Q. David Bowers
Quality of Strike
While many coins are lightly struck on the reverse-the San Francisco issues of the 1920s being particularly egregious in this regard-from the stand-point of striking the most notorious issue is the 1921 Peace dollar. The vast majority of these lack hair strand details at the center of the obverse, and most lack feather details on the reverse. Even a better struck specimen showing feather details on the reverse is apt to be struck lightly on the obverse. A sharply struck 1921 showing full hair detail at the center of the obverse and full feather detail in the reverse is a rare bird and is definitely worth a premium.
Certification services consider striking as just one of several factors. If you buy an MS-63 (or other grade) 1921 Peace dollar, you have no way of knowing if it is well struck until you look at it. Chances are that it is not. In a way this can accrue to your benefit, inasmuch as if you are patient you might be able to locate a better struck piece for a relatively small extra premium. A sharply struck 1921 Peace dollar is dozens of times rarer than an ordinary one, indeed probably 100 times rarer, but may be priced at just 50% to 100% more.
Among other Peace dollars, striking varies, as noted in the individual descriptions of date and mintmark issues on later pages. Don't be overly fussy or you'll never complete your collection. On the other hand, if a Peace dollar normally comes fairly well struck, buy one in this category. If it nearly always comes weakly struck, settle for this, but concentrate on other positive aspects-such as having nice lustre, brilliant surfaces, etc. There is no hurry to complete a collection of Peace dollars; enough of them are around that they will be available during your lifetime.
Circulated Peace Dollars
I have recommended MS-63 and MS-64 Peace dollars as personal favorites, and encourage you to buy coins of this quality, or even MS-65 (taking note that much cherrypicking must be done especially at the MS-65 level), because I find that Peace dollars in lesser grades are apt to be fairly unattractive. Such grades as EF-45 and AU-55 are suitable for those on a budget, but lack much of the beauty that higher grade pieces do. MS-60 coins are apt to be unappealing as well, although there are exceptions.
If there is a single word to use as a guideline when collecting Peace dollars it is this: aesthetics. Please be sure that any Peace dollar you buy looks nice, regardless of the grade. For my money, and yours too, an aesthetically pleasing MS-63 is far better than a dingy MS-65. Be a connoisseur and spend your money wisely.
Additional Quality Considerations
Although choice Uncirculated specimens of 1934 and 1935 dollars of various dates are seen with some frequency and often have very attractive surfaces, in general the earlier issues, particularly those of branch mints, are relatively difficult to find. The design of the Peace dollar is such that even a small amount of contact with other coins in a bag tends to disfigure the fields. In comparison to Morgan silver dollars, choice Uncirculated Peace dollars are very elusive. Grading these pieces is very difficult, and experts often disagree on precisely what constitutes an MS-60 as opposed to an MS-63 or an MS-65.
If the dies in a coining press were spaced ever slightly too far apart, the Peace dollars minted in that press would not strikeup fully at the center. This is most evident at the center of the obverse and, in particular, on the body of the eagle at the center of the reverse. A coin can be fully lustrous and frosty in the fields, with very few bagmarks, and yet the body of the eagle can appear nicked, dull, and otherwise scruffy, due to not being fully struck up. As noted earlier, the explanation is that the surface on the eagle's body represents the surface of the original planchet, and as that part of the planchet has not been forced into the deepest recesses of the die, the nicks, marks, etc., on the original planchet before coining are still visible.
Peace dollar die pairs had an average working life of 500,000 coins. As a result, some coins struck toward the end of a die's use are apt to show indistinct features near the rims (the area of greatest metal movement as the planchet is struck), evidence of resurfacing (grinding or polishing marks, bright patches in the fields, etc.), and/or die breaks.
I like the Peace dollar design. Wayne Miller doesn't. Collect what you like.
In my opinion, a nicely struck, lustrous Peace dollar can be an object of rare beauty. The problem is that so many coins are unattractive. Perhaps nowhere in silver dollar collecting is cherrypicking so essential as it is in the Peace dollar series. The difference in aesthetic appeal between two coins, each graded MS-65, can be almost like the difference between night and day.
Proof Peace Dollars
While production of Peace dollars from 1921 through 1935, and again with the 1964-dated issues, was strictly for business-strike purposes, a few Matte Proof 1921 dollars were struck. Similarly, a few 1922 Peace dollars with high relief were made with a special Matte Proof finish and a few low-relief 1922 Matte Proofs were made.
In the 1970s it was a popular pastime to take Mint State business strike 1921 and 1922 Peace dollars (the 1922 issues being of the low-relief style), pieces with exceptionally satiny surfaces, and sell them to investors as "presentation Proofs." Some of these investors had the foresight to submit them to the American Numismatic Association Certification Service for checking. During one visit there in the early 1980s I was told that in a recent month nearly a half dozen pieces had been seen by the ANACS staff, submitted by as many different people! Not a single one was a true Proof in the opinion of the experts.
One phony "Matte Proof' 1921 Peace dollar was probably created somewhat in the following manner: A decently struck specimen was found. It was taken to a machinist, who fastened it in a jig and evenly removed metal from the obverse and reverse rims, giving each a flat appearance (instead of the normal slightly rounded shape). The coin was then coated with wax on the reeding, to prevent the action of acid on that part, and was dipped in an acid bath. (Alternatively, sandblasting will accomplish the same thing.) The result is a fairly passable "Matte Proof' or "Sandblast Proof' dollar. The same process works with commemorative half dollars, etc.
I mention this not to encourage a legion of would-be Proof-makers, but to warn readers as to what can happen. Never but never buy a Proof Peace dollar without having it certified and guaranteed.
Prooflike Peace dollars are extremely rare. These are believed to have originated from polishing dies, in part or the whole, to remove defects or clash marks. They were not produced consistently, and are often apt to be prooflike in one area of the coin and not another. Prooflike Peace dollars are not widely sought after today, nor are they necessarily more desirable than coins with frosty finishes.