History and Collection of the 1922 US Silver Dollar

The 1922 US silver dollar is a beautiful coin. Its front features a view of a young and fetching woman, while on the reverse is a perched bald eagle, symbol of United States power, clutching an olive branch in its talons and sitting atop a rock marked with the word “Peace.”

It was this design, with its obvious desire for cessation of hostilities in the decades during the era after the widespread devastation of World War I in Europe, and the loss of many lives of young American men, that earned this coin's design its name, the Peace dollar. The new design was not entirely different from its predecessor, the Morgan dollar, which featured a young woman on its front and a bald eagle on its reverse, as well. The Morgan dollar's eagle, however, was shown with wings spread wide and in its talons it clutched the arrows of war and was surrounded by the laurels of victory.

A Silver Dollar For Anyone

At one point anyone could have silver dollars minted in the United States. For a minor fee, owners of the silver could have it coined into dollars that had a greater face value than the worth of the metal that went into their making, diluting the money pool and causing inflation. Congress repaired the flaw in 1878 with a requirement the government produce at least $2 million in silver dollars from domestically produced metal each year, while cutting off private minting of coins.

The practice was ended in the early 1918 when the Americans began selling silver to the British in order to reduce its price as a commodity, which had risen as a result of German rumor mongering intended to deflate the value of the British pound during WWI. Laws were also passed that required the American government to mint new coins to replace those it had melted down in order to sell the metal to the British in support of their fight against the Germans.

Minting of the Silver Dollar

Minting of the Peace dollar began in 1921 and continued until 1928, a run that includes the 1922 US silver dollar. The Peace dollar was minted again in 1934 and 1935. The design was carried off by Anthony de Francisci, who was only 34 at the time and had no previous experience in sculpting a coin's design. It was de Francisci's wife Teresa who served as the model for a young personification of Lady Liberty on the coin's front. De Francisci had been invited to enter a design competition for the coin, which included the instructions to make Liberty, “as beautiful and full of character as possible.”

Contestants were also instructed the reverse of the coin should include a bald eagle, as per the Coinage Act of 1792, but were given no further instructions besides the wording that should be included. The coin had to bear the denomination and the country's name, as well as the word “Liberty,” the country's motto, “E pluribus unum,” and the phrase, “In God We Trust.”

The design of the Peace dollar was not entirely without controversy. After it was selected for minting, changes were requested, including a broken sword under the feet of the bald eagle perched on the reverse, symbolizing an end of war forever many hoped would follow in the wake of the destruction of WWI. The move, however, was seen as casting American military prowess in a poor light considering its victory, and so the change drew many objections from the general population and the broken sword was not included in the final striking.

The first of the Peace dollars was struck at the San Francisco mint on Dec. 28, 1921. The first coins were released into circulation one week later on Jan. 3, 1922. It was made of a combination of silver and copper-nickel and, as is standard for all US silver dollars minted from 1840 to 1978, was 1.5 inches in diameter. The Peace dollar weighs 26.73 grams. It was the last true silver dollar minted in the US.

1922 Silver Dollar Values

At current market prices, the metal in the 1922 US silver dollar is worth about $25, however, the coins are highly collectable, fetching prices far in excess of the value of their metal as works of art desirable to numismatists.

Coin collectors place a wide range of value on a collectable coin depending on its rarity and condition. The 1922 US Peace dollar, being the first full year run after the melting down of more than half of the Morgan silver dollars to help strengthen the British war effort against the German in WWI, was coined in huge numbers. Nearly 52 million of the coins were produced at the Philadelphia mint that year, and today collectors will pay between $28 and $200 for that iteration of the coin, depending on its condition.

The coins were also pressed in Denver and San Francisco in much smaller quantities. The 1922 D US silver dollar can fetch as much as $400 for an example in near mint condition, as only 15 million of them were produced. At the San Francisco mint, some 17.4 million of the 1922 S US silver dollars were coined, and those are far more desired by collectors, fetching prices up to $1,800 for an example in prime condition.

Either of the S for San Francisco or D for Denver 1922 US silver dollars can sell for as little as the $28 their more common cousins from Philadelphia fetch if their condition is very poor.