World Weary Peace Dollar finds Home

Only moments ago, a world weary Peace Dollar was snatched from an
ignominious fate. Offered for sale on Ebay, this well-worn silver buck
was displayed for all the world to see, notched and rubbed, headed for a
fate beyond knowing, cast adrift on the ocean of the world numismatic market.

I've watched her for days, worried that she was destined for a melt
bucket. Despite her lined and wrinkled age, I ached for her, believing
that she deserves a better fate than to be harshly evaluated for her
metal content.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3903465087

Now she disappears from the public eye, to live in respectable seclusion
with others of her like. Here, she will be unique, the only Peace
Dollar of her decade in residence at the Numismatic Orphanage.

Alan
'homeless shelter for wayward coins'

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...
Only moments ago, a world weary Peace Dollar was snatched from an
ignominious fate. Offered for sale on Ebay, this well-worn silver buck
was displayed for all the world to see, notched and rubbed, headed for a
fate beyond knowing, cast adrift on the ocean of the world numismatic market.

I've watched her for days, worried that she was destined for a melt
bucket. Despite her lined and wrinkled age, I ached for her, believing
that she deserves a better fate than to be harshly evaluated for her
metal content.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3903465087

Now she disappears from the public eye, to live in respectable seclusion
with others of her like. Here, she will be unique, the only Peace
Dollar of her decade in residence at the Numismatic Orphanage.

Alan
'homeless shelter for wayward coins'

Wowsers.
You *are* opening the doors of the orphanage to some pretty raggedy strays.

That's very generous of you.

Is the 30's a difficult decade for Peace dollars?

Jeff
(doesn't know 'Merkin money)

"A.Gent" wrote:

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...
Only moments ago, a world weary Peace Dollar was snatched from an
ignominious fate. Offered for sale on Ebay, this well-worn silver buck
was displayed for all the world to see, notched and rubbed, headed for a
fate beyond knowing, cast adrift on the ocean of the world numismatic market.

I've watched her for days, worried that she was destined for a melt
bucket. Despite her lined and wrinkled age, I ached for her, believing
that she deserves a better fate than to be harshly evaluated for her
metal content.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3903465087

Now she disappears from the public eye, to live in respectable seclusion
with others of her like. Here, she will be unique, the only Peace
Dollar of her decade in residence at the Numismatic Orphanage.

Alan
'homeless shelter for wayward coins'

Wowsers.
You *are* opening the doors of the orphanage to some pretty raggedy strays.

That's very generous of you.

Is the 30's a difficult decade for Peace dollars?

Jeff
(doesn't know 'Merkin money)

The mintages of the five issues from the 1930's are listed in Redbook as:

1934; 954,057
1934-D; 1,569,500
1934-S; 1,011,000
1935; 1,576,000
1935-S; 1,964,000

In the higher grades, the 1934-S is by far the toughest to find. Thanks
to Eric Faust having forwarded a magazine to me, I can quote. ;-)

"Recent population reports from the three major grading companies
confirm that the 1934-S Peace Dollar is, indeed, the rarest date Peace
Dollar in MS-62, MS-63 and MS-64 conditions. Even Extremely Fine and
About Uncirculated examples are surprisingly elusive."

Redbook gave a price of $1,100 to the 1934-S in MS-60, $2,400 in MS-65.
Given that, I'm happy to have spent less than $20 to save this one,
rimcut and all. ;-) They show a 'price jump' of $50 to $140 between VF
and EF condition.

Seems most of this mintage actually went to circulation, which is not an
automatic for US Silver Dollars. Many Peace and Morgans, many millions
of them, sat for years in vaults at the Federal Reserve or at banks, and
even, famously, at the mint.

The Peace Dollars that came down through my family have all been 1922
and 1923 (50 and 30 million, respectively) so this is the first 1930's
issue I will have ever actually had in my hand.

Alan
'happy host'

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...

Seems most of this mintage actually went to circulation, which is not an
automatic for US Silver Dollars. Many Peace and Morgans, many millions
of them, sat for years in vaults at the Federal Reserve or at banks, and
even, famously, at the mint.

