Peace Dollars: Old Silver, WWI, and a New Design
In 1918, the U.S. Mint had a problem: the Morgan silver dollar had been over-minted, the U.S. was short on silver, World War I was ending, so the government felt they needed to do something about it. 270 million silver dollars were melted town, the bullion sold, and with that money the Mint was to purchase domestic silver and mint new silver dollars. In 1921, the Mint put 85,000,000 ounces of silver back in circulation as Morgan dollars, but people wanted something new: the Mint began soliciting designs for the first new silver dollar in nearly fifty years.
The end of World War One — the “War to End All Wars” — was cause for celebration around the Western world, and coin collectors felt they knew the perfect medium to express satisfaction with the spread of peace throughout the civilized nations. Editor of the Numismatist, Frank G Duffied wrote, “An event of international interest, and one worthy to be commemorated by a United States coin issue, is scheduled to take place in the near future. The date has not yet been determined, but it will be when the twentieth century vandals have been beaten to their knees and been compelled to accept the terms of the Allies…“ In 1920, Collector Farran Zerbe wrote: “A commemorative coin for general circulation would be a novelty. We have never had one. Our special coins have all been stimulating for numismatics, even though all have been sold at a premium and withheld from circulation. A special coin for all of the people at its face value would be a boon for our subject, particularly so if it commemorates a great event and was a pleasing medallic art product.“ Coin collectors recognized that special-edition medallions, limited-run proofs, and commemorative coins from state treasuries were fine for collectors, but a circulating coin commemorating a historical event would be a significant change for the collecting market: a coin that you could get in change at your local store would double as a collectible. This highly-anticipated coin would be the precursor of the Moon landing backs on coins in the 70s, the 1976 Bicentennial coins, and even this year’s Lincoln bicentennial pennies. Commemorative circulating coins were a new novely, but with this new silver dollar they would become a part of U.S.’ money culture.
In 1920, The committee in charge of celebrating the Maine centennial wished to do a commemorative coin of their own, so the state Treasury solicited designs, and handed off the winning design to skilled engraver and sculptor Anthony DeFrancisci. DeFrancisci had a steep hill to climb in designing the coin: other engravers with significant coining experience, including James Earle Fraser, the designer of the Buffalo Nickel, turned down the job due to the poor quality of the centennial committee’s design. DeFrancisci was undaunted, and did his best to produce a coin worthy of Maine’s history. While only half as many of the Maine commemorative coin were minted as intended, and it was almost universally panned by critics, DeFrancisci had proven his skills as a coin engraver, and his design was chosen from nine submitted as potential commemorative silver dollar candidates.
DeFrancisci’s design for the new silver dollar was reminiscent of earlier Liberty-head designs, with elements of Saint Gauden’s style, but including subtle details such as the eagle overlapping the coin’s text. The coin’s name was taken from one word at the bottom of the reverse: “PEACE”, for the end of World War One. This “peace dollar” was first minted in December 1921, and went into full circulation in 1922.
By 1928, the Mint had produced enough Peace Dollars to fulfill the 1918 promise to replace any silver dollars that had been melted for bullion, but the silver dollar also hit another wall — the Great Depression. Demand for silver dollars dropped significantly, until the economy began to return, and by 1934 the U.S. needed new silver to back newly-issued Silver Certificates, so more Peace Dollars were minted in ‘34 and ‘35. After the 1935 minting, the Peace Dollar was no longer minted as a circulating coin.
An attempt was made in 1964 to produce more of the Peace Dollar, though: the U.S. Government authorized 45 million new silver dollars to be minted, and – like the Morgan dollar – the last circulating design was used. After 300,000 coins were produced at the Denver mint, however, the government had a change of heart, and the new silver dollar project was cancelled. All 300,000 were melted down for bullion, and none were legally placed into circulation. The 1965 Peace Dollar is one of those ‘holy grail’ rarities of the coin world, because nobody doubts that somebody, somewhere, has one lone ‘65 Peace Dollar in a safety deposit box someplace, waiting for the day to come when it can be sold without the pesky problem of being arrested for posessing it.
The Peace Dollar was the last true ’silver dollar’ in U.S. coin circulation. The Eisenhower dollar of the ’70s was minted from the same metals as the quarter, without any silver (although some collectible proofs were minted in silver, but not for circulation), as was the Susan B Anthony. For collectors, the silver Peace Dollar remains one of the few coins made of precious metals that is available for reasonable prices on the market today, demanding around $25 for a circulated example from the later years. The 1921 Peace Dollar, while not uncommon, was minted in fewer numbers, and with a much higher relief, than later coins, and sells for a few hundred dollars in fine condition.
political procrastination, the 1948 Canadian Dollar didn’t have much of a run…only 18,000 in fact. This makes it an extraordinarily rare coin, not being scarce due to a minting error or mistake in its creation. Price depending on quality has ranged from $1,000 – $2,500 on eBay recently. The dollar is the most valuable of that year, but all coins suffered smaller runs for the same reason, and are accordingly valuable.
her image aged appropriately as well, as you can see in the coins on the right. The earliest coin is on the left, one from the 1970s is on the top, and the bottom is a recent Canadian penny.
As anyone who’s heard the word “loonie” in financial terms before, Canadian paper money is scarcer these days, used only for denominations of $5 or greater. The paper $1 and $2 notes were discontinued just a few years ago, thus making them a bit more collectible. Canadian money has always used a variety of colors in the printing process, making different denominations more identifiable. Also unlike US money, the style has changed greatly in the past century since the Bank of Canada started printing the ‘modern’ currency. A variety of older notes, issued by other organizations, banks, and provinces, exists — and it quite spendy. As time passes, the older notes become rarer and more desirable to collectors.
