Question about Peace Dollars ending after 1934

I was wondering why the US stopped making silver dollars in 1934. All the years from 1934 to 1964 we had silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars.

The wikipedia article says they were just not very popular. Is this true? Was it because silver certificates were backed in silver so people felt the coins didn’t serve a purpose?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

They weren't very popular due to the size of the coin. The majority of the silver dollars ended up sitting in bank vaults. They actually minted them until 1935.

 

Size and weight were an issue. That and there was the competing paper currency. Much like today.

 

The only reason that the mint even STARTED making silver dollars after 1904 was because Congress sold off our Morgan dollar reserves to Europe after WWI and we needed them to legally issue silver certificates. Short of that and 1904 would have been the last year of silver dollars until the Texan LBJ thought it was a good idea.

Silver dollars and just too large to carry around. Try walking around in blue jeans with 5 or six silver dollars in yoru pocket to see what I mean. Same reason with half dollars, after the hoarding in the 60's made them mostly unavailable, Americans realized they aren't a very convenient size either.

Put it this way, what percentage of Morgans do you think are XF-BU versus AG-VF? Now, think of any smaller denomination of coin in the US issued at the same time and their survival rates. See, the other denominations were USED, while the silver dollars were stored in vaults. This is not even counting the hundred of millions melted to sell to Europe. If it wasn't for casinos in the 1950's and 60's, there would be a lot fewer AU morgans as well, and more BU.

 

Sad. I guess I am in the minority. I love silver dollars and half dollars. I used to carry an Ike around as a lucky coin.

 

But you have the "disease" of coin collecting man! Same as the rest of us. Personally I would be tickled pink with abolishing $1 and $2 bills and having coins in their place.

 

I love them too...and it's one thing to carry one around as a lucky piece, but it's another to use them regularly in commerce. They are big and bulky and that's why they were unpopular.