1922 Peace Silver Dollar. High Relief. Judd-2019. Matte Proof-25 (NGC).The Peace silver dollar of 1921 to 1935 was born out of the horrors of World War I. So great was the slaughter brought about by trench warfare, poison gas, aerial bombing, unrestricted submarine warfare and other aspects of the Great War that following the conflicts end on November 11, 1918, there was widespread sentiment in the United States for the federal government to issue a coin commemorating the return of peace. Early in the formal process that led to the creation of this coin, when coin dealer and promoter Farran Zerbe submitted a letter to the American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention in August 1920, although the idea had already been put forth (not mentioned by Zerbe) that the new peace coin should be a silver dollar. In Zerbes words:<p><em>Our peace coin should be one of good size for best art effects, and if it be one for popular use by all the people, the half dollar is naturally suggested and would probably be a common choice. But, should we resume the coinage of the silver dollar, that coin should be a consideration.</em><p><em>We melted our silver dollars, over 250 million of them, to aid our allies in the war, under an act of Congress that provides for their replacement. Silver is now being purchased for the purpose and will continue to be purchased as long as the prices of silver will permit, 207 million ounces being required.</em><p><em></em>The Congressional legislation to which Zerbe refers is the Pittman Act of 1918. Under its terms not only did the federal government melt 270,232,722 silver dollars, but it was instructed to replace them using newly mined silver from American mines. A sharp rise in the price of silver at the end of World War I prevented the federal government from acquiring the necessary silver immediately, but by May 1920 the price had fallen to a level where purchases could begin, as Zerbe recognized a few months later when drafting his letter. The stage was thereby set for the creation and production of the Peace silver dollar.<p>The basic story of how the Peace dollar came into being is well known to most numismatists. The details of the story are expertly recounted by Roger W. Burdette in his 2005 book <em>Renaissance of American Coinage: 1916-1921</em>. For the purposes of this presentation, we pick up the story when the Commission of Fine Arts, meeting at the New York City studio of artist James Earle Fraser on December 13, 1921, selected the design entries of Anthony de Francisci. A 34-year old sculptor living in New York City, de Francisci chose as his obverse design a portrait of Liberty modeled after his wife Teresa, while the reverse displayed a majestic bald eagle perched on a mountaintop gazing over a new dawn of peace. Public outcry over the addition of a broken sword to the reverse design forced its removal shortly thereafter. That was done by Chief Engraver George T. Morgan at the Philadelphia Mint directly on the existing reverse hub rather than by the time-consuming process of cutting a new hub. Simultaneously Morgan also made several other alterations to the reverse design, not the first time that he would do so for both the obverse and reverse designs of the Peace dollar.<p>With an approved design, the Mint set about preparing high relief hubs, master dies, and eventually working dies for use by the coining department to strike the coins. As it was already very late in the year production had to commence immediately and proceed quickly in order to get at least some examples of the new silver dollar struck before the end of 1921. There was no time for the Mint to test the high relief design in a simulated circulation strike press run. Even so, the Mint managed to produce 1,006,473 circulation strike 1921 Peace dollars in just four days from December 28 to 31. Concurrent with circulation strike production, the Mint struck sandblast and satin Proofs, the dies for which were made from the same hubs but of higher quality. The Proofs were also struck on the Mints medal press to maximize the detail on the coins.<p>While the coining department concentrated on producing the circulation strike 1921 coins, Chief Engraver Morgan, anticipating a continuation of Peace dollar production using the high relief design, prepared new 1922-dated hubs for this purpose. Roger Burdette provides the details:<p><em>....while the coining department was busy, Morgan created new 1922-dated high relief hubs similar to the 1921s in anticipation of continuing the high relief design in 1922. He took a 1921-dated hub and changed the date to 1922. Changes were also made to rays and hair, the lettering was narrowed and made more rounded, the outline of the portrait was strengthened, and all the As were made slant-topped on the reverse. The reverse hub was slightly damaged above the eagles right talon during alteration. This version was used to create the master dies from which were struck the 1922 high relief proofs. Overall, these 1922 proofs -- Morgans touched-up version -- may be the best rendition of the Peace dollar to leave the mint: they had sharp lettering, detailed modeling [sic] of the hair and good delineation of the eagle. These were likely first made during the last week of December but almost certainly before January 8, 1922.