. Morgan dollars were minted at 5 mints across the country:

– Philadelphia (no mint mark on the coin)
– Carson City (“CC” mint mark)
– San Fransisco (“S” mint mark)
– New Orleans (“O” mint mark)
– Denver (“D” mint mark)

Millions of Morgan Dollars were struck at the various mints and eventually there was a glut of the coins. This overabundance, along with the rising popularity of the paper dollar bill, caused the government to consider its options. The government decided to shut the Carson City Mint in 1893, after only 23 years of operation. No coins have been minted at the Carson City Mint ever since.

In the early 1960’s, United States Treasury officials discovered a large quantity of uncirculated Morgan Dollars in the treasury vaults. Coin collectors received word of this discovery and began purchasing large quantities of the silver dollars at a face value of $1. Individuals were purchasing original mint-sealed bags of silver dollars in bulk.

At the time, you could still exchange a $1 silver certificate (basically a $1 dollar bill) for a single silver coin. This exchange of a dollar for silver was eventually shuttered as the United States abandoned the gold standard and continued down the path of fiat money.

However, in the 1970’s the General Services Administration decided to conduct a sale of the hoard of Carson City Morgan Dollars that it had found in its vaults (commonly referred to as the “GSA Hoard). Between 1972 and 1974, there were 5 sales conducted by the GSA via mail. The sales were limited to allow only 1 coin purchase per household. Sales were brisk and eventually only around 1 million coins remained. The coins then remained dormant for years until 1979 when the rest were sold off at a set price. Sales ceased in 1980 when all the coins were exhausted.

The GSA Hoard By The Numbers

Date	Mintage	Number Discovered	% of Total Mintage in Hoard
1878 CC	2,212,000	61,000	2.7%
1879 CC	756,000	4,100	.54%
1880 CC	591,000	131,500	22.2%
1881 CC	296,000	147,500	49.8%
1882 CC	1,133,000	605,000	53.3%
1883 CC	1,204,000	755,000	62.7%
1884 CC	1,136,000	962,000	84.6%
1885 CC	228,000	148,300	65%
1890 CC	2,309,000	3,950	.17%
1891 CC	1,618,000	5,700	.35%