Minted between 1921 and 1928, and again between 1934 and 1935, the Peace Dollar was the last silver dollar minted in the United States.

The Pittman Act of 1918 required that up to 350 million silver dollars be converted into bullion and that for each coin that was converted, a new one had to be minted.  More than 270 million silver dollars — nearly have of all that were ever struck — were melted down.  Paving the way for an equal number of new coins.

The popular Morgan Silver Dollar hadn’t been minted since 1904.  But to comply with the Pittman Act, 86 million Morgan Silver Dollars were produced in 1921.  But a movement was afoot to design a coin that would commemorate the end of World War I.

As the Mint’s chief engraver, George T. Morgan — the designer of the Morgan Silver Dollar — was the likely choice to design the new coin.  But President Warren G. Harding ordered than an open competition be held sponsored by the Commission of Fine Arts.

Nine artists entered the competition, including the designers of the Lincoln Penny, the Mercury Dime, and the Standing Liberty Quarter.  The design of an Italian immigrant named Anthony de Francisci carried the day.  Francisci’s wife was the model for Lady Liberty and his initials are visible under her neck.  Also an immigrant from Italy, she considered modeling for the coin the culmination of a lifelong dream.

The Peace Dollar is so named because the word “peace” appears at the base of the rock on which the eagle is perched.  Morgan did have a hand in the design.  He replaced the broken sword in the eagle’s beak with a more pacifist olive branch.

The first Peace Dollars were minted on December 26, 1921, but there were problems with the design.  The relief of the coin was so high that the dies used to produce it were breaking at record pace.  And the coins didn’t stack well.   The next year, the design was modified to lower the relief.

In 1928, the number of new silver dollars produced finally equaled the number melted down in compliance with the Pittman Act, and production stopped.   To back up existing silver certificates — paper dollars that could be redeemed for silver — some additional Peace Silver Dollars were minted between 1934 and 1935.

In May of 1964, 316,000 Peace Silver Dollars were struck in Denver.  But by order of Congress, all those coins were melted down.  There are rumors that there are still some in existence, but owning them is illegal.

Several Peace Dollars are valuable.  Extra-fine 1921, 1928-P, and 1934-S Peace Dollars are worth a bundle.   And extra-fine 1925 and 1928-S are also valuable.

Read more about the history of U.S. silver dollars here.

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Although the Massachusetts Bay Colony began issuing paper money in 1690, the British Currency Act of 1764 made it illegal for any of the colonies to print their own money.

As a result, many foreign currencies were circulated in America prior to the Revolutionary War.   Coins from Europe, especially the Spanish silver dollars known as “pieces of eight,”  were relatively common.   And these coins, minted in Mexico from Central and South American silver, were legal tender in the United States until 1857.

The British Currency Act also required colonists to pay their taxes to Britain in gold or silver, a hardship which contributed to the unrest that led to the war.   By 1774, the colonists were dumping tea in Boston harbor.  And by 1775, the Continental Congress began issuing paper money — the Continental — in order to finance the war.

Because of public and political mistrust of paper money — even Jefferson went on record against it — and the absence of solid financial backing, the Continental was never widely adopted.  The French promised to send silver bullion for the production of American coins, and printing of the one-dollar notes ceased.

But the bullion never arrived from France.   And in 1776, the Continental Congress authorized production of the first silver coin.  The financial strain of the war sidelined the initiative and a circulating silver coin was not produced at that time.

During the 1780s, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, and Connecticut were all producing copper coins.   By 1792, the currency situation in the newly formed states was a disaster.  So one of Congress’s first orders of business was tackling it.

The Coinage Act of 1792 authorized a salary for the Director of the Mint and established standards for new coins, such as inclusion of the words “United States of America” and the year of the coinage.  The first stone was laid for the first American mint that summer in Philadelphia.

Without a steady supply of bullion, coin production and circulation was spotty.   But on October 15, 1794, the Mint released the first 1,758 U.S. silver dollars.   The silver dollars minted between 1794 and 1795 are known as the Flowing Hair variety.  Those produced between 1795 and 1804 are the Draped Bust variety.

They were produced in varying quantities until 1806 when President Thomas Jefferson suspended production.

Since 1794, the United States has produced five other silver dollars: The 1804 Silver Dollar — one of the rarest coins in the world, the Seated Liberty Silver Dollar, the Trade Dollar, the Morgan Silver Dollar, and the Peace Dollar.

Read more about U.S. Trade silver dollars here.

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