</em><p>Morgans work, however, proved premature as striking of the 1921 coins for circulation resulted in sudden and rapid die failure, usually after only about 25,000 coins were struck. In contrast, the dies used to strike Morgan silver dollars had averaged 250,000 coins per die. Additionally, regular issue production of coins for circulation required that each coin receive only one blow from the dies. This single impression was insufficient to bring up all aspects of the high relief design, with most of the circulation strike 1921 coins softly defined with little to no detail over and around the central high points. Even the Proof 1921 coins are not completely full in the centers. Clearly something had to be done to improve the striking characteristics of the Peace dollar design.<p>Chief Engraver Morgans solution was a series of relief-reducing modifications to the basic Peace dollar design that would ultimately result in the low relief production variant of 1922 to 1935. While the final design served the purposes of the Mint - whose primary job was to produce coins for commercial use - it sacrificed much of the artistic qualities and sheer beauty of the original high relief design. As Burdette opines and we also believe, the Peace dollar design is seen to its fullest and most perfect extent in coin form only on the High Relief Proofs of 1922. These coins, in fact, constitute a unique design from the earliest days of the Peace dollar, being different even than the 35,401 circulation strike 1922 High Relief coins that the Mint struck for die testing purposes. Those coins feature a slightly refined version of the obverse used to strike the Proof 1922 High Relief pieces, but the reverse is of the 1921 High Relief type (i.e., not the same reverse used on the Proof 1922 High Relief coins).<p>In addition to being arguably the most expertly produced and artistically advanced Peace dollar, the Proof 1922 High Relief is eagerly sought by advanced collectors for its rarity. The mintage is unknown since, not being part of a regular issue, the Mint did not keep records on the number struck. Undoubtedly very few were made, the coins being intended solely for distribution to influential politicians, Mint and Treasury Department officials, and others intimately involved in the creation and evolution of the Peace dollar design. The coins were not made available to the general public.<p>All Proof 1922 High Relief Peace dollars were produced in the same manner, struck multiple times on the Mints medal press to bring up even the most intricate elements of the design. Once struck the coins were sandblasted in the Mint, this type of finish being popular at the time in production of high quality medallic and coinage works of art. These coins are often referred to as Matte Proofs, or being of a matte finish, although they are more accurately described as Sand Blast Proofs in keeping with the method of manufacture.<p>We believe that only a dozen or so Proof 1922 High Relief Peace silver dollars are extant, most certified examples of which grade Proof-63 or finer. Heritage auctioned a specimen in an NGC Proof-61 holder in January 2015, and an impaired piece in a PCGS Proof, Unc Details--Altered Surfaces holder sold in the firms February 2023 Long Beach Signature Auction. The offered coin, however, is something entirely different, and how it went into circulation and remained there for years without being discovered as the major rarity that it is can only be left to conjecture. What is known is it was discovered by Ernest Lush in the late 1970s in a group of circulated silver dollars he purchased in Lathrup Village, Michigan. Lushs sharp eyes prevented this coin from potentially being lost to future numismatists during the silver boom when countless circulated Peace dollars were consigned to the melting pots. This coin then passed to a collector in Michigan, then to Gwyn Houston. It was on consignment with professional numismatist Julian Leidman, who displayed it at the 1992 ANA Convention. It made its first auction appearance in Heritages Central States auction in 2002, where it was graded Proof-25 by PCGS. It was acquired by our consignor when it reappeared in Heritages August 2022 sale.<p>Showing honest wear, the coin is currently graded Matte Proof-25 by NGC. In its first two auction appearances, the surfaces had a layer of dark toning that obscured the unique texture of the surfaces. Our consignor elected to have the coin conserved, removing the dark, visually distracting toning, and thus bringing out the delicate sandblast texture in the fields. Boldly detailed, the coin has the distinct look of a circulated 1921 High Relief, and there is a delicate golden overtone on both sides that enhances the eye appeal. A few unobtrusive marks, as to be expected of a coin in this grade, are noted for full disclosure.<p>This is the only circulated example from a total population of only a dozen or so pieces. Often years pass between auction appearances, so many collectors have not had an opportunity to see one, let alone bid on one. With the other examples that have sold bringing well into the six figures price range, this coin presents a truly unique opportunity for the advanced specialist.PCGS# 7383. NGC ID: 2828.Ex Ernest Lush, who discovered the coin in Lathrup Village, Michigan in the late 1970s; Michigan collection; RARCOAs session of Auction 83, July 1983, lot 1295; Gwyn Houston; Julian Leidman (on consignment at the 1992 ANA Convention); our (Bowers and Merenas) Rarities Sale of August 1995, lot 208; Heritages CSNS Signature Sale of April 2002, lot 6536; our (Stacks) Orlando Sale of January 2007, lot 979; Heritages August 2022 Signature Auction, lot 3983. This coin was once thought to be a circulation strike 1922 High Relief Peace dollar from the 35,401-piece die testing run, but the reverse die diagnostics confirm that it is a Proof 1922 High Relief.
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