Philadelphia struck 110,000 silver dollars in 1894, the second-lowest circulation mintage of the series. Dollar production had collapsed after the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, and the mint's entire output for the year was smaller than a single ordinary month's delivery from the 1880s.
The 1894 is a key in every grade, which sets it apart from the series' condition rarities. Dates like the 1884-S or 1896-O are affordable worn and expensive uncirculated; the 1894 is scarce at every level, because there were never many coins to begin with and no hoard ever surfaced.
It is also the quiet member of an easily confused family. The 1894-O and 1894-S were struck in far larger numbers and trade for a fraction of the Philadelphia coin. The valuable 1894 is the one with no mintmark at all, a fact that regularly surprises people sorting an inheritance, and one that counterfeiters exploit in reverse.
The sleeper key. The 1893-S and the 1895 take the headlines, and the 1889-CC takes the romance, but the 1894 is scarcer than its fame suggests. The classic fake is an 1894-O with the mintmark shaved off to impersonate the Philadelphia coin, so the empty space below the wreath is exactly where your eye should go first.
| Issue | Mint | Mintage |
|---|---|---|
| 1894 Morgan Dollar | Philadelphia | 110,000 |
| 1894-O Morgan Dollar | New Orleans | 1,723,000 |
| 1894-S Morgan Dollar | San Francisco | 1,260,000 |
Mintage figures: United States Mint, Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, cross-checked across independent published references. Specifications: United States Mint coin specifications.