Does the high relief refer to a coin that has been struck more? In other words, would a high relief dollar be slightly thinner than a low relief coin, or do I have it backwards?
It has to do with the depth of the design. The features are struck deeper into the planchet resulting in a more attractive design. The higher the relief...the deeper the design.
Is why in my opinion the 1921 peace dollars are far more attractive then the rest of the series just like the high relief st gaudens gold (stil beautiful regardless tho) why the only peace dollar I own is a 21
Personally I like the ms 64 better the toning adds to the cameo effect my prediction ms 67 365k ms 64 $110k ok pf 67 and 64
Maybe one of them will be lucky and turn up one of the high relief 1922 business strikes. (Some 35,000 1922 high relief business strikes were made, only one of which is known today. And it was found in a batch of circulated pieces.) No it isn't really thinner or lighter, The curvature of the field is greater on the high relief coins so the height of the relief from the field to the highest points of the relief is greater, and on the high relief dollars I believe the highest points of the design are actually higher than the rim. Less widely known is that the actual design of the high relief coins is slightly different than on the low relief coins.