1964-D Peace Dollar

Do you know anybody that has seen one of these coins first hand?

I do.

 

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Yes.

Me.

One of the exonumia dealers at the last RACE show here had one.

Talk about ugly, and over priced.

 

The real ones or D.C.'s (ahem) fantasy pieces?

 

The mint made around 350,000 in 1964, but the president ordered them to be melted. The only ones that exist(if they even do) are illegal to own. Anybody who owns one has it well hid. One of the grading companies just offered a $10,000 reward to anybody who allows them to slab one. The mint protocol was to allow each employee to buy two new silver dollars at that time. It is unknown how many actually exist. The government would be glad to waste time and resources coming to your house to take one away if you had one.

 

Have you had a Close Encounter?

 

Call out the Men in Black. We's gotta roll up Lee.......unless he's got a DC........

 

The real ones of course!

 

I could be wrong but I think you've got it backwards.

Johnson ordered them to be made.

Congress ordered them to be destroyed.

 

It is purported that mint director Eva Adams had one of the coins saved for LBJ, and it is purported to be in his presidential library in Texas. My guess is that PCGS is most likely to find an example of it there versus a collector surreptitiously owning it.

If indeed a collector owns it, I surmise that there is no flipping way in Hades they are going to risk a repeat of the whole 1933 Double Eagle scenario playing out. $10.000 is just not a reward that is worth the forfeiture of the coin not to mention an exhaustive investigation that could end with prosecution, fines and maybe some clinker time.

 

The 1964-D Peace dollar is one of the great numismatic stories of our time. I find it hard to believe that ALL were destroyed, yet I also find it hard to believe that a few have not surfaced, similar to the 1933 Double Eagles. There's a whole chapter devoted to this coin in the Official Red Book Series, A Guide to Peace Dollars by Roger Burdette (2008).

 

:yes:Mid 1970's I went home on leave from the US Army to a buddy home in Denver. his Dad was Denver mint press operator . I did hold it in hand but did check out a Capital coin holder with Dollar cut out,it was complete 1964 mint set P+D.
I am 100% sure it was Real. As the story that worker were allowed to get one was repeated to me by his Dad.That all I can say.

 

Amongst all the coins at the FUN show I saw a DC 1964 Peace Dollar in a dealer's case. It was not for sale so I moved on.

 

I own one too, and it is NFS also.

 

According to the fella I spoke with, this "trade" or "Sale" simply did not occur.

BTW, since nobody bothered to ask, I spoke with Michael Lantz yesterday regarding the thread on "annealing chatter" and he's the fellow I know that has seen one of these coins. First Hand. Within the confines of the Denver Mint.

 

Whether the workers there were allowed to buy examples etc is subject to debate. Like I stated earlier I have read multiple accounts of one going to Johnson since he was instrumental in having the coin minted. If indeed it reposes in the LBJ Library the latter is not sharing.

 

are these things supposed to be rare!?!? if so i've got like 20

 

I've heard and read all these other accounts as well but let me ask, if Michael Lantz, who actually worked there, says that the buying or "trading of dollars" for Peace Dollars didn't happen, shouldn't we accept his word for it? I mean, he was there!

He certainly knew of them. Even held one in his hand and since he did have a life outside of his 8 hour a day job at the Mint, was more than likely aware of the Coin Community "buzz" surrounding these coins. Do you suppose that he just kinda "missed" this opportunity?

Something else to consider, these coins never even made it to the counting and bagging portion of production and any mintage numbers presented are simply calculated guesses based upon over all weights. Why on earth would the Denver Facility offer these in trade if they didn;t know how many they really had? How would they account for the trades since the coins never made it as far as a "cashier"?

Sure, folks can speculate until they are blue in the faces with all the "possibilities" and "after the fact scenarios" but the reality is that there were folks present during the manufactur of these coins and one of them says that no such trading or purchasing scenario was ever offered.

Until I see a picture of a coin that these former mint employee's could validate as authentic from their recollections, I'll choose to believe that none left the facility either in the hands of mint employees or Lyndon Baines Johnson.

 

Well, if you have 20 then they must not be! LOL!!

Actually, rare is relative to the number minted vs the number of folks that actually want one AND what they are willing to pay to obtain one.

I mean, I'd sure like to have Kristen Bell .............. but not enough that I'd pay divorce costs for her.

The last I heard, these were selling for a little over double their issue price.

 

i was playing, i own none. i want one though.