Coin Values Moving with Precious Metals: Up-Dated 2/8/2021: Gold $1813 Silver $26.90

The value of a circulated Peace dollar typically varies with silver bullion values. One Peace dollar coin has 0.77 ounces of silver. If the spot price of silver is $20, then the value of the coin is about $16 to $20. An uncirculated 1922 Peace dollar is typically worth only a few more dollars.

The Peace dollar was released into circulation on January 3, 1922. In common with all silver and copper-nickel dollar coins struck from 1840 to 1978, the Peace dollar had a diameter of 1.5 inches (38 mm), which was larger than the Mint's subsequently struck modern dollar coins. 1922-D Peace Dollar pictures, facts, specifications, value and information for the United States coin collector. Value for 1922-D Peace Silver Dollar.

1922 Peace Dollar Value Today

Heavy with silver, minimum Peace dollar values are $20.70 to $21.33 per coin. Very popular with collectors, each is examined using a step by step method to identify important dates, mintmarks, and condition. High quality collector coins are recognized and separated from bullion quality.

Steps Leading to Value:

• Step 1: Date and Mintmark Variety - Dates and mintmarks both range from common to scarce, and important to identify.
• Step 2: Grading Condition - Recognize differences in preservation using images to judge grades and how much Peace dollars are worth.
• Step 3: Special Qualities - Many factors contribute to value, examine your coin for 'collector' appeal.

A review of the chart shows certain dates with either tight or large ranges in value. Key date, premium coins need close inspection, especially grading condition. Proceed through the steps after the chart.

The above are wholesale coin values. Computed from dealer's price lists with various mark-up factors figured in. They reflect closely the value you would expect to receive when selling. Variations in value do occur subject to subtle grading points, collector demands and dealer needs.

Step 1: Date and Mintmark Variety are Identified

A new and modern design silver dollar was first minted in 1921. A young Liberty fills the obverse, a tiara of light rays within her hair. Waves of hair flow from her forehead, across her ear and neck. A strong eagle is perched on a rock with 'Peace' written. Filling the reverse are rays of a rising sun. A striking design and popular with collectors.

Peace Dollar Series: Mints and Mintmarks

Peace dollars were struck spanning years 1921 to 1935. Three mints produced silver dollars; Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. Gaps in production occurred, notably 1929 to 1933, when no silver dollars were minted. However, combined total was over 190 million. An available coin today lending nicely to both new and advanced collectors.

'S' Mintmark: San Francisco Mint Peace Dollar Variety

San Francisco mint began striking Peace dollars in 1922 with varying amounts until 1928 when all mints paused coinage of silver dollars. 1934 and 1935 saw a return and ending of the series. 1934 is a standout year, few Mint State grade coins available to collectors despite a mintage of 1,011,000 coined. These are judged very carefully.

San Francisco variety is recognized by the 'S' mintmark on the reverse. Just above the tail feathers of the eagle a small 'S' mintmark is a San Francisco coin.

'D' Mintmark: Denver Mint Peace Dollar Variety

Denver minted the Peace dollar in the fewest years, five in total. Denver is also noted with the least total production, just over 27 million Peace dollars. All Denver mint coinage has premium value potential in higher grades. Many of those available today are in circulated condition, grading becomes a strong key to value.

1922 Peace Dollar Value Mint Mark

Denver placed a 'D' mintmark on its coinage. On the reverse, above the tail feathers of the eagle, and tucked close to the rim, a small 'D' mintmark is a Denver mint dollar.

No Mintmark: Philadelphia Peace Dollar Variety

Philadelphia coined Peace dollars over the longest span of the mints. It was the only mint striking first year of issue 1921 Peace dollars, just over 1 million. Many were saved, and survive today. Condition of a 1921 Peace dollar plays a large role to value, light wear to the surface is often found. Scarce year of the Philadelphia variety is 1928 only 360,000 minted, values reflect this low mintage.

Philadelphia was the first, and for a long time the only US mint. Branch mints, when built and contributing to coinage used mintmarks to identify their coins.

No mintmark indicates Philadelphia struck the coin. On the reverse, in the area just above the tail feathers, no mintmark present, confirms Philadelphia coinage.

Step 2: Grading Condition Identify Grade

A complete assessment of value includes grading the condition of a coin. Comparing to a standard for the grade begins to narrow the range of possible grades. Collectors and dealers judge condition of all coins before they determine value.

Peace Dollar Values are Conditional

Comparing your coin to the array of images displaying a range of conditions finds a close match to grade. Look closely at the hair detail of Liberty and feather detail of the eagle. On higher grade coins only a trace of wear shows, leaving most of the detail sharp.

