Jeanell S. writes: I have a 1820 Silver dollar and I would like to know if it is valuable. Could you please let me know, how to go about finding out if it is valuable.
Since no United States silver dollars bear the date 1820, then:
1. You do not have a United States silver dollar but maybe a coin of another denomination (half dollar?).
2. You have a silver dollar from a later period with an altered date, that means the date was changed with a special tool. This kind of fabrication has no meaningful monetary value except as a curiosity.
3. You have a “dollar size” coin from another country.
One way to tell what you have would be to describe the coin or send an image. There were specific designs in particular eras. For example, Draped Bust silver dollars were struck from 1795-1803. Gobrecht’s Seated Dollar with a flying eagle reverse were minted from 1836-1839. The Seated Dollar with stars around and a eagle with open wings from 1840-1873. Morgan Dollars with a bust of Liberty facing left from 1878-1904 and then again in 1921. Peace Silver dollars intermittently from 1921-1935.
You can see values of the most common dates of U.S. coins on the What’s it Worth? feature on CoinSite.
