The Peace Dollar is a silver United States dollar coin minted from 1921 to 1928, then again in 1934 and 1935. Early proposals for the coin called for a commemorative issue to coincide with the end of World War I, but the Peace Dollar was issued as a circulating coin.
Designed by Anthony de Francisci, the Peace Dollar was so named because the word PEACE appears on the bottom of the coin’s reverse. It contains 0.77344 troy ounces of silver, and was the successor to the Morgan Dollar, which had not been regularly minted since 1904. With the passage of the Pittman Act in 1918, the mintage of dollar coins was enabled to start again. Prior to the design and acceptance of the Peace Dollar, the Morgan Dollar was minted again for one more year in 1921.
After a six-year pause in minting, the Peace Dollar was again minted in 1934 and 1935. It was minted briefly in 1965 (dated 1964), but no examples of this issue were ever released to the public and the entire mintage was supposed to have been melted. The Peace Dollar is the last silver dollar minted for circulation in the United States.
History
The biggest hurdle faced by proponents of the new coin was that no dollar coin had been minted for general circulation in the United States since 1904, the last year of the Morgan Dollar series. The demand for silver dollars was so low that vast quantities of Morgans were still sitting in bank vaults. That hurdle was overcome with the passage of the Pittman Act on April 23, 1918. Sponsored by Nevada Senator Key Pittman, the Pittman Act allowed the US government to melt as many as 350 million silver dollars, and then either sell the bullion or use it to produce subsidiary silver coinage. Additionally, the law required the government to mint replacement dollars for any that were melted, with domestically purchased silver.
Production of the Peace Dollar commenced on December 21, 1921, and it was placed into circulation on January 3, 1922. That same day, President Harding was presented with the first Peace Dollar. Roughly one million examples were struck before it was realized that the relief on the coin was so high that it was difficult to strike, and the dies used were breaking at a high rate. Also, the coins were nearly impossible to stack. The relief was lowered considerably starting with the 1922 issue. That year more than 84 million Peace Dollars were struck, the highest mintage of the series.
After the Peace Dollar, production of dollar coinage did not resume until the Eisenhower Dollar in 1971. That coin, however, has no silver content, except for some sold directly to collectors by the Mint. Likewise, the Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea dollars, and Presidential dollars that have been minted since the Eisenhower dollar contain no silver, making the Peace Dollar the last true silver dollar struck for circulation.
Design
Anthony de Francisci’s design featured his rendition of Lady Liberty on the obverse. His wife, Teresa, was the model for the sculpture. The font used is an example of the then-popular Art Deco style. This is exemplified by the inscription, “IN GOD WE TRVST,” which uses the Latin angular “U”.
The original design for the coin’s reverse featured a Bald Eagle holding (or standing on) a broken sword, symbolizing peace. This design was interpreted as one of defeat, rather than peace, so Chief Engraver Morgan altered the design to replace the sword with an olive branch (itself a symbol of peace). The eagle is perched on a rock, facing a group of the sun’s rays.
The design of the Peace Dollar drew considerable criticism upon its release. A few of the elements of de Francisci’s design that drew negative commentary were the open-mouthed Lady Liberty and the Latinized spelling of “trust.” The negative response was sufficient enough that the US Mint issued a statement on February 9, 1922, stating that the coin would not be withdrawn. In recent years, however, coin collectors have come to view the Peace Dollar as an attractive and desirable coin.
Mints
Mintmarks appear underneath the word ‘One’ on the reverse, and include:
- no mark (Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- D (Denver Mint in Denver, Colorado)
- S (San Francisco Mint in San Francisco, California)
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References
Marotta, Michael E. “The Peace Dollar”.
Reiter, Ed. “The Lady on the Dollar”.
Yeoman, R.S., A Guide Book of United States Coins
June 13, 2010
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