The US silver dollar is the best known of all silver coins. The first US silver coin created in dollar denominations was authorized by Congress on April 2, 1792. Minting of silver coins displaying the draped bust of Lady Liberty began in 1795. These coins had no engraved denomination, but their value was distinguished by size. The one dollar coin was the largest.
The Draped Liberty design was followed by a Seated Liberty coin in 1940. Production of these coins ceased with a congressional act, that changed the US monetary system from a gold and silver standard to one based solely on gold. Referred to as the “Crime Of 73,” silver coins lost their value as legal tender, and silver held by Americans could not be converted.
The Morgan silver dollar was struck, as silver coins were resurrected in 1878, with the passage of the Bland-Allison Act. Numbers of Morgan dollars became greatly reduced as the Pittman Act of 1918 allowed melt-down of nearly three million silver coins.
The “Peace” dollar, still popular with collectors, was the last US legal tender coin. The 1965 Coinage Act banished pure US silver from legal tender usage.
