Q. David Bowers
Business Strikes:
Enabling legislation: Struck under the Act of August 3, 1964, which provided for 45 million silver dollars to be made pursuant to previous earlier acts.
Designer: Anthony de Francisci
Weight and composition: 412.5 grains; .900 silver, .100 copper
Melt-down (silver value) in year authorized (1964):(Market prices of silver varied considerably on a day-to-day basis in the 1964-65 years; the figures given here are yearly averages. The figures for a given day or month are apt to be significantly higher or lower.)$0.8222
Melt-down (silver value) in year minted (1965, a year later than the date on the coins): $1.0047
Dies prepared: Unknown
Business strike mintage: 316,076
Estimated quantity melted: 316,076 (conventional wisdom)
Approximate population (any and all grades): None known (URS-0)
Characteristics of striking: Unknown Known hoards of Mint State coins: None
Proofs
None
Commentary
The 1964-D Peace dollar, struck in May 1965, was never released. Apparently, all were melted, and not even a single piece was saved for the National Coin Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
Bullion Value of Silver Dollars
The bullion or melt-down values of the Morgan and Peace dollar for the years 1936 through 1946 were as follows: 1936: $0.35113; 1937: $0.34956; 1938: $0.33673; 1939: $0.30470; 1940: $0.27136; 1941: $0.27144; 1942: $0.29889; 1943: $0.34853; 1944: $0.34853 (sic; same value as 1943); 1945: $0.40404; 1946: $0.66305. More bullion values of silver dollars: 1950: .57422; 1951: .69189; 1952: .65762; 1953: .65953; 1954: .66001; 1955: .68981; 1956: .70319; 1957: .70314; 1958: .68939; 1959: . 70609; 1960: .70743.
Silver Dollar News (1962)
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1962, noted that during the preceding fiscal year, 174,352 uncurrent silver dollars were taken from circulation, because they were felt to be too worn for future use. The same report stated that in June 1956 it was estimated that $488,650,400 silver dollars were in existence, about half of which were held by the government (see below). In June 1962 the Treasury had on hand $487,355,300. In June 1956 247,038,429 standard silver dollars were held in the Treasury, 4,775,232 were held in Federal Reserve banks, and 236,836,739 were felt to be in circulation. This is an estimate and includes coins held by individuals and commercial banks.
Readers were further informed that on November 28, 1961, the president of the United States had suspended further Treasury sales to industrial and artistic users at the 91 cents per fine ounce price for silver.
During fiscal year 1962 some $26.9 million worth of silver dollars were paid out by the Treasury Department-these were of course earlier issues.
Silver Dollar News (1963)
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1963, stated that in fiscal year 1962 the mints had paid out 28,855,929 silver dollars. In the fiscal year 1963 they paid 46,790,937 silver dollars. The mints were not able to keep an inventory of even current silver coins (dimes through half dollars) in their vaults so great was the demand .
In fiscal year 1962 the major silver producing states selling silver to the Mint were as follows: Idaho 17 million ounces, Arizona 5.3 million ounces, Utah 4.7 million ounces, Montana 4.479 million ounces, Colorado 2.21 million ounces, all others combined 2,655,400 ounces.
Watch the dollars go! The same text (with additions from the 1966 report, for dates after 1963) told of the number of silver dollars held by the Treasury (Federal Reserve, mints, etc.), at various fiscal year endings:
June 1957: 229,200,021 June 1958: 213,311,029 June 1959: 194,411,064 June 1960: 174,314,287 June 1961: 149,172,946 June 1962: 115,487,279 June 1963: 65,760,615
December 1963 (interim figure): 28,466,127 June 1964: 2,943,295
December 1964 (interim figure): 2,958,425 June 1965: 2,971,079
December 1965 (interim figure): 2,972,006.
Of the preceding totals, Federal Reserve banks in June 1963 held 8,768,069 silver dollars; in December 1963: 4,526,049; in June 1964: 57,866; in December 1964: 52,718; in June 1965: 50,987; and in December 1965: 51,461.
On March 26, 1964, the Treasury stopped paying out silver dollars at face value from its holdings.
Dollars Will be Minted (1964)
The following United Press International release appeared in newspapers across the nation on September 14, 1964:
"U.S. Hopes to Avert Run on New Silver Dollars; 45 Million New Cartwheels to Be Made at Denver for Distribution Throughout West
"WASHINGTON (UPI)-Sometime within the next four months, the U.S. Mint will start stamping out 45 million brand new silver dollars-the first to be produced since 1935. They will be issued with unusual precautions to insure that they get into general circulation in the Far West. The Mint doesn't want the 'cartwheels' to go the way of many coins these days-into the vaults of speculators trying to make a fast buck.
"To prevent hoarding, the Mint will take these steps:
"The dollars will be produced only at the Denver Mint.
This will make it easy to distribute them in the West where they are a time-honored medium of exchange. None will be made in the other mint at Philadelphia.