We are heading out West this month to the US. From the picture above it can be clearly seen that I have managed to get a hold for myself two US one dollar coins. Dating 1921 and 1922 respectively.
Dollars in the US date back to just after the Revolutionary War with their basis on the then silver Spanish Dollar which was freely accepted as circulating currency in the US until 1857. The dollar on the left in the picture is an example of the infamous ‘Morgan’ dollar, so named after the engraver who created the design for the coin George T. Morgan. The Morgan dollar would start life in 1878 and initially end in 1904. However, in 1921, there was a need to melt and re-mint new silver dollar coins to be put into general circulation. New die designs had not been completed by this point, so it was decided to resurrect the old ‘Morgan’ design until the new one could be finished. Thus there was one further striking of the design in 1921.
On 26 December that year the new design dies were completed, and became to be known as the ‘Peace dollar’ (an example of which is on the right of the picture). The design itself was to commemorate the “lasting” peace after WWI and originally had a sword being broken by the eagle on the reverse of the coin. It was however interpreted than the broken sword could symbolise defeat, so an olive branch instead was quickly swapped in to be a better representation. The design would continue to be used until 1928 when silver in domestic mines would run out. The following year, the Great Depression would strike and production would be halted until 1934. It would last for a further two more years until being stopped completely in 1936. New dollar coins would not be minted in the US again until 1971 with the arrival of the Eisenhower dollar.
Numismatic Exploits 