1934-S Peace Silver Dollar. MS-62 (NGC).A sharply struck and lustrous example dusted with light golden-gray iridescence. Although it did not have the lowest mintage issue in its series, the 1934-S has long been recognized as the rarest Peace dollar in terms of total number of Mint State coins believed extant. Writing in his 1993 reference <em>Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia</em>, Q. David Bowers speculates that many of the 1,011,000 pieces minted went into circulation as early as the mid to late 1930s, most being paid out for face value from the San Francisco Mint or West Coast banks. Dealers and other numismatists active in the market of the 1940s paid little attention to the 1934-S, falsely believing that thousands of Mint State coins were still safely tucked away in vaults at the San Francisco Mint. When such pieces failed to emerge during the 1950s or early to mid 1960s, the key date status of the 1934-S in Uncirculated preservation was solidified.From the Claudia St John Collection. Earlier ex Leonard Sitar Collection.
