1921 Peace Dollar

The 1921 Peace Dollar is a very special coin for many reasons. It was the first year that the peace dollar series was issued, with roughly one million pieces struck, which is a modest amount minted for a silver dollar. The 1921 Peace silver dollar is also unique because it was struck in high relief, similar to the 1907 High Relief $20 St. Gaudens, thus making it difficult to find any of the 1921 Peace dollars sharply struck. In fact, for every 1000 1921 peace silver dollars created, only 10 were sharply struck. The 1921 is one of the scarcest Peace dollars in both mint condition and in circulation due to the discontinuation of the high relief design.

History of the 1921 Peace Dollar

The entire production of the 1921 Peace dollar occurred between December 26 and December 31, 1921, solely at the Philadelphia Mint. Because they were minted at the Philadelphia Mint, the 1921 Peace dollar mint mark isn't there. There were 1,006,473 created. Distribution began on January 3, 1922. Nearly all of the 1921 Peace dollars were distributed during the first few years after production, which has made it difficult to find any original mint bags of the coin. The 1921 Peace dollars are the only Peace dollars struck with a high relief design and were the last high relief designs intended for circulation. The 1921 High Relief Peace dollar was difficult to strike properly with only a single strike of the coining press, which makes it harder to find them sharply struck.

The Peace dollar was designed to be emblematic of peace, in response to public demand, with the obverse of the coin representing the neck and head of the Goddess of Liberty's profile, and the reverse depicting a bald eagle holding an olive branch. Germany and the United States had signed a peace treaty in 1921 after World War I, and officials wanted to release the coin by the end of the year to commemorate the milestone.