The US began minting $1 in 1794, and over the years, these coins have come in both specie (gold and silver) and base metal (copper, tin, zinc, etc.) The US also has golden dollars, which are different from gold dollars because they have no gold content, just the color. Let’s do the math and dig into the facts to conclusively confirm the 1971 Silver Dollar Value. The silver $1 variants contained 40% silver and 60% copper and came from San Francisco. In 1971, Eisenhower Dollars were produced in both silver and clad (cupronickel) versions.

But early silver dollars earn premium prices at auctions, so they’re still worth exploring, if only for their melt value. It was known as a Silver Certificate, and even today, $1 coins are unpopular because people prefer $1 bills. The first official American Dollar was a note, not a coin.