The Peace Silver Dollar

The Peace Silver Dollar - A Brief History

The Peace silver dollar was minted as a peace commemorative coin to replace the Morgan silver dollar (1878-1921). Designed by Anthony De Francisci, a total of three U. S. Mints were involved in the production of Peace dollars from 1921 through 1935: Denver; Philadelphia; and San Francisco. Approximately 190,577,000 Peace silver dollars were minted during these years.

Most of the silver dollars minted in 1921 were Morgan dollars (86,730,000). Minting of Peace silver dollars didn't begin until December of that year by the Philadelphia mint. Only 1,006,473 high-relief Peace dollars were produced with the 1921 date.

In 1922, a total of 84,275,000 Peace silver dollars were produced by all three mints. 1923 saw an additional mintage of 56,631,000 Peace dollars. These are the two most common dates.

Here are the 10 Peace dollars with the lowest mintage...

10 Lowest-Minted Peace Silver Dollars**

1928 - 360,649; 1927 - 848,000; 1927S - 866,000;
1934 - 954,057; 1921 - 1,006,473; 1934S - 1,011,000;
1927D - 1,268,900; 1934D - 1,569,500;
1928S - 1,632,000; 1924S - 1,728,000.

** Circulated coins in very good condition may fetch a premium price over spot silver due to the low mintage and demand for these coins-especially the 1928, 1927 and 1921.

Authorization for the mintage of 45,000,000 silver dollars was granted in the mid- '60s and 316,076 Peace dollars (dated 1964) were produced by the Denver mint. Before these coins were released into circulation, someone in authority must have had "a change of heart". No more silver dollars from this authorization were minted and all of the 1964 Peace dollars were melted (there are no known survivors).

The Peace Silver Dollar - More Details

The Peace silver dollar features the head of Lady Liberty on the obverse side and a perched eagle on the reverse. Peace Dollar Mint Mark

The mint mark is in the lower left on the reverse side, under the "ONE". Mint marks are "D" for Denver and "S" for the San Francisco Mints. If no mint mark appears, it was minted in Philadelphia.

Peace silver dollars are 90% silver and 10% copper. Uncirculated Peace dollars contain .7734 Troy ounces of pure silver (24.0566 grams) with a gross weight of .859 Troy ounces (26.728 grams). Circulated Peace dollars are considered to contain .7650 Troy ounces of pure silver due to the "wear factor" in handling them (sometimes referred to as trade content). Circulated Peace dollars (and other circulated silver coins) are commonly (and unjustly) referred to as "junk silver".

To get the most silver dollars for your money (and still get decent coins), you may want to concentrate on higher-mintage, circulated Peace dollars. Look for grades such as Extremely Fine (EF or XF) or About Uncirculated (AU). If you want better coins than that, concentrate on uncirculated coins. Uncirculated coins begin with Mint State 60 (MS60) and usually top out at MS65 or MS66.

It is important to deal with reputable dealers so be sure to shop around. Don't buy from the first dealer you find that sells Peace silver dollars. Prices can vary widely and you will want to compare prices from several dealers. When investing in MS63 and higher grades of coins, make sure they are graded and "slabbed" by either NGC or PCGS.

To determine the silver (melt) value of a circulated Peace dollar, multiply the current spot price of silver by .7650.

Example: $15.00 x .7650 = $11.475

Peace Silver Dollars On eBay

At any given time, there are several Peace silver dollar auctions going on within eBay. You can browse these auctions to determine which Peace dollars sell better than others and current bid prices for various grades of coins. By concentrating on those auctions that are closest to expiring, you will get a good idea of what are fair prices for Peace silver dollars in today's market - and which are over-priced.

If you don't yet have an eBay account, it is free to set one up. Just click on any auction below, look for "register" in the upper left-hand corner (by the eBay logo) and click it to get started.

For your convenience, I have included a number of Peace dollar auctions closest to expiration below. If you decide to bid on an auction, make sure to check the seller's eBay "reputation". To do this, look for "Meet the seller" on the right-hand side of the auction page (toward the top). There you will see the seller ID followed by a transaction number in parenthsis. The higher that number AND a high positive feedback (95% or better), the safer your winning bid will be.

Check back often - you may be able to get some nice Peace dollars at a good price.

Disclaimer: I have made every reasonable effort to produce an informative and helpful article on Peace silver dollars based on my research and experiences. However, I make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to its completeness, accuracy or suitability for any specific situation or purpose. See Terms and Conditions for more info.

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