How Much Is The 1979 Silver Dollar Worth? (Full Value)

Last Updated on October 12, 2022

The 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar is a very special coin as this was the first time a woman’s portrait was used on a US coin.

It was also the first the US treasury used the “P” mintmark on coins that were minted at the Philadelphia Mint.

Before this the coins minted in Philadelphia did not have any mintmark.

This makes the 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar a very special coin that can be sold for a lot of money.

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What Is the Value of The 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar?

In circulated condition the 1970 Susan B. Anthony coin can be worth anywhere from $1 (face value) to $1.35. The better the condition, the more money you can sell it for.

However in uncirculated condition the value of the coin can range from $2.28 to $67 depending on the mint and type of error on the coin.

Proof coins minted at the San Francisco mint can also go for a lot of money. The 1979 dollar proof coin with filled “S” mintmark can go for around $7.88 while the one with clear “S” mintmark can go for around $55.

These values were taken from www.usacoinbook.com

Coin Type Circulated Uncirculated (MS 63) Proof (PR 65)
1979 D Dollar The 1979 Susan B. Anthony Circulated Coins Are All Worth $1 to $1.35 $2.28 N/A
1979 S Dollar $2.28 N/A
1979-S Filled S   $7.88
1979-S Clear S   $55
1979-P Narrow Rim $2.28 N/A
1979-P Wide Rim $67 N/A

 

The Mint Errors On the 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar

There were over 700,000,000 of these dollars minted. With such high amount of mintage, there were bound to be errors on this beautiful Susan B. Anthony dollar.

However, these errors actually result in boosting the value of the coin.

There can be a variety of mint errors on the 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar including double die errors, wrong planchet, minted over coins of other denominations and a few more.

If you have a 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar in your possession then you should check it for mint errors as some of these errors can be worth a lot of money.

Check out this video to know more about the mint error and how they affect the value of the 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar.

What Is the Maximum A Susan B. Anthony Dollar Has Gone For?

According to PCGS, the maximum amount that 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar has bagged at an auction is $15,275.

This happened back in 2014 when a 1979=P Susan B. Anthony Dollar (Graded MS67) was put up for auction.

So, depending on the condition of these coins, you can get somewhere from its face value of $1 to over $15,000.

How To Get the Best Amount Out of Your 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar?

The first and the most important thing is to be very careful with handling the coin. Care for it like it is an antique destined for a museum. Only then will you be able to keep it in a good condition. Try not to clean the coin yourself as that might damage the coin.

Some people keep collecting coins just for the purpose of enhancing their existing coin collection. However other people collect coins to sell the for profit.

When it comes to coin collection, there are two things that you have to be very careful about; the first one is to have complete and authentic information about your coin and the second one is to be patient. Selling at the right time will help you get the most amount of money.

Features and Composition of the 1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar

This is a very beautiful yet controversial coin design made by Frank Gasparro. The coin has a bust of the famous women’s right activities Susan B Anthony on the Obverse and on the reverse, there is Bald Eagle on an laurel branch. There is also the insignia of the Apollo 11 mission on the top left side of the reverse.

The coin had to be discontinued because of the heavy criticism for the design of the coin and it wasn’t just because of the use of Susan B. Anthony Portrait but also because of the fact that there were Apollo 11 Mission’s insignia on the back side of the coin even though the events of moon landing had nothing to do with Susan B. Anthony.  

The two main metals used in the composition of this coin are copper and nickel. This coin is also sometimes referred to as the 1979 Silver Dollar, however the coin does not have any silver in it.

Who was Susan B. Anthony in the 1979 silver dollar?

Susan B. Anthony lived 1820 through 1906 and she was a woman’s suffrage leader and was instrumental in the passage of the 19th Amendment. Her effort gave women the right to vote.

The 1979 one dollar coin  is also commonly incorporated into display cases and frames.  Also, many 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollars were sold with postage stamps known as first-day covers.

The United States Mint produced millions of these coins. They created  360,222,000 for 1979-P dollar coin (Philadelphia Mint), 288,015,744 for 1979-D dollar coin (Denver Mint) and 109,576,00 for 1979-S dollar coin (San Francisco Mint), making 750 million in total.

How to differentiate the different 1979 silver dollar coins?

The US Mint made two coin hubs in 1979 but there was an error during the production which resulted in minting yielded two obverse dies that were different.

The first one, known as Wide Rim Silver Dollar Coin, has the date on the coin placed too close to its rim because the rim of the coin was wide. You will only see these coins with this type of error with the P mint mark because these coins were minted in Philadelphia.

If you suspect you have this type of coin, inspect it closely. It is not worth more than a few dollars if it is circulated and the value is higher in uncirculated condition.

Then there is Narrow Rim Silver Dollar Coin but it does not have as much value as the wide rim type. The S Proof Type 1 has a grainy S mint mark that looks more like a blob and because of this it has been known as blob mint mark.

Towards the end of the 1979 silver dollar production is the S Proof Type 2. This time, the  S marks  were clearer and became type 2. These coins are more valuable than type 1 because only a few of these coins came out.

Jackie Palmer is a Houston-based coin journalist and fashion enthusiast. She joined Jewels Advisor’s content team after years of experience as a content strategist, managing blogs and social channels for local stores. Jackie mostly collects and studies US coins produced during the 20th century and over the years, published hundreds of articles for multiple coin publications.