Blog Precious Metals Education

Who Is on the Silver Dollar?

On the classic U.S. silver dollars, the figure is Liberty, not a real person. Morgan dollars (1878 to 1921) and Peace dollars (1921 to 1935) both show an allegorical Lady Liberty. If you're asking who is on the silver dollar because the large coin in your hand shows a man, that's President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1971 became the first president on a circulating dollar coin.

Why Liberty Was on the Dollar for 177 Years

The law required her. The Coinage Act of 1792 ordered that one side of every coin carry "an impression emblematic of liberty," along with the word Liberty and the year. The first dollars were struck in 1794, and no real person appeared on a circulating dollar coin until 1971. For those 177 years, silver dollars made for circulation showed a symbol, not a portrait of anyone.

Each engraver gave her a different look. Robert Scot, the first Mint Engraver, drew Liberty with flowing hair for the dollars of 1794 and 1795 and ringed her with 15 stars, one for each state that had ratified the Constitution by 1794. On his Draped Bust dollar of 1795 to 1804 she faces right with a bow in her hair and drapery across her shoulders. For the Liberty Seated dollar of 1840 to 1873, Christian Gobrecht sculpted a seated figure from sketches by the portrait painter Thomas Sully.

The Two Women Who Modeled for Liberty

On the two classic series, Liberty was drawn from a living model. Neither woman is the subject of her coin the way a president is.

Morgan Dollar: Anna Willess Williams

Morgan silver dollars show Liberty in profile, wearing a cap, a band of flora and a crown with LIBERTY cut into it, with 13 stars around her. Mint engraver George T. Morgan (1845 to 1925) designed the coin, having come to the Mint from England in 1876. PCGS's reference text records that in 1877 he had Philadelphia schoolteacher Anna Willess Williams pose, copied her portrait for a pattern half dollar, and early in 1878 expanded that design into the dollar.

His signature is on the coin: the initial M at the truncation of Liberty's neck, the cut line at the base of the portrait, and again on the wreath ribbon on the reverse.

Peace Dollar: Teresa de Francisci

Peace silver dollars show Liberty in profile wearing a radiant crown. Anthony de Francisci (1887 to 1964) designed the coin, and the model was his wife, Teresa de Francisci. PCGS's reference text adds that the head is loosely based on Saint-Gaudens' head for the gold eagle of 1907.

The Commission of Fine Arts selected the design from models submitted by several sculptors, and Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon approved it in December 1921 to mark peace between the United States and Germany. Replacing the Morgan design took no act of Congress, because the law lets a coin's design be changed after 25 years.

The First Real People on U.S. Dollar Coins

George Washington on the 1900 Lafayette Dollar

Eisenhower wasn't the first real person on a silver dollar. George Washington was, on the Lafayette commemorative dollar that Congress authorized on March 3, 1899. The Mint's timeline records it as the first U.S. coin to show Washington and the first commemorative coin in the dollar denomination. It's dated 1900, 71 years before the Eisenhower dollar, which is why Eisenhower's first needs the word "circulating."

Dwight D. Eisenhower on the 1971 Dollar

Congress put Eisenhower on the dollar by statute. The 1970 law that created the coin required it to bear "the likeness of the late President" and, on the other side, a design emblematic of the Apollo 11 eagle landing on the moon. Both sides are the work of Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro. According to the Mint's December 1970 description of the coin, his portrait drew on a profile he sketched after seeing Eisenhower in the New York victory parade of June 20, 1945, and his initials, F.G., are in the base of the bust.

Most Eisenhower dollars contain no silver. From 1971 to 1974 the Mint struck a silver-clad version for collectors at San Francisco and a copper-nickel version for circulation. Coins dated 1776-1976 keep his portrait and add a Bicentennial reverse by Dennis R. Williams, a Liberty Bell paired with the moon.

He returned in 1990 on the Eisenhower Centennial commemorative dollar, which the Mint's timeline describes as a double profile: facing left as a five-star general and facing right as president. It's one of the modern commemorative coins issued since that program began in 1982.

Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea and the Presidents

After Eisenhower, three dollar series show real people, and none of them contains silver. The Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979 to 1981 and 1999) put what the Mint calls "a non-mythical woman" on a circulating U.S. coin for the first time. The Sacagawea Golden Dollar of 2000 to 2008 shows Sacagawea carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste. Presidential $1 coins followed from 2007 to 2016, in the order the presidents served, and the law behind that series bars any living president, and any former president who died within the previous two years.

Dollar Coin Portraits by Series, 1794 to Today

One coin in this table isn't covered above: the Trade dollar of 1873 to 1885, made for commerce in Asia, on which Liberty sits on a bale of merchandise with the sea in front of her.

Liberty on the Silver Dollars Struck Today

Current law keeps the 1792 idea alive. The statute behind the American Silver Eagle, a .999 fine silver coin inscribed One Dollar, still calls for a design "symbolic of Liberty" on the obverse and an eagle on the reverse. Liberty on American Silver Eagles is a walking figure based on Adolph A. Weinman's 1916 Walking Liberty half dollar.

Morgan's and de Francisci's portraits are back as well. The Mint now issues Morgan and Peace silver dollars every year, in 99.9% silver, where the originals were 90% silver and 10% copper.

Silver Dollars in Our Catalog

A portrait is the fastest way to tell which silver dollar you're holding: a cap and crown for Morgan, rays for Peace, a walking figure for the Silver Eagle. We verify every item we sell with modern testing equipment and numismatic expertise.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to tell if a 1 dollar coin is silver?

Start with the date. A large dollar coin dated 1935 or earlier is silver: PCGS notes that silver dollars were minted for circulation from 1794 through 1935. An Eisenhower dollar can contain silver only if it carries an S mint mark, and an S alone doesn't prove it, because San Francisco struck copper-nickel pieces for circulation too. An American Silver Eagle is inscribed 1 Oz. Fine Silver. Anthony, Sacagawea and Presidential dollars have none.

What presidents are on every coin?

For dollar coins, the list starts with Dwight D. Eisenhower on the dollar of 1971 to 1978. Next, the Presidential $1 series honored presidents in the order they served, four coins a year from 2007 to 2016. No living president could appear. George Washington reached the denomination before either, on the 1900 Lafayette commemorative dollar.

What is on the back of a silver dollar?

An eagle, and that was law too: the 1792 Act required an eagle on the reverse of gold and silver coins. On a Morgan dollar it has outstretched wings and clasps arrows and an olive branch. On a Peace dollar it's at rest, holding an olive branch above the word PEACE. An Eisenhower dollar shows the Apollo 11 eagle landing on the moon, from the mission patch designed by astronaut Michael Collins.