The Peace Dollars that came down through my family have all been 1922
and 1923 (50 and 30 million, respectively) so this is the first 1930's
issue I will have ever actually had in my hand.

Alan
'happy host'

mmmphhh.

I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the scale of your country, where a
humungous mintage is referred to as a small one.

I can't, sadly ;-( claim any items of numismatic interest coming to me through my
family, but I can point towards some funky, and very intersting (to *me*) items of
scripophily and related "antique" documents.

Examples: Wartime ID cards - http://faxmentis.org/html/id-card.html
and ration cards for clothing - http://faxmentis.org/html/jpg/clothing-ration.jpg
meat - http://faxmentis.org/html/jpg/meat-ration.jpg
and tea & butter - http://faxmentis.org/html/jpg/tea-butter-ration.jpg

It tickles me that mum & dad still had left-over clothing & meat ration tickets, but
used up all the tea cards. hehehe
Gotta get them priorities right.

Whoops!
I'm rambling.
Time to press send

Jeff

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 21:16:09 +1100, "A.Gent" is alleged
to have written:


"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...

Seems most of this mintage actually went to circulation, which is not an
automatic for US Silver Dollars. Many Peace and Morgans, many millions
of them, sat for years in vaults at the Federal Reserve or at banks, and
even, famously, at the mint.

The Peace Dollars that came down through my family have all been 1922
and 1923 (50 and 30 million, respectively) so this is the first 1930's
issue I will have ever actually had in my hand.

Alan
'happy host'

mmmphhh.

I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the scale of your country, where a
humungous mintage is referred to as a small one.


It's not so much the mintage, it's the survivors and the demand for said
survivors. There have been several huge melts of unissued silver dollars, and a
few smaller ones. It's tough to know how many are really out there.

And the demand side of that equation is impressive. I think Morgan dollars are
the most collected area of American Numismatics and Peace dollar collecting is
certainly in the top 5. The rarest Morgan dollar (1895) would be considered
common if it were a half cent. I shudder to think what the price of Morgans
would be if one of the coins was really rare.

And the condition of the survivors is important. To use the 1934 S as an
example, most of the coins were either circulated or melted. Further, the coins
weren't well struck and were poured into bags to aquire additional hits. Very
few survived this treatment any higher than MS62.

Bruce

Bruce Hickmott wrote:

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 21:16:09 +1100, "A.Gent" is alleged
to have written:


"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...

Seems most of this mintage actually went to circulation, which is not an
automatic for US Silver Dollars. Many Peace and Morgans, many millions
of them, sat for years in vaults at the Federal Reserve or at banks, and
even, famously, at the mint.

The Peace Dollars that came down through my family have all been 1922
and 1923 (50 and 30 million, respectively) so this is the first 1930's
issue I will have ever actually had in my hand.

Alan
'happy host'

mmmphhh.

I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the scale of your country, where a
humungous mintage is referred to as a small one.


It's not so much the mintage, it's the survivors and the demand for said
survivors. There have been several huge melts of unissued silver dollars, and a
few smaller ones. It's tough to know how many are really out there.

And the demand side of that equation is impressive. I think Morgan dollars are
the most collected area of American Numismatics and Peace dollar collecting is
certainly in the top 5. The rarest Morgan dollar (1895) would be considered
common if it were a half cent. I shudder to think what the price of Morgans
would be if one of the coins was really rare.

And the condition of the survivors is important. To use the 1934 S as an
example, most of the coins were either circulated or melted. Further, the coins
weren't well struck and were poured into bags to aquire additional hits. Very
few survived this treatment any higher than MS62.

Bruce


It is now my responsibility to see that one 1934-S Peace Dollar does not
worsen in grade nor become an ingot in my lifetime. ;-)

Alan
'not an Executive Experiment'

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 16:03:55 GMT, Alan & Erin Williams
is alleged to have written:

Bruce Hickmott wrote:

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 21:16:09 +1100, "A.Gent" is alleged
to have written:


"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...

