Peace Dollars were created as a way to commemorate the restoration of peace following the end of World War I. Rather than being issued for a single year, the series continued for a number of years, as three United States Mint facilities struck silver dollars in relatively large quantities. Mintages for the series occur at two extremes with large numbers struck early in the series and low mintages and a significant key date towards the end of the series.
Anthony de Francisci designed the Peace Dollar, winning a competition among several notable artists of the era. The design used when the first coins were struck in 1921 was done in high relief with a portrait of Liberty based on his wife appearing on the obverse. The reverse of the reverse of the coin featured an eagle perched on a rock with rays of the sun behind. The eagle grasps an olive branch and has the word “PEACE” below. The relief of the coin was lowered for subsequent years of the series.
For the Peace Dollar coin series:
- Coins were produced from 1921 to 1928 and then from 1934 to 1935. Production also took place for the 1964-D Peace Dollar, although all pieces were supposedly melted and never released to the public.
- The entire series includes 24 different date and mint mark combinations. The mints which produced Peace Dollars were Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco.
- The highest mintage occurred in 1922 at Philadelphia when 51,737,000 pieces were struck. The lowest mintage was also at Philadelphia, but in 1928 when 360,649 pieces were minted.
- The total number of coins struck across all years of the series was 190,577,279.
- The average mintage per issue was 7,940,720 pieces.
Peace Dollar Mintages
| Issue | Mintage |
|---|---|
| 1921, High Relief | 1,006,473 |
| 1922 | 51,737,000 |
| 1922-D | 15,063,000 |
| 1922-S | 17,475,000 |
| 1923 | 30,800,000 |
| 1923-D | 6,811,000 |
| 1923-S | 19,020,000 |
| 1924 | 11,811,000 |
| 1924-S | 1,728,000 |
| 1925 | 10,198,000 |
| 1925-S | 1,610,000 |
| 1926 | 1,939,000 |
| 1926-D | 2,348,700 |
| 1926-S | 6,980,000 |
| 1927 | 848,000 |
| 1927-D | 1,268,900 |
| 1927-S | 866,000 |
| 1928 | 360,649 |
| 1928-S | 1,632,000 |
| 1934 | 954,057 |
| 1934-D | 1,569,500 |
| 1934-S | 1,011,000 |
| 1935 | 1,576,000 |
| 1935-S | 1,964,000 |
Source: Peace Dollars
