Peace Silver Dollars: An Overview Of The Series
Peace silver dollars are one of the most popular, desirable, and highly collected series of US Coins, but it is a coin that needed a variety of factors to converge to allow it to be minted.
From 1905 until 1921, the US Mint did not mint any silver dollars. Production of the Morgan silver dollar had been suspended in 1904. Demand for silver dollars was low, and no further production was required.
The combination of a piece of legislation called the Pittman Act and the desire to commemorate world peace with a coin after WWI ended set the stage for Peace Silver Dollars to be minted starting in 1921.
The Pittman act was designed as a way for Congress to provide a subsidy to the mining industry. It called for 3500,000,000 existing Morgan dollars to be melted for bullion, and for Congress to purchase a like amount of silver from the silver mines at $1 an ounce to use to produce NEW silver dollars. Since a silver dollar contains .77 ounces of silver, the remaining 23 cents on each purchase was the mining subsidy.
In 1921 Morgan Dollar production resumed at all 3 mints, with a total of 86 million coins produced.
At the same time, noted medal designer Anthony DeFrancisci was working on the design for the coin to commemorate world peace. This is the design that would be used to produce Peace Silver Dollars.
It differed from the Morgan design in several ways. First, it had Liberty facing left on the obverse. Until then all depictions of Liberty on US coins had her facing right. She also has a crown of rays that had never been used before. This is one of the things that makes Peace Silver Dollars unique and desirable.
On the reverse the Eagle is standing on a mound with wings folded. This is another notable difference. Until then the eagle on all US coins was depicted with wings outstretched or flying. The mound contained the word PEACE, & has rays extending out from it, giving the Peace Silver Dollars their name.
The third major difference was the relief of the coin. Being a medal designer, DeFrancisci designed the Peace Silver Dollars with the high relief of a medal. This had never been tried with a US coin before and makes the design unique.
Production of Peace Silver Dollars began with the 1921 Peace Silver Dollars was halted after 1928, due to the requirements of the Pittman Act being met. Peace Silver Dollars made a brief reappearance in 1934 and 1935, and then production was ceased. Plans were made to renew the series in 1964, but the 1964 Peace Silver Dollars that were minted were melted and never released to the public. This makes Peace Silver Dollars the last TRUE silver dollars to be minted in the US. Production strikes of Eisenhower, Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, and Presidential dollars are all clad coins with no silver content.
Peace Silver Dollars are readily available on eBay in all grades.
Collecting The 1921 Peace Silver Dollar| 1921 Silver Dollar Coin
The Peace Silver Dollar is the last TRUE silver dollar to be minted by the United States Mint. The Eisenhower & Susan B Anthony dollars are clad coins that contain no silver & the American Silver Eagle is a bullion coin not meant for general circulation.
The design was by Anthony DeFrancisci, who made his name as a designer of medals, & features an obverse depiction of LIBERTY markedly different from those used in the past. She faces left, rather then right as on the Morgan Dollar & Barber type coins, with a crown of rays on her head. The Reverse depicts an Eagle at rest on a mound with thew word PEACE on it & rays extending out from the mound. Mint marks for the Denver & San Francisco mints appear on the reverse under the Eagle's tail feathers.
The mint had re-intoduced the Morgan Dollar at the beginning of 1921, at the time, no Morgan Dollars had been minted since 1904. The provisions of the Pittman Act called for up to 350,000,000 existing Morgan Dollars to be melted for bullion, & for these coins to be replaced by new coins minted from silver purchased by the Federal Government from US silver mines at a fixed price of $1 an ounce. After minting nearly 86,000,000 Morgan Dollars at all 3 mints, the 1st 1921 Peace Dollars were minted at the Philadelphia mint. 1921 was the only year that Peace Dollars were not minted at at least 1 other branch mint.
The 1921 Peace Silver Dollars were minted in high relief, reminiscent of the medals Anthony DeFrancisci was known to design. When it was learned that the high relief made the coins difficult to stack, newer low relief dies were created for subsequent years. 1921 was the only year the coin was minted in high relief. 1,006,473 1921 Peace Dollars were minted & it is one of the key Dates of the Peace Dollar series.
Like its Morgan counterpart, the Peace dollar measure 38.1 mm across & is 90% silver with each coin containing .7734 ounces of pure silver.
While all 3 mint marks of 1921 Morgan Silver Dollars are common, the 1921 Peace Dollar is much rarer & much more valuable. While the value of the average 1921 Morgan Dollar ranges between $12-$18 apiece, the Value of the 1921 Peace Dollar is much higher. They range between $100-$170 in circulated condition & $270 & up to $1000 or more in MS60 or above.
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 1921 PEACE DOLLAR TONED  US $.95
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 1921 Peace Silver Dollar EF Details US $.99
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 1921 Peace Silver Dollar A VERY FINE Coin US $.99
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 1921 $1 PEACE SILVER DOLLAR PCGS AU 58 US $.99
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