Mint State Grade: Peace Dollar

Obverse: Features Identifying Mint State Grade: Mint State grade and condition is a coin with no wear to the surface. Original luster remains and no smoothing to the metal has occurred. Open areas of the coin and small high relief points are first to show missing luster due to wear.

Liberty's cheek is centrally located prone to wear. Looking closely at this coin a similar fine grain texture covers all of the cheek. No dulling or smoothing has accrued.

Waves of hair are fully raised with finer lines all showing. When tilted to light, Liberty's hair shines across all strands.

Liberty's neck is raised in profile with no signs of flattening.

Reverse: Features Identifying Mint State Grade: Fine raised details cover most of the eagle on the reverse design. All high points are delicate with mint luster. If disturbed this luster quickly shows wear as flatness and dulling of the surface.

Feather edges of the eagle's right wing are inspected to confirm no wear is seen.

Upper edge of the wing is very high in relief and remains with original luster.

Looking at the eagle's head, no smoothing is evident. Luster similar to the field of the coin remains over the entire eagle.

Extremely Fine Grade: Peace Dollar

Obverse: Features Identifying Extremely Fine Grade: Small smooth areas have developed on high points of the design indicating a Peace dollar in Extremely Fine grade.

Condition of Liberty's hair is just slightly worn. Mint luster is gone replaced with a light silver-grey shade to the silver. Just above her eye is a tuft of hair with a distinct flat spot removing the once fine lines.

Over her ear is the greatest evidence of wear, a larger area with smoothing on the upper edges of the large waves of hair. Although worn these waves remain separate and somewhat bold.

Flattening is seen on the knot of hair at the back of Liberty's head. Three spots of flattening are apparent with none of the areas connecting. Separation of major waves of hair helps identify a coin with light smoothing and within the Extremely Fine grade.

Reverse: Features Identifying Extremely Fine Grade: Only a light amount of wear is needed to begin fading the fine details to the eagle.

Wear is seen on the rows of feathers, smoothing the surface from the leading edge to back of the eagle's right wing.

Note: Three distinct lines representing the layers of feathers are clearly seen. Individual feathers are mostly merged with a few lines remaining on the lowest row.

Neck feathers are nicely represented along the eagle's neck where it meets the wings. Wear is confined to the central high area of the neck.

Leading edge of the right leg is now a smooth area, lacking feather detail. Some fine detail is remaining towards the back of the leg.

Fine Grade: Peace Dollar

Obverse: Features Identifying the Fine Grade: Moderate wear is found in low relief protected areas and heavy in high relief spots.

Waves of hair over Liberty's forehead and ear are now worn flat. Remaining are the deep recesses defining the major waves. Important to the Fine grade is any merging of major waves is still minimal.

Rays extending upward above the coronet are now flattened along their lengths. Once rounded in profile, rays towards the back are beginning to blend with the hair.

A bold line separates Liberty's face from her hair along the entire design; above forehead to back of neck.

Reverse: Features Identifying the Fine Grade: Most of the lightly impressed design detail of the eagle is now missing due to wear.

A smooth wing lacking any details is extending from the shoulder to the tail feathers. A slight indication of a row of feathers is just visible.

All detail to front of the right leg is smooth, some detail towards the back.

Letters to 'Peace' are worn and often faint in places. All letters remain; although the tops are most affected by wear and fading.

Good Grade: Peace Dollar

Obverse: Features Identifying the Good Grade: A strong portrait of Liberty remains with many details to the coronet, rays extending upwards and some hair waves evident. It is the overall 'look' placing this coin in the Good grade range.

Large waves of hair are very shallow in relation to the deepest recesses. Blending is now evident connecting many parts of the hair.

One continuous flat area extends from the hair over the forehead to the ends flowing over the coronet. No signs of contour remain in this part of the design.

Condition of the rim along the entire circumference is weak and blending with the field. Lettering is weak near the rim with some tops faded and merging with the rim.

Reverse: Features Identifying the Good Grade: Weak details remaining of the eagle helps confirm a grade of Good on the reverse.

Feather details are gone from the majority of the eagle. A line of feather ends remains separating the neck from wings.

Some details are showing helping identify tail feathers.

Rim is very weak and shallow, fading into the top of most letters. Letters themselves are weak as many are beginning to fade and blend with the field.

Lettering of 'Peace' is very weak across the tops. Some letters are often missing. A complete absence of all letters indicates a lower grade.

How to Video: Grading Peace Silver Dollars

Condition and judging grade are the major factors to how much these old silver dollars are worth. Images with video are used to compare your coins. Descriptions help decide one grade from the next by subtle differences in wear.

