Peace (1921-35)

The Peace Dollar is a United States dollar coin minted from 1921 to 1928, then again in 1934 and 1935. The Peace Dollar is named so because the word 'peace' appears on the bottom of the reverse of the coin. more...

The dollar was originally intended as a commemorative issue but became regular issue. It contains 0.77344 troy oz. of silver.

History

Inspiration

The original inspiration for the Peace Dollar was a paper published in the November 1918 issue of The Numismatist. In it, Editor Frank G. Duffield called for a commemorative coin to mark the impending end of World War I. The paper was to be presented at the summer 1918 convention of the American Numismatic Association, but the convention was cancelled due to the Spanish Flu pandemic. Duffield's paper stated that:

"An event of international interest, and one worthy to be commemorated by a United States coin issue, is scheduled to take place in the near future. The date has not yet been determined, but it will be when the twentieth century vandals have been beaten to their knees and been compelled to accept the terms of the Allies... It should be issued in such quantities that it will never become rare, and it should circulate at face value."

The theme for the proposed coin was elaborated upon at the Chicago ANA convention of August 1920. A paper written by Farran Zerbe called for a coin that would showcase the ideals of democracy, liberty, prosperity and honor. The proposal called for either a half dollar or dollar, in order to provide as much space as possible for the design.

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