Expert: Ronald Fern - 5/31/2010

Question
My girlfriend has a Morgan silver dollar its in excellent condition and heavily tarnished. She received it from her grandfather who was in WW2. The coin has NO year and NO "E PLURBUS UNUM".
The only writing on the coin is between the wingspan at the top of the coin it reads"one troy ounce"on top and ".999 fine silver" on bottom. It also has 24 stars on front and 22 on back. I have looked quite a bit online to find the exact same coin but cannot.{stars circle the coin front and back} Please help   Thanks Dave

Answer
Hi David:

Thanks for the question.

Your description of the piece tends to verify that what your girlfriend has is a one troy ounce .999 Fine Silver Round. Many of these are struck with designs very similar to our U.S. coinage. They are a popular way to hold silver bullion, and these "generic" pieces usually sell for about 50 cents to a dollar over the spot price of silver. They are struck by private mints, so they do not qualify as coins. Many of the "generic" designs are produced in the millions. The toning should not affect the value.

Scarce to rare pieces may bring up to double the melt value, but most trade right around it, plus or minus a few dollars. At the current rate of silver, $18.51, your round is likely worth about $20 to $21 to an interested collector.

You may also want to check out these links on silver bars and rounds:
http://www.rivercitycoins.com/silverrounds/celebrity/celebrityrounds.html
http://bullion.nwtmint.com/silver.php

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.