Peace Dollar VAM facts

terryi2o
Here's some interesting facts on the Peace dollar series.
There are 24 coins in the series
The Peace Series is exactly 1/4 that of the Morgan series (96 coins)
Specification's:
0.77344 Troy ounces Silver
weight, 26.73 grams (412.5 grains)
diameter: 38.1 mm (1.5")
thickness: 2.0 mm (0.78740")
composition: .900 Silver .100 Copper
reeded edge (189)
The Peace dollar was minted between 1921 and 1928 and after a five year pause, again in 1934 and 1935
Total Minted: 190,577,279
Mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco
Most Peace Dollars Minted by date: 1922-p, 51,737,000
Highest Dollar Mintages in Comparison:
Flowing Hair Dollar 1794-1795, 1795 all kinds 160,295
Draped Bust Dollar 1795-1804, 1798 Small Eagle Reverse, all kinds, 327,536
Draped Bust Dollar, Heraldic Reverse, 1799 all kinds, 423,515
Gobrecht Dollar 1836-1839, 1836, 1000
Seated Liberty Dollar 1840-1873, 1842 without motto, 184,618
Seated Liberty Dollar, with motto 1872, 1,106,450
Trade Dollar 1873-1885, 1877-s, 9,519,000
Morgan Dollar 1878-1904 and 1921, before 1921, 1889-p, 21,726,811
Morgan Dollar after 1904, 1921-p, 44,690,000
Eisenhower Dollar 1971-1978, 1971-1976 40% silver, 1776-1976-p Bicentennial Variety 2, 117,337,000 (1977 and 1978 non-silver)
Anthony Dollar 1979-1981, 1979-p 360,222,000 (non-silver)
Silver Eagle 1986 to present (not-circulated) to date, 2009, 30,459,00
Sacagawea 2000 to present (non-silver) to date, 2000, a staggering 767,150,000-p and 518,920,000-d totaling 1.286 Billion
Presidential 2007 to present (non-silver) to date, 2007-p George Washington, 176,680,000.... the first issue in the series!
On April 2, 1792, the first Silver Dollar was authorized by Congress and in 1794 the first Silver Dollars were issued. From 1794 until 1804, Silver Dollars had a fineness of 892.4 fine and a weight of 416 grains. On January 18, 1837, by law, the weight and fineness of all Silver Dollars were changed to a fineness of.900 fine and a weight of 412 1/2 grains. The exception was the Trade Dollar, minted from 1873 until 1885 and primarily meant for trade in the Orient. Its weight was 420 grains or 27.22 grams and had a net weight of .7874 oz. of pure Silver, compared to the standard Silver Dollar weight of 412 1/2 grains or 26.73 grams and .77344 oz. of pure Silver. Until July 1876, the Trade Dollar was legal tender in the U.S. and could be redeemed for $5.00. After 1876, it continued to circulate in the United States but only at face value even though it had been demonetized as U.S. currency.
Between 1804 and 1835 no Silver Dollars were minted, although original Dollars dated 1804 are believed to have been minted in 1834 or 1835 for presentation proof sets.
From 1794 through 1921, a total of 127 years and 6 Silver Dollar series including the Morgan Dollar, 78,139,225 Silver Dollars of each of the highest years of mintage were minted, of those, 66,416,811 were the combined mintages of the 1889-p and 1921-p Morgan Dollar! Consider that the 1922-p and 1923-p Peace Dollars together, in only a two year period had a mintage of 82,537,000 which total 43.31% of all the Peace Dollars Minted.
Gold Dollars were minted from 1849 through 1889 and include the Liberty Head Type 1, (1849-1854) Indian Head Type 2, (1854-1856) and the Indian Head Type 3, (1856-1889) Highest mintage for the Gold Dollar in any one year was the 1853 Liberty Head Type 1 at 4,076,051 pieces.
The 1922-p Peace dollar (51,737,000) has the distinction of having the highest mintage of any coin in the Morgan or Peace series. The 1921-p Morgan being second with a mintage of 44,690,000. Until production of the 1971-d Eisenhower dollar of 68,587,424 pieces minted, the 1922-p Peace dollar had the highest single year mintage of any dollar. Currently, the 2000-p Sacagewea at 767,150,000 minted and the 2000-d Sacagewea at 518,920,000 minted are number 1 and 2 respectively and together total, 1,286,170,000 pieces.
The combined total of all Morgan dollars minted from 1878 to 1904 and again in 1921 (657,002,781) and the combined total of all Peace dollars produced between 1921 and 1928 and again in 1934 and 1935 (190,577,279) a grand total of 847,580,060 over a 38 year span is surpassed by the whopping one year total of the Sacawagea dollar of 1,286,170,000, a difference of 438,589,940, which represents over half of all Morgan and Peace dollars ever minted.
Peace dollar, lowest mintage by year:
1921, p,...... 1,006,473 (1 mint) cumulative average, 1,006,473 (#3 lowest in the series)
1928, p,s,... 1,992,649 (2 mints) cumulative average, 996,324, (#2 lowest in the series)
1927, p,d,s,. 2,982,900 (3 mints) cumulative average, 994,300, (#1 lowest in the series)
Most Peace dollars minted by date, 1922-p, 51,737,000 (as noted above)
Least Peace Dollars Minted by date: 1928-p, 360,649
Highest Denver mintage, 1922-d, 15,063,000
Lowest Denver mintage: 1927-d, 1,268,900
Highest San Francisco mintage, 1923-s, 19,020,000
Lowest San Francisco mintage, 1927-s, 848,000
Total Number Of Top-50 VAMs For The Series: 69
Total Number of VAMs For Entire Series: 912 (approx)
Most VAMs Attributed For A