Are all 1921 Peace Dollars High relief?

tporreca

Some slabs note High relief and some do not. I thought they switched in 1922, but perhaps it was part way thru 1921? Thanks!

Tim

FC57Coins

To the best of my knowledge 1921 Peace dollars were all made in December and should all be high relief.

Frank

BillJones

All 1921 Peace Dollars are high relief although some of them are so poorly struck that it might make you wonder. All 1 + million pieces were struck in December 1921. There was not the time to make the change to low relief until 1922.

Placid

All but a few proofs.

ccr

I`m not familiar with the proof `21s but the rest are. 1921 Peace Dollar

GDJMSP

There were two proof versions of the '21 Peace Dollar - the Matte Proof & the Satin Proof - both were in high relief. All business strike issues for '21 were high relief.

In '22 there were 3 proof versions - a high relief Matte Proof & a low relief Matte Proof - plus a low relief Satin Proof. All business strike issues for '22 were low relief.

banknote1

There are two proof 1921 Peace dollars in the Heritage FUN Signature auction!!!

Conder101

My understanding is that there were some 1922 high relief business strikes as well. Only about 35,000 and they were thought to have all been melted down but a few pieces have recently been authenticated as high relief business strikes.

GDJMSP

You are correct Conder - I forgot about that. I don't know about a few though - I only know of one - it was authenticated just this year.

Conder101

I had heard that with the publicity over the discovery piece a few more had turned up and the number certified was some where around six now.

GDJMSP

Interesting - I have not heard of this. If you can find any information on it and refer me to it I would really appreciate it. Thanks

coinguy1

Here is an old NGC press release about the 1922 high relief business strike Peace dollar:


NGC authenticates AU 1922 'High Relief' dollar - All or most examples thought melted - posted 8/14/01

By William T. Gibbs and Stuart Segan
COIN WORLD Staff

Click on image to enlarge


Photos courtesy of NGC.


NEWLY DISCOVERED 1922 Peace dollar has a level of relief higher than that on all other known dollars of that year, but lower than the relief used in 1921. Specialists believed that the coin is a surviving example of 35,401 dollars struck in 1922 and melted.


A previously unknown 1922 Peace dollar with a level of relief described as between the high relief used in 1921 and the low relief found on all 1922 to 1935 circulating dollars has been discovered and authenticated by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America.

The coin was on display at the bourse table of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America at the Aug. 8 to 12 American Numismatic Association convention in Atlanta. The coin is graded About Uncirculated 55 and is presently considered unique.

While NGC officials are calling the new find a 1922 High Relief dollar, David Lange, director of research for NGC, said that the relief is actually less than that used on the 1921 and Proof 1922 Peace dollars, but greater than that used on the circulating 1922 and later Peace dollars.

All 1921 Peace dollars bear high relief designs that Mint officials said were impractical for regular production. At the beginning of 1922, Mint officials struck High Relief versions of 1922 Peace dollars in Proof and for circulation and found the level of relief even more impractical than it had been in 1921. Some 10 to 20 Proof 1922 Peace, High Relief dollars survive, and it was believed that all of the circulating examples had been destroyed. The low relief adopted in 1922 was used on all Peace dollars struck after that point.

That the Mint struck higher relief versions of the 1922 Peace dollar for circulation was not known until June 1974, when silver dollar researcher R.W. Julian located Mint documents recording that fact in the General Services Administration archives in Philadelphia. The coin just discovered, according to researchers who have examined the coin, is the only known specimen of the 35,401 1922 "High Relief" dollars struck to survive, although more may exist unidentified in collectors' collections.

Julian Leidman, one of a number of dealers asked to look at the coin by its owner, stated that the discovery "is extremely important. Anyone who wants a complete business strike set has to have this coin." Martin Paul teasingly announced to the owner of the coin as Paul viewed the specimen at the NGC table that "I have one of these back at home. I'll give you [offer deleted] for this one though." The coin's owner declined the offer.

In an interview with Coin World, the owner said that it is his intention to garner as much attention and publicity as possible for his find before making a decision about selling it and with whom. The coin, according to its owner, was among a group of silver dollars in a safe deposit box. When asked by Coin World whether the prized specimen was set aside as an unusual or important coin, the owner replied, "No, it could have been sold as a $7 coin. But I noticed it was different from other 1922 Peace dollars and I've been looking for one of these.

"I showed it to Julian [Leidman] and he suggested that I get it authenticated," the owner said.

The owner indicated that he plans to wait at least a "full year" to sell the coin so that "collectors have been given a full year to try to find another 1922 business strike high relief dollar to prove its rarity."

The impracticality of the High Relief designs on the 1921 Peace dollars did not result in the immediate replacement of the standard Low Relief designs in 1922, although the identification of this coin as having a medium level of relief appears to be evidence of experimentation by Mint officials to find a workable solution. The first coins struck - presumably, including the coin just found - however, proved even more impractical than the 1921 Peace dollars.

According to the documents studied by Julian, the Mint struck 35,401 business strike pieces between Jan. 5 and Jan. 23, 1922, before stopping production due to the high breakage of the dies. Julian reports the Mint used four obverse dies and nine reverse dies to strike the coins, or 8,850 coins per obverse die and 3,933 coins per reverse die. Those levels of breakage were deemed unacceptable. In contrast, obverse dies used for the 1921 Peace, High Relief dollar struck 24,548 coins each, and Morgan dollar dies (1878 to 1921) struck "on occasion more than 400,000 pieces," according to Julian, quoted in Q. David Bowers' Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States.

According to Bowers in his 1993 book, a solitary specimen graded Very Fine 30 is known with non-Proof surfaces. "Perhaps it is from the original business strike mintage, or it may be a Proof that was spent," Bowers wrote.

Differences between this presently unique 1922 Peace dollar and the Low Relief business strikes of 1922 are discernable in the rays protruding from Liberty's hair and in the style of the digits used in the date.

The 9 in the date on the coin just discovered is more closed than the 9 on the standard circulating coins. The bottoms of the 2s in the date on the High Relief coin are curved, while the bottoms of the 2s on the standard 1922 dollars are straight.

The coin just found has an extra ray above the N in ONE on the reverse that is not found on the circulating coins.

Detailed comparison with known Proofs from 1922 are not yet available.

GDJMSP

Yes - that is the " one " example I was speaking of. Memory was wrong I guess - getting so that's not unusual anymore - I was thinking it was this year they authenticated it.

But if anyone finds any information on the additional coins Conder posted about - please post it.