Seems most of this mintage actually went to circulation, which is not an
automatic for US Silver Dollars. Many Peace and Morgans, many millions
of them, sat for years in vaults at the Federal Reserve or at banks, and
even, famously, at the mint.

The Peace Dollars that came down through my family have all been 1922
and 1923 (50 and 30 million, respectively) so this is the first 1930's
issue I will have ever actually had in my hand.

Alan
'happy host'

mmmphhh.

I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the scale of your country, where a
humungous mintage is referred to as a small one.


It's not so much the mintage, it's the survivors and the demand for said
survivors. There have been several huge melts of unissued silver dollars, and a
few smaller ones. It's tough to know how many are really out there.

And the demand side of that equation is impressive. I think Morgan dollars are
the most collected area of American Numismatics and Peace dollar collecting is
certainly in the top 5. The rarest Morgan dollar (1895) would be considered
common if it were a half cent. I shudder to think what the price of Morgans
would be if one of the coins was really rare.

And the condition of the survivors is important. To use the 1934 S as an
example, most of the coins were either circulated or melted. Further, the coins
weren't well struck and were poured into bags to aquire additional hits. Very
few survived this treatment any higher than MS62.

Bruce


It is now my responsibility to see that one 1934-S Peace Dollar does not
worsen in grade nor become an ingot in my lifetime. ;-)

Alan
'not an Executive Experiment'

What, ain't you gonna dip it? I thought is was a law that all 1934-S dollars
must be dipped in search of a higher grade. ;-)

Bruce

Bruce Hickmott wrote:

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 16:03:55 GMT, Alan & Erin Williams
is alleged to have written:

(snip)

It is now my responsibility to see that one 1934-S Peace Dollar does not
worsen in grade nor become an ingot in my lifetime. ;-)

Alan
'not an Executive Experiment'

What, ain't you gonna dip it? I thought is was a law that all 1934-S dollars
must be dipped in search of a higher grade. ;-)

Bruce

No sir! That coin displays original sub-surfaces and I like it that way. ;-)

The only thing that could help this coin to a higher grade (please note
the seller made no claim about it's grade) would be a quick trip in
Ira's wayback machine.

Alan
'it is what it is'

Bruce Hickmott wrote:

(snip)
And the demand side of that equation is impressive. I think Morgan dollars are
the most collected area of American Numismatics and Peace dollar collecting is
certainly in the top 5. The rarest Morgan dollar (1895) would be considered
common if it were a half cent. I shudder to think what the price of Morgans
would be if one of the coins was really rare.


Spoken like a half cent collector. ;-)

Are you certain the Peace Dollar rates a 'Top 5' placement? At a guess,
and in no particular order, I'd have mentioned Morgan Dollars, Lincoln
Cents, Buffalo Nickels, Mercury Dimes and Standing Liberty Quarters.

The bottom five are probably harder, and likely includes three centers
of both metals, deuces and Shield Nickels.

Alan
'popularity contest'

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 16:43:23 GMT, Alan & Erin Williams
is alleged to have written:

Bruce Hickmott wrote:

(snip)
And the demand side of that equation is impressive. I think Morgan dollars are
the most collected area of American Numismatics and Peace dollar collecting is
certainly in the top 5. The rarest Morgan dollar (1895) would be considered
common if it were a half cent. I shudder to think what the price of Morgans
would be if one of the coins was really rare.


Spoken like a half cent collector. ;-)

Are you certain the Peace Dollar rates a 'Top 5' placement? At a guess,
and in no particular order, I'd have mentioned Morgan Dollars, Lincoln
Cents, Buffalo Nickels, Mercury Dimes and Standing Liberty Quarters.


My order would be; Morgan, Lincoln, Buffalo, Peace, indian cent. I'm not sure
either of the others would be top 5, but it's possible.


The bottom five are probably harder, and likely includes three centers
of both metals, deuces and Shield Nickels.


There's quite a few Shield 5c collectors, but I agree with you on the others.
Deuces and trays are way underpriced for their rarety, but there's just no
demand...

Bruce (Seated half dimes are probably in the bottom, too)