Q. David Bowers
The Treasury Releases
Large numbers of Peace silver dollars were released by the Treasury Department on an almost continuous basis from the 1930s through the 1940s and 1950s. These distributions were made from storage at the San Francisco Mint (primarily if not entirely S-Mint Peace dollars), the Cash Room of the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. (primarily Philadelphia dollars, with some Denver issues), and by various Federal Reserve banks.
Under the heading of "Historical Market Prices" below, I reprint many dealer advertisements and auction records from the 1920s onward and, as appropriate, comment on the appearance on the market of mint bags of Peace dollars.
In addition to the hoards discussed, I must mention the Treasury policy of issuing mimeographed lists to collectors during the early 1930s. These offered United States coins for sale in various series, including silver dollars, for face value plus postage and, if desired to be sent insured, a registration fee. Shipments were made from the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. A stock of Peace dollars was kept on hand, and varied in its content from year to year. Apart from a few scattered mentions in The Numismatist, this fine service was not publicized to collectors, and relatively few people took advantage of it. I believe that the numbers of Peace dollars acquired in this manner by individual numismatists were small. However, dealers jumped at the opportunity, and several silver dollar specialists called upon the Cash Room to augment their inventories.
As recently as the 1950s, the majority of Peace dollar varieties had little value in bulk. Dealers who offered bags for sale at face value or slightly above had no market for them, as the interviews given below relate. The release of Peace dollars in the 1950s and 1960s is closely intertwined with Morgan dollars; you may wish to consult the recollections in the Morgan dollar section as well. In particular, it is interesting that as late as March 1964, seekers of rare silver dollars at the Treasury Building in Washington were disappointed and upset if they received Peace dollars instead of Morgans.
Below are reminiscences on the subject from several dealers who were there when it happened. I give this information first, as it sheds light on the availability of coins in the series and reflects the general lack of numismatic interest in the series (quite unlike the situation today!):
Harry J. Forman Remembers
The following recollections, lightly edited, are from an interview I conducted with Harry J. Forman.(February 27 and 28, 1992.)
Peace dollars were not a big deal during the 1950s, for very few people wanted them. They were not as popular as Morgans. I do remember having three mint bags of 1927 Peace dollars. I never had a bag of 1928 dollars. Do you remember Vi Mason? Her husband was a banker in Pittsburgh. He had a bag of 1928 dollars. I remember a deal we had in 1956, when 1928 dollars were worth about $7 apiece wholesale Uncirculated. He sold me 200 coins for $5 each. It was part of a deal that involved a big roll collection. There were a lot of early Lincoln cent rolls dated in the 'teens. I went to Pittsburgh to pick up the deal. When I came back, Max Hirschhorn met me in New York City at Penn Station, and I sold him the roll deal from the cents to the half dollars. I tried to sell him the 1928 Peace dollars, too. "What did you give for them?" he asked. "$5 apiece," I answered. He then said, "Well, you can keep them because I am not interested in Peace dollars."
"But, Mr. Hirschhorn, they are worth $7 each," I said.
"I don't care, because I don't handle silver dollars." Max later became a big dealer in silver dollar rolls. I also remember selling a roll or two of 1928 dollars to Edwin Shapiro. I wonder if he would remember this if I mentioned it to him today?
John Skubis Remembers
John Skubis, a San Francisco area rare coin dealer who has been active since the 1950s and who was prominent in the silver dollar field during the Mint and Treasury releases of the 1950s and early 1960s, shared his recollections in an interview.(February 19, 1992.)
With regard to Peace dollars, at that time there wasn't very much interest in them. I don't know why. I used to get Peace dollars from Nevada whenever I wanted them. I remember buying a bag of 1928-S dollars in Las Vegas, where at one time I had an office. I bought many different dates of Peace dollars there, but as there wasn't much demand on the market, only three or four San Francisco dates were worth buying. I remember having bags of 1924-S, 1925-S, 1927-S, and 1928-S. I think that was about it. I never had or saw a bag of 1934-S dollars, but I did see two lots. Earl Parker and Bruno Crossfield had a group of 250 coins for sale.
Robert Johnson Remembers
Robert ("Bob") Johnson shared his memories as part of an interview with me (the main portion of which appears earlier under Morgan dollars.(March 13, 1992.)
Peace dollars were not wanted. [In the 1950s] we kept getting bags of 1922-S and 1923-S, which we simply redeposited as no one wanted them. We wanted to get the Morgan dollars, and bags of Peace dollars were not of interest.
The Author Remembers
I recall that in banks in the area of Pennsylvania where I lived in the early 1950s, Uncirculated Peace dollars were common. Virtually all were all of Philadelphia Mint issues, and included quantities of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 (these came out in a hoard release around this time), 1934, and 1935.
To place the situation in the proper light, I note that prices in the 1951-2 edition of the Guide Book of U.S.Coins priced most varieties in the $2.50 to $5 range in Uncirculated grade. A coin listing for $2.50 represented about $1.50 worth of "handling" and $1 worth of coin,for a bag of 1,000 such coins was worth just face value. The most expensive Uncirculated Morgan dollar was the 1893-S at $200, followed by 1903-O at $175. A gem Proof 1895 dollar was worth all of $85. In the Peace dollar series, prices for Uncirculated coins ranged from $2 up to $6.50, with the solitary exception of 1934-S which cost all of $15. A complete set in Uncirculated grade listed at less than $100!
I liked 1921 Peace dollars, and remember well that most found in Treasury bags were EF to AU, often with very deep gray, almost black, toning. Some had a rather ugly deep gray-golden color. Uncirculated coins, when they showed up, were apt to be barely so. I never saw a bright, new 1921 Peace dollar. If an Uncirculated coin had a nice appearance, I saved it. I also liked 1928 Peace dollars, for they have a low mintage figure, and there used to be a notation in the Handbook of U.S.Coins to the effect that 1928 dollars were made only for cornerstone purposes. I started picking out all nice 1928 dollars, but soon they became so common that I cashed them in. I had to preserve my capital, you know. The typical 1928 would be in Uncirculated grade, with a beveled rim (characteristic of the issue), and would be mostly brilliant. These were nice looking coins.
I also kept a weather eye out for 1934-S Peace dollars. These showed up with frequency, but among the bags I sorted, the 1934-S coins were all worn, some of them down to the VF level. In 1955 I often wondered how a coin minted just 20 years earlier could have become so worn. I still don't have the answer to this, as such coins never actively circulated in the Eastern United States. Presumably, they were used intensively in the West.
Uncirculated Peace dollars of other dates were usually bright, indicating that they had been mixed into bags relatively recently (or else they would have acquired the "standard" dull gray surfaces). Sometimes they would have nasty, little white "water spots" on them; spots that could not be removed. Others had a rusty yellow-orange tint, probably from being stored in damp bags or damp vaults. However, most were sparkling and bright. I recall that 1934 and 1935 Peace dollars were very plentiful, usually very bright, and with minimum bagmarks-coins that would be called MS-64 or MS-65 today. However, back then the market value ofa common date Uncirculated Morgan or Peace dollar was apt to be from about $1.25 to $2 singly, with nearly all of this value going toward the handling involved. There was no significant premium for a bag full of Uncirculated dollars of any of the dates I encountered in quantity.