1922 Peace Dollars 1921-1935 MS64

History

The Pittman Act of 1918 authorized melting Morgan dollars so the silver could be sold to Britain, and it obligated the Treasury to replace them with new dollars struck from domestically mined metal, work that began in 1921 with the old Morgan dies. Veterans groups and the American Numismatic Association pressed Congress that same year for a type marking the end of the World War, and the Treasury answered with an invitational design competition won by Anthony de Francisci, at 34 the youngest entrant, whose work Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon approved in December 1921 under the Mint's authority to alter a design after 25 years. The 1921 high relief proved punishing on dies, which often sank before reaching 5,000 strikes, so on January 3, 1922 Chief Engraver George T. Morgan began remodeling the design to cut striking pressure by 20 tons; 3,200 pieces were struck from the resulting dies before the experiment was abandoned and Mint Director Raymond T. Baker had de Francisci reduce the relief further. The 1922-D belongs to the low relief type that followed and was the first Peace dollar struck at Denver, a facility chosen for its capacity and its proximity to newly mined western silver.

Details

Anthony de Francisci designed both sides, and the later relief reductions were modifications of his own work rather than a new attribution. The coin was struck in 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, weighing 26.73 grams on a 38.10 millimeter planchet with a reeded edge. The Denver Mint produced 15,063,000 pieces in 1922, the largest Denver mintage of any date in the series. The quantity later melted is not known.

Features

The obverse carries a youthful radiate bust of Liberty with LIBERTY along the upper border, the motto split as IN GOD WE at the left of the neck and TRVST at the right in the classical spelling, and the date centered below. On the reverse an eagle perches on a rock facing right, clutching an olive branch, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM above, ONE DOLLAR flanking the tail, and PEACE at the base, the only element identifying the coin as commemorative; the D mintmark sits below ONE. Strike on this issue runs average on the obverse, with the reverse frequently soft at the center and some pieces weak at the bottom of the obverse, so fully struck examples bring a premium even though luster is generally strong. Recognized varieties include the TOP 50 VAM-3 Doubled Leaves, VAM-4 Doubled Motto and VAM-7 Tripled Reverse, along with the ELITE 30 die break and cud varieties VAM-1M, VAM-2A and VAM-14A.

Notable facts

• Specimens exist with the reverse rotated 45 to 50 degrees clockwise from normal orientation, generally treated as curiosities rather than rarities.
• The 1922-D is the most common Denver Mint Peace dollar in terms of Mint State survivors, with the typical example heavily abraded and grading MS-60 to MS-64.
• The issue is affordable in grades through gem, with MS-67 standing as the point where it becomes a condition rarity.
• Bags of 1922-D dollars were still being traded on the market in the 1940s and very early 1950s.
• The Philadelphia issue of 1922, not the Denver, holds the highest mintage of any United States silver dollar and is the most common date in the series.
• The Peace dollar was the last circulating United States dollar coin struck in 90 percent silver.