Step 3: Special Qualities Enhancing Value

Identify and recognize what creates collector appeal in a Peace dollar. A large separation in two distinct markets exists in the Peace dollar series. Coins trading as Bullion silver is an active market. A market of lower condition coins and dates in ample supply, trade based on silver content.

Viewing the above chart, coins directly tied to silver price are currently 2/8/2021 trading in the $20.70 to $21.33 range. Coins of this caliber face stiff competition to becoming in demand by collectors. Minted in large numbers - over 190 million; Peace dollars in bullion quality are in ample supply, scarcity is not a value factor.

Beginning to break away from moving with silver and establishing collector value are lightly circulated Extremely Fine grade Peace dollars of many dates. The range of $24.82 to $28.73 highlights many on the above chart.

With Silver price forming a base worth, collector demand adds a premium due to scarcity factors. Collections are typically formed assembling sets including all date and mintmark combinations. Scarce date and condition examples are needed to complete sets and values adjust. Scarcity is recognized by collectors.

Scarce dates and mintmark combinations are a quick beginning. A scarce date, 1928 as example, appeals to all collectors and is in strong demand.

Level of preservation is also considered a strong factor to many collectors. Helping support high values, collectors search for coins in high grades. Subtleties of eye appeal and aesthetics are also tied to condition of the coins. Not only are mint state collections focused on condition and eye appeal. New and beginning collectors develop an appreciation of lightly circulated coins. The challenge to assemble an eye appealing collection covers a wide range of affordability.

Nice, pleasing coins are a true challenge within the Peace dollar series. Open spaces, the fields and Liberty's face are often marred with nicks on mint state coins. Soft toning, evenly balanced, on circulated examples is not common. Peace dollars with high levels of eye appeal are scarce and have potential above bullion quality.

References

US Mint. 1948 US Mint Annual Report. https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/339
US Mint. Catalogue of Coins of the United States. https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/554591

Coin Values CoinStudy Articles

Date by Date
In Depth Peace Silver Dollar Value
1921 to 1935

Historically, Peace dollars go up in value over time, following silver prices. Popularity of the series with collectors is just ranked just behind Morgan dollars; a good solid position. Interest is created by the challenge of finding coins suitable for a collection, either mint state grades or nice circulated examples. Take time to fully identify and separate the bullion trading coins from collector quality.

A step by step method combined with the coin value online guide identifies how to value a coin collection. Discover how much your box of old coins is worth.

Coin values spanning 140 years. Discover rare dates, varieties, and mintmarks. A step by step approach is used including 'Grading' videos, images and descriptions. Evaluate and find the true value of your silver dollars. From early dollars in 1794 to the Liberty Seated variety 1840-1873. Next the ever-popular Morgan Dollar to the Peace Dollars ending in 1935.

Many of your old US silver coin values are tied closely to the price of silver. Pre 1965 silver dimes, quarters, half dollars and silver dollars are all heavy with 90% silver and worth many times their face value. With today's high value of silver; $26.90 per ounce as of 2/8/2021 your old silver dollars are becoming surprisingly valuable.

Understanding value of your Peace dollar is a great first step to successfully selling these coins. Resources helping find markets is the next step.

★Coin Values Discovery finds Peace Dollar Values and...

All old US coin values. It is an excellent index with images and text links to all coin series, from Cents to Gold. Value charts, grading images and a step by step procedure uncovers how much your box of old coins is worth.

Print the Coin Values Worksheet to list your Peace silver dollars and record their values. Should you decide to sell... use the worksheet as an invoice and packing slip when sending coins through the mail to dealers. It indicates you have done your coin values homework.

Many factors affect the value of the 1922 Peace dollar. Two of the most important are the large number made, and the move to a lower relief design. Read more below.

What Is a 1922 Peace Dollar Worth?

The Philadelphia Mint struck more than 51 million Peace dollars in 1922. This is the largest silver dollar mintage at a single U.S. Mint in history. Accordingly, prices are low on this most common of 'common date' Peace dollars. Good Mint State coins are easy to find and affordable.

What Is a 1922-D Peace Dollar Worth?

The mintage of the 1922-D Peace dollar is more than twice that of the 1923-D mintage. Peace dollar production in Denver dropped sharply in later years. Mint State 1922-D Peace dollars are scarcer than the 1922 ones from Philadelphia. Many suffered wear from being used in Nevada casinos.

Image: USA CoinBook

What Is a 1922-S Peace Dollar Worth?

Large numbers of 1922-S Peace dollars went to the casinos in Nevada. San Francisco was the closest Mint to both Reno and Las Vegas. Poor strike quality makes attractive Mint State 1922-S Peace dollars difficult to find.

The information on this page does not constitute an offer to buy or sell the coin(s) referred to. Proof and prooflike examples of this issue may have greater or lesser 'finest known' and different record auction prices.

