The U.S. silver dollar first minted in 1878, featuring Liberty and an eagle, was the Morgan dollar.
The coin was designed by George T. Morgan, an English-born engraver who worked at the United States Mint. Its obverse shows a profile of Liberty, while its reverse depicts a bald eagle holding arrows and an olive branch. The design was authorized by the Bland–Allison Act of 1878.
Morgan dollars were struck mainly from 1878 through 1904, with another production run in 1921. The coins contained 90% silver and 10% copper, and their silver came largely from purchases the U.S. government was required to make from domestic mines.
The Morgan dollar is often confused with the Peace dollar, which replaced it as a regular silver-dollar design in 1921. The later coin commemorated the peace following World War I and used a very different design.