Peace Dollar Coin Collecting

The Pittman act of 1918 made it possible to mint the Peace Dollar. Coin collecting was the original reason for this coin to be issued as proofs only, but it was later decided to put them into circulation. The original idea was to commemorate the ending of WWI with peace minted on the coin itself.

The coin is made of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. There is 0.77344 troy ounce of silver in this dollar coin. The first minting was in 1921 and continued until 1928. The first year these coins were minted there was a problem. The dyes were breaking because the relief or art work of the coin, was too high. This also caused a problem when people attempted to stack the coin. This was corrected in 1922 and over 84 million coins were produced that year.

By 1928 the requirements of the Pittman Act had been fulfilled and the minting of the Peace Dollar ended. This also coincided with little demand for the coin. There were only 2 million coins struck in 1928. When the United States Government needed silver to back the silver certificate bills, more Peace Dollars were minted. But this only lasted for two years in 1934 and 1935.

In 1965 there was a shortage of silver due to people keeping their silver coins as part of a coin collection.  The president authorized the minting of the Peace Dollar again. Congress overruled him after 316,076 were minted and all production was stopped. Supposedly all of these coins were melted down and destroyed. Because of this order, if you possess one, it is illegal. No one has ever claimed to have one in their possession but rumors exist that there are a few around.

Peace dollar coin collecting is part of being an American. Do you own one, I do.

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