The Mystery of the 1964-D Peace Dollar

While the 1933 St. Gaudens’ $20 gold coin is widely viewed as the most infamous American coin of all time with only one example that is legal to own privately, there is coin whose existence has never even been confirmed following the melting of what is believed to be all examples ever struck of the coin.

That coin is the 1964-D Peace dollar – a coin that was controversial before it was even minted – which was produced during a major coin shortage, opposed by officials at the U.S. Mint and in Congress and which largely came about because of the vagaries of American politics.

In the early 1960s, Morgan and Peace silver dollars did not circulate much, especially in the East, but banks there kept some on hand in case customers wanted to redeem silver certificates. And out West, especially in Nevada where gambling was legal, there was demand for the coins, especially from casinos. For years the stockpiles that the Treasury had accumulated of the old dollars was enough to meet existing demand.

Rising demand for dollars

But as demand rose in the 1960s, especially after news surfaced that in October 1962 the Treasury had found bags of previously rare dates like 1901-O Morgans, and those supplies began to dwindle. The Treasury recognized that it might need to make more silver dollars by the end of the decade. By March 1964 only 2.9 million coins remained in government vaults, and those included Carson City dollars known to be worth a premium that were held back for those famous GSA sales.

Around the same time, the effort to reduce the silver content of our coinage had begun. Senators representing states like Nevada that produced silver introduced bills to reduce the silver content of dimes, quarters and half dollars to protect silver interest in their states, as Tom DeLorey wrote in 2014 in Coinage.

A deal was struck whereby the senators would support the Treasury’s plans for what to do with dimes, quarters and halves and in return the Treasury would support the minting of new silver dollars. This led Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon to ask for the authority in 1964 for an appropriation to produce 50 million silver dollars, and before he was assassinated President John F. Kennedy requested the funds to strike those coins in Fiscal Year 1964 and another 100 million the next fiscal year!

Keep in mind that at the time the nation’s economy was in the midst of a postwar boom, and vending machines that required dimes, quarters and halves became widespread, especially as gas stations, which means the Treasury should have been focused on meeting the growing need for that coinage.

In addition, coin collecting was booming like never before in the U.S. after the discovery of the 1955 double die Lincoln cent and large and small date 1960-P and D cents, which led to the start of the famous roll craze and even led Mint Director Eva Adams to blame the shortage of coins on hoarding allegedly by collectors.

And the spot price of silver was increasing, which further exacerbated the coin shortage since by the time it reached $1,29 per ounce that was equal to $1 face value of 90% silver coinage.

Because of this situation the Senate scaled back its request and agreed to allocate $600,000 to fund production of 45 million new silver dollars (not counting the cost of silver from government stockpiles). President Johnson signed that request into law in August 1964. In September the Mint announced it would produce 45 million new dollars struck at the Denver Mint that would only be distributed to Western states. 

It was proposed that the coins would use the Peace dollar design to help reduce the speculative fervor that would come from a new design plus Peace dollars had never been very popular with the public.

Since all the dies and hubs for the 1935 Peace dollars had been destroyed in 1937, new models and collars were prepared by the Mint’s engraving staff. 

We now know following discovery about five years ago of hubs and dies for 1964 Morgan and Peace dollars that the Mint was originally considering issuing Morgan dollars but changed to plans for Peace dollars.

But the coins were delayed due to the high demand for other denominations, and by this time Mint Director Eva Adams opposed issuing the coins as did many in the House of Representatives due to the coinage shortage. Plus, speculative fervor emerged before any coins were even struck with dealers offering to pay as much as $7.50 per coin and collectors growing excited about the new coins, which further increased opposition to the new coins, including among some citizens.

In addition, by this time the Treasury was preparing to introduce the $1 Federal Reserve note, which could not be redeemed for silver, which would greatly reduce the need for silver dollars.

Production and melting

From May 13 to 24, 1965 a total of 316,076 1964-D Peace dollars were produced though Adams maintained that all those coins were experimental or trial pieces. That begs credulity as it would be rather unusual to produce that many trial examples of a new coin.

Some numismatic writers like Mr. DeLorey go far as to assert that the Mint and government have tried to cover up the whole story of the 1964-D Peace dollar, which may explain why there is relatively little in the way of detailed original research available on the matter.

On May 25 the order to strike the coins was then rescinded amid growing criticism in Congress, which by now had spread even to people like Senator Mike Mansfield of Nevada (who had been the key senator working in favor of the coins originally) as they learned about speculation over the coins in the numismatic community.

The Mint reported that all of those coins were melted and then their dies were destroyed, but the coins were never individually verified and counted. They were only checked by weight, which means that in theory someone could have tossed another Peace dollar of a different date into a bag.

Ever since this time, rumors have periodically surfaced of existing examples, and various theories have been asserted as to why some examples of the coin could have survived. For example, there were rumors that some examples were held in the estate of President Johnson but those were dismissed by Adams, who stated repeatedly that all steps were taken to ensure that no examples went missing or were stolen. 

But with almost 320,000 coins (or a little more than that according to researcher Roger Burdette), people continue to wonder if some coins are out there.

Then there is the unconfirmed story which maintains that Denver Mint employees were allowed to purchase two of the new coins as they were minted, which had been done in the past, and that perhaps not all of them were returned when those employees were asked to do that. But several of those employees have stated over the years in the numismatic press that this never happened.

Why is it illegal to own a 1964 Peace dollar?

Since no 1964 dollars were ever released into circulation, the government considers any examples to be government property and retains the right to seize any example that might ever surface with no statute of limitation on when they can do that.

In 2013 PCGS offered a $10,000 reward simply to view a real example of the 1964-D Peace dollar, but so far there have not been any takers.

Besides, if an example that appeared real ever surfaced it would be difficult to authenticate since the 1964 coins were made using new dies and hubs that mean the coins differ in appearance from the older Peace dollars – both the 1921 Peace dollars and those issued from 1922-1935.

In the meantime, lovers of the Peace dollar have the 2021 Peace silver dollars to enjoy and those that will be struck in Proof later this year.