Completed Peace Dollar Series / PCGS MS63 (w/ Some Color)

In October of ‘21 I aggressively started working on the Peace Dollar series. Truth be told, the new Mint issues had no influence on this decision but these releases certainly impacted the demand/cost! My first purchase was the 1921, a date I’ve always liked. Nearly all of the coins fetched more than listed PCGS values. It’s my hope that you’ll enjoy me posting each coin, here.

In terms of aesthetics, it was my goal to locate examples that displayed some peripheral tone, strong luster, and minimal contact marks for the grade. Ideally, each example would present itself as a former album coin with natural surfaces. My self-imposed constraint of PCGS MS63 coins limited me, of course, to the available market supply. Stronger examples may exist, but with such a refined criteria, I feel I did pretty well (for the most part) given the time frame.

The MS63 graded Peace will typically display some contacts/abrasions resulting from bag storage and transport. You’ll note a lot of reeded edge contacts in focal areas that can be distracting. Coins with focal areas lacking distractions are oftentimes already designated as 64’s. It’s been said that the true beauty of the Peace Dollar can’t fully be appreciated in anything short of a gem grade. I agree with this. The sheer size of the Peace Dollar obviously magnifies flaws.

Limiting myself to this one grade has certainly helped form a beneficial grading base that will be carried on down the road. With these in hand, and the thousands upon thousands of coins reviewed, there’s certainly a general “standard” I can now (better) identify. That standard may swing a grade or two over time but there’s certainly some objectivity to be realized on the larger scale.

There’s a plethora of opinions and discussions here on CT and elsewhere regarding Peace Dollar toning. Like all of us, these coins are aging. While I don’t believe their coloration will ever resemble the attractive toning characteristics of the Morgan Dollar, I do believe some of the statements made years ago concerning “rainbow toning” were accurate for the time and have been used out of context in recent years (by others). There’s a consistency and progression, in my opinion, which these coins may help illustrate. It’s not always pretty…

If I were to rewind, I’d have been more patient with certain dates/mm’s and probably have concentrated on 64’s, instead. The market’s been extremely hot for this series and jumping into it at this time was tough to swallow as a lifelong collector… but hey… you only live once. It’s an impressive album/set and I’m very fortunate to have tackled it. I’ve yet to check for VAM’s. The professional images will be used/posted if available and I apologize for my photos in advance. Many of the slabs are scratched. I encourage all comments and hope you enjoy! Thank you for viewing.

*Mintage totals obtained via Redbook 2009 62nd Edition / R.S. Yeoman

 

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Year/Mint: 1921 (High Relief)
Mintage: 1,006,473
Notes: A gorgeous example which commanded MS64 pricing. Strike even more pronounced in hand. Natural, early stage, peripheral hues. Minimal distractions, excellent luster.

 

Year/Mint: 1922 (Normal Relief)
Mintage: 51,737,000 (Normal)
Notes: Very pleasing for the grade. Minor abrasions, minimal contacts, attractive rainbow periphery with strong luster. Die breaks.

 

Year/Mint: 1922 D
Mintage: 15,063,000
Notes: Subtle early stage rim tone w/ blast white center. Numerous die breaks. Minor portrait abrasions, surface residue, strong luster. Nicer coin in hand than imaged.

 

Year/Mint: 1922 S
Mintage: 17,475,000
Notes: Frosty example with subtle early stage periphery. Some distractions appropriate for grade. Stacks/Bowers

 

Year/Mint: 1923
Mintage: 30,800,000
Notes: Booming & borderline PL luster accented w/ mostly opaque rainbow coloring. Frosty devices. Absolute beast of a coin in hand.

 

I think this one would upgrade to a 64 today.

 

All of these are very nice the toning looks natural. I also did the same thing you did but I went MS-64. PCGS, all blue labels. I only need one date, a MS-64 PCGS, 1927-S. It’s taken me years but I did buy the 1921 and the 1928 (which is a MS65) first. I found some of the dates difficult to get in a 64 grade. Did you find that to be true in the 63 grade?

 

And congratulations on completing this series.

 

Congratulations. Very nice coins

 

Well done!

 

I really like the 22, 22S and the 23 has that hazy frosty luster on the devices. Well done Jesse.

 

My favorite coin, congradulations.

 

Year/Mint: 1923 D
Mintage: 6,811,000
Notes: Clean and pleasing with just a splash of rim coloration. CAC

 

Year/Mint: 1923 S
Mintage: 19,020,000
Notes: Pronounced rim tone. Die break.

 

Year/Mint: 1924
Mintage: 11,811,000
Notes: Pronounced rim tone. Slightly subdued luster.

 

Yes, I did. Trying to locate coins with a little color made it even more difficult. The dates that proved most difficult for me (aside from the 34-S) were the 22-S, 24-S, 26, 26-D, 27-D. Thank you for the comments! I'd really enjoy seeing those 64's. Feel free to post a link or shoot me a pm if you had posted them here in the past.

 

I’ve only posted a few of them.

 

And naturally I’ve deleted those photos.

 

Year/Mint: 1924 S
Mintage: 1,728,000
Notes: Coin is even more attractive in hand... especially reverse. Excellent booming luster.