Need some 1964 Denver Mint history

IrishMikey

I just found out that I have an acquaintance whose father worked at the Denver Mint
as a press machinist. His tenure included the year 1964. Does anyone know the approximate
date when Mint employees might have been able to purchase one of the new 1964-D Peace
dollars?

CaptHenway

Just off the top of my head, I think it was in May of 1965.
I'm sure Roger Burdette can give you the exact date.
TD

Dentuck

Check Roger W. Burdette's Guide Book of Peace Dollars (Whitman Publishing, 2009).

tetradrachm

I just recently read that book, and it gives May 13th and 14th, 1965, as the dates when trial pieces were struck. Production trials began on May 15 and continued through May 24. They were melted from May 26 through May 28, 1965, according to a statement signed by Denver Mint officials. Burdette examines several theories of how Peace Dollars could have escaped, such as substitution of older coins for new ones.

The book is full of information on the history of the Peace Dollar, from beginning to end, and includes information on errors, patterns, etc. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about them. Here is the link to Amazon:

Bowers Series: A Guide Book of Peace Dollars (Bowers (Burdette))

19Lyds

<< <i>I just found out that I have an acquaintance whose father worked at the Denver Mint
as a press machinist. His tenure included the year 1964. Does anyone know the approximate
date when Mint employees might have been able to purchase one of the new 1964-D Peace
dollars? >>



First I'd find out if this fellow's Father has a safety deposit box!

keets

if they were dated 1964-D why were the strikes done in 1965??

RWB

IrishMike,
If you PM me the name of your acquaintance’s father, I can check the affidavits all employees associated with the 1964-D dollars had to sign.

RWB

coindeuce

<< <i>if they were dated 1964-D why were the strikes done in 1965?? >>



I believe that LBJ had a lot to do with that. He literally fought with Congress to keep silver composition in the JFK half dollars as well. The scenario is no different than the legislation that allowed striking of dual dated Bicentennial coinage in 1975.

keets

i guess the reason i ask is because of all that went on during the SMS years when the date on a coin didn't necessarily have much to do with what year it was struck in. the exception is that the Mint at least started striking 1965 coins in 1965, 1966 coins in 1966 and 1967 coins in 1967. with the 1964-D Peace Dollar being struck in 1965 i would have expected that the reason was the dies had been prepared in 1964 but the legislation required caused a delay and the Mint didn't want to make a new obverse die. other than that, to not use the 1965 date just doesn't make sense.

cladking

<< <i>if they were dated 1964-D why were the strikes done in 1965?? >>



The Coinage Act of 1965 was enacted July 23, 1965. It prohibited the production
of silver dollars after enactment of the law. Public Law 88-580 S2950 enacted Sept.
3, 1964 instituted a date freeze that all coins would be dated 1964 indefinitely.

Silver and clad dimes, quarters and half dollars were minted simultaneously in '65
both with date freezes until such time the secretary of the treasury determined ad-
equate supplies of coins existed.

19Lyds

<< <i>if they were dated 1964-D why were the strikes done in 1965?? >>



Prolly for the same reason they were producing 1964 Kenndy's as late as 1966. Or so I've heard.

IrishMikey

<< <i>IrishMike,
If you PM me the name of your acquaintance’s father, I can check the affidavits all employees associated with the 1964-D dollars had to sign.

RWB >>



Thank you, RWB. If I can figure out how to PM someone, I will try to do that. As you can see from the
number of posts, I am a bit of a rookie at this.

First, I better check with my friend to make sure it is OK to release the name.
People get funny with this type of thing.

Overdate

>> Silver and clad dimes, quarters and half dollars were minted simultaneously in '65 both with date freezes until such time the secretary of the treasury determined ad- equate supplies of coins existed. <<


Cents and nickels were victims of the date freeze also. They were struck bearing the date 1964 until Dec. 29, 1965. Then they were dated 1965 until mid-year 1966, when normal dating resumed.

So nearly all cents and nickels dated 1965 were actually struck in the first half of 1966.

pakasmom

Roger Rocks!

sinin1

if there were silver 64's and clad 65's being minted concurrently,


why aren't there more clad 64's and silver 65's?



weren't all SMS from San Francisco?

RWB

IrishMikey,
Go to your profile, look down the left side for "Allow Private Messages" and click the "On" radio button.

I understand about names, etc. A PM allows only you and me to see the message.

cladking

<< <i>if there were silver 64's and clad 65's being minted concurrently,


why aren't there more clad 64's and silver 65's?



weren't all SMS from San Francisco? >>



They probably kept the operations well separated. With all the descriptions of the coins
and planchets that got lost in presses and littered the floor it does seem that if the same
areas were used for both silver and clad there would be far more mixup; not only with the
planchets but with the dies as well. There were mix ups with both though.

Some of the 1965 silver quarters might have been simply melted. People pulled the silver
preferentially to the clad and many people would never even notice a '65 date since thay
looked at the edges. In those days almost all the clads still had bright copper edges. It
is interesting that only a single 1964 clad quarter is known and there are no corresponding
dimes.

All the SMS are from San Francisco and the used SMS dies were used to strike coin for cir-
culation.

Cocoinut

I was in high school during those years, and actively collecting coins from circulation. I remember receiving my first clad quarter in November 1965 (those first ones were dark and felt greasy), and my first 1965 cent in January 1966. The dimes soon followed,and I bought a 1965 half at the local coin shop (in March '66, I think). The nickels were the last 1965 coins to be released, not coming out until late spring/early summer of 1966. 1966 dated coins were available by August-September 1966.

Jim

cladking

<< <i>I was in high school during those years, and actively collecting coins from circulation. I remember receiving my first clad quarter in November 1965 (those first ones were dark and felt greasy), and my first 1965 cent in January 1966. The dimes soon followed,and I bought a 1965 half at the local coin shop (in March '66, I think). The nickels were the last 1965 coins to be released, not coming out until late spring/early summer of 1966. 1966 dated coins were available by August-September 1966.
>>



We went through a two year period that it looked like there would never be
a new date coin made for circulation. First the 1964 date was frozen then after
the changeover to clad the 1965 date was frozen. These were very bleak days
for circulation collectors especially those who could see the handwriting on the
wall that silver as a circulating medium was done for. It appeared that in very
short order there'd be nothing in circulation except 1965 dated coin (except for
older cents and nickels).

The '65 mint report even laid the foundation for a bill before Congress to outlaw
coin collecting. This would have applied to recent dates mostly but could even
be interpreted to apply to things like rolls of '31-S cents. Of course with the
coin market in tatters from all these changes and the cessation of mint marks,
mint sets, and proof sets there really wasn't any more reason to discourage
modern collectors: There simply weren't any left.