The Peace Dollar was an American silver dollar minted from 1921-1928, and resumed again in 1934 and 1935 to commemorate the era of peace following the end of World War 1. During their initial mintage in 1921, pieces were struck with Anthony de Franciscis high relief design, featuring a raised profiled bust of the Goddess of Liberty with the date directly below on the outermost field of the coin on the obverse.

The obverse’s design was based off of a photograph of Franciscis wife Teresa. The reverse featured a perched bald eagle with ‘PEACE’ below the branches. Prior to its mintage, the Pittman Act of 1918 required the United States Mint to produce millions of legal tender silver dollars, and in 1921 production began using George T. Morgans design. However, in December of 1921, lobbyists were able to convince Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon to call for a redesign of the silver dollar. Beginning on December 28th, 1921, the first Peace Dollars were struck with a mere 1,006,473 being minted. The following year, the 1922 Peace Dollar adopted Franciscis high relief design. However, it became evident that the design was difficult to strike, and after only 35,401 pieces were struck, the bust of liberty was lowered to a low relief design. The minting continued for Peace Dollars, and collectors will note some pieces are well struck, while others are poorly struck. Well struck specimens command higher prices. In 1928, ten years after the Pittman Act was passed, provisional requirements for the bill were met, and the mint ended the production of the Peace Dollar. The last pieces were struck with the date 1928, and the Philadelphia Mint only produced 360,649 pieces. Coins struck at the San Francisco MInt were more populated at 1,632,000 pieces. In 1934, after a six year deficit, the minting of the Peace Dollar resumed due to increased popularity and additional legislation passed. The following year, production ceased, and for almost thirty years, Peace Dollars remained dormant. In 1964, when the United States government stopped using the gold & silver standard, an idea was proposed reinstating the Peace Dollar. In 1965, the mint produced a limited quantity of 300,000 Peace Dollars bearing the 1964 date after initial plans were scrapped to mint millions more. All pieces struck were melted, and none are known to exist