Share
| Quantity | Cash/Check | Credit/Paypal |
|---|---|---|
| Any Quantity | $41.96 | $43.72 |
Share
It is more than a coin, really, the Peace Silver Dollar a fragment of history smitten out of international strife and the collective yearning for peace. It did not start in a mint, but in the fires of World War I, in an act of economic peace that would change the face of American numismatics forever.
In 1918, at a time when World War I was in full fury, Germany declared an economic war on Great Britain. German propaganda shifted to unsettle British currency in colonial India by spreading the rumor that Britain would not be able to fund its paper silver certificates with actual silver. This created a run on the silver in India and had the potential of hurting the British war economy.
For the benefit of its partner, the United States enacted the Pittman Act of April 23, 1918. The mammoth bill allowed melting a total of 350 million U.S. silver dollars, most of which were Morgan Dollars languishing in Treasury vaults unused. 270,232,722 silver dollars were eventually melted down and sold to Great Britain in order to bolster their currency and contribute to the Allied war effort. Above all, the Act imposed a requirement that all silver dollars melted must be equivalent in weight to new dollars minted from silver that was extracted from American mines. This requirement led to the next chapter in American coinage history.
With the war itself concluded, the United States Mint started implementing the replacement provision of the Pittman Act in 1921 by producing the Morgan Dollar again. But there was a popular feeling building among the American people as well as the numismatic community. Influential voices such as that of Farran Zerbe of the American Numismatic Association convinced America that it required a new coin not of war, but of peace—a circulating commemorative to commemorate the end of the "Great War."
The concept gained traction, and in December 1921, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon authorized a design competition for a new "Peace Dollar." It was rushed into circulation and on December 28, 1921, the first Peace Dollars were struck, legally supplanting the Morgan Dollar and beginning a new era of American coins with the nation's shared optimism for a peaceful future.
The design competition was won by a young, promising Italian-American sculptor, Anthony de Francisci. He employed as his model his wife, Teresa Cafarelli de Francisci, and sought to imbue his portrait with the essence of new, youthful America.
De Francisci's reverse features a beautiful left-facing portrait of Lady Liberty. This Liberty is obviously modern, unlike the classical Greek portraits on the coins prior. Liberty has a radiate crown with light beams reminiscent of the famous Statue of Liberty and marking the beginning of a new era of peace. Motto "IN GOD WE TRVST" employs Latin "V" instead of a "U," an aesthetic touch meant to symbolize "Victory."
The reverse is engraved with a mature bald eagle sitting on a mountain outcrop, with the light of the rising sun surrounding it and grasping an olive branch, a symbol of peace all around.
But this was not what was originally intended. De Francisci's first design had a broken sword accompanying the olive branch. Upon informing the people of this design, it immediately sparked outrage because a broken sword was considered by many Americans to be a symbol of defeat and surrender and not victory and peace. Succumbing to public opinion, the U.S. Mint subsequently took the sword out of the master dies, thus leaving us with the peaceful and imposing picture we now enjoy.
Brilliant Uncirculated coin means that a coin was never used. It has no wear on its highest points of detail, such as hair on top of Liberty's head, cheeks, or breast feathers on the eagle. A BU coin maintains its original, bright mint luster—the satin-like or frosty look given to it by the strike process.
Though these coins were never spent, they were not handled gently and affectionately like collectors's items are handled today. Once they were coined, they were mailed and stored in the large, cumbersome canvas mint bags, sometimes for decades at a time. Such standard handling practice means a standard BU Peace Dollar can look like this:
Your Random Date Peace Dollar will be a lovely, shiny, uncirculated coin that illustrates the Roaring Twenties.
It is more than a coin, really, the Peace Silver Dollar a fragment of history smitten out of international strife and the collective yearning for peace. It did not start in a mint, but in the fires of World War I, in an act of economic peace that would change the face of American numismatics forever.
In 1918, at a time when World War I was in full fury, Germany declared an economic war on Great Britain. German propaganda shifted to unsettle British currency in colonial India by spreading the rumor that Britain would not be able to fund its paper silver certificates with actual silver. This created a run on the silver in India and had the potential of hurting the British war economy.
For the benefit of its partner, the United States enacted the Pittman Act of April 23, 1918. The mammoth bill allowed melting a total of 350 million U.S. silver dollars, most of which were Morgan Dollars languishing in Treasury vaults unused. 270,232,722 silver dollars were eventually melted down and sold to Great Britain in order to bolster their currency and contribute to the Allied war effort. Above all, the Act imposed a requirement that all silver dollars melted must be equivalent in weight to new dollars minted from silver that was extracted from American mines. This requirement led to the next chapter in American coinage history.
With the war itself concluded, the United States Mint started implementing the replacement provision of the Pittman Act in 1921 by producing the Morgan Dollar again. But there was a popular feeling building among the American people as well as the numismatic community. Influential voices such as that of Farran Zerbe of the American Numismatic Association convinced America that it required a new coin not of war, but of peace—a circulating commemorative to commemorate the end of the "Great War."
The concept gained traction, and in December 1921, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon authorized a design competition for a new "Peace Dollar." It was rushed into circulation and on December 28, 1921, the first Peace Dollars were struck, legally supplanting the Morgan Dollar and beginning a new era of American coins with the nation's shared optimism for a peaceful future.
The design competition was won by a young, promising Italian-American sculptor, Anthony de Francisci. He employed as his model his wife, Teresa Cafarelli de Francisci, and sought to imbue his portrait with the essence of new, youthful America.
De Francisci's reverse features a beautiful left-facing portrait of Lady Liberty. This Liberty is obviously modern, unlike the classical Greek portraits on the coins prior. Liberty has a radiate crown with light beams reminiscent of the famous Statue of Liberty and marking the beginning of a new era of peace. Motto "IN GOD WE TRVST" employs Latin "V" instead of a "U," an aesthetic touch meant to symbolize "Victory."
The reverse is engraved with a mature bald eagle sitting on a mountain outcrop, with the light of the rising sun surrounding it and grasping an olive branch, a symbol of peace all around.
But this was not what was originally intended. De Francisci's first design had a broken sword accompanying the olive branch. Upon informing the people of this design, it immediately sparked outrage because a broken sword was considered by many Americans to be a symbol of defeat and surrender and not victory and peace. Succumbing to public opinion, the U.S. Mint subsequently took the sword out of the master dies, thus leaving us with the peaceful and imposing picture we now enjoy.
Brilliant Uncirculated coin means that a coin was never used. It has no wear on its highest points of detail, such as hair on top of Liberty's head, cheeks, or breast feathers on the eagle. A BU coin maintains its original, bright mint luster—the satin-like or frosty look given to it by the strike process.
Though these coins were never spent, they were not handled gently and affectionately like collectors's items are handled today. Once they were coined, they were mailed and stored in the large, cumbersome canvas mint bags, sometimes for decades at a time. Such standard handling practice means a standard BU Peace Dollar can look like this:
Your Random Date Peace Dollar will be a lovely, shiny, uncirculated coin that illustrates the Roaring Twenties.
Affiliations
Copyright BOLD Precious Metals 2025