High Relief 1922 Peace Dollars

The 1921 Peace dollar was the only high relief version of the coin released into circulation. The Mint suspended Peace dollar production at the end of the year. The pressure needed to get a full high relief strike was great enough to shatter the coin dies with alarming frequency.

Example of a high relief 1921 Peace dollar. Image: USA CoinBook

Work started immediately on correcting this defect. This involved several experiments with the relief on both sides of the coin. 35,401 of a new version of high relief Peace dollars were minted in January. The team at the Philadelphia Mint went through four obverse and nine reverse dies in making those 35,000 coins. This was unacceptable for general production. The entire mintage was melted down for recoining. Or so they said. There are three known survivors of this modified high relief mintage. These were coins sent to different officials as evidence of the test results.

The next attempt was a medium relief design referred to in Mint records as 'modified high relief.' 3,200 of these coins were minted before the only set of dies broke. These were also melted down, but Director of the Mint Raymond Baker kept two that were sent to him for review.

After this disappointment, The Peace dollar model underwent major modification. The result was the low relief design that was used throughout the coin's production.

1922 Proof Peace Dollars

At the same time, others at the Philadelphia Mint experimented with proof Peace dollars. This was the last year that proof Peace dollars were struck.

There were four types of proof Peace dollars made in 1922. A matte, or sandblasted finish in both high and low relief, and a satin finish, also in high and low relief. There were a dozen or less struck of each kind. The extreme rarity of these coins is reflected in the prices they get at auction.

HIGH RELIEF

• Satin: 3 survivors known
• Matte: 5 to 8 survivors known

LOW RELIEF

• Satin: 3 survivors known
• Matte: 2 survivors known

Image: USA CoinBook

1922 Peace Dollar: Mintages, Low Relief Design

The 1922 Peace dollar was by far the largest Peace dollar mintage. The low relief Peace dollars had a softer appearance than the 1921 high relief version. That difference is amplified by the weak strikes seen on some Peace dollar mintages.

How does the 1922 Peace dollar stack up to other mintages?

• The 1922 Peace dollar from the Philadelphia Mint usually has a full strike. Uncirculated examples can be found with an attractive mint luster. With 51.7 million coins struck, the 1922 Peace dollar is the largest silver dollar mintage struck at a single U.S. Mint. This huge number meant that many thousands of uncirculated 1922 Peace dollars were buried in Treasury vaults until the 1960s.
  Mint State (Uncirculated) 1922 Peace dollars struck at Philadelphia are fairly common in grades up to MS64 (on the 1-70 Sheldon scale). There are around 10 million surviving 1922 Peace dollars, according to coin grading service PCGS . 2.5 million of these have graded MS60 to MS64, and 75,000 that grade MS65 or better.
  

• The 1922-D Peace dollar from the Denver Mint often has a softer strike, especially on the reverse. However, fully-struck ones can be found with some effort. The Denver Mint tried to correct for the soft strike by increasing the pressure on the coining press. While this improved the average strike, it increased the rate of failure of the coin dies.
  New dies had to be made in Philadelphia and shipped to Colorado. This forced the Denver Mint to sometimes continue production with cracked dies. Many surviving 1922-D Peace dollars will have die cracks of varying lengths.
  A large number of 1922-D Peace dollars were released into circulation. Many of these went to the casinos in Nevada. Sealed 1000-coin bags were moved from the Denver Mint, to banks, then casinos. All this travel gave many 1922-D Peace dollars heavy 'bag marks'. Bag marks occur when the coins clashed together as the bags were slung around.
  PCGS estimates that there are 3 million surviving 1922-D Peace dollars. Of those, it estimates 100,000 grade Mint State 60-64, and 7,500 have graded MS65 or better. It will take some hunting to find a fully struck coin with few or no bag marks.
  

• The 1922-S Peace dollar shows a weak strike that was unfortunately common on San Francisco issues. Even the rims are incomplete on some of the San Francisco Peace dollars produced that year.
  Silver coins were still popular on the West Coast, so bag marks and wear from circulation are common. Many were sent to the Nevada casinos, as San Francisco is far closer than Denver to both Reno and Las Vegas.
  Finding a fully-struck 1922-S Peace dollar with good eye appeal is a major challenge. PCGS estimates that 2 million coins out of more than 17 million 1922-S Peace dollars have survived. Far fewer Mint State coins survive, compared to the Philadelphia and Denver issues. PCGS shows a mere 45,000 coins existing in Mint State 60-64, and only 1,000 or so that would grade MS65 or better. The lack of Mint State coins is partially due to many of them being used in casino slot machines.

Peace Dollar reverse designed by Anthony de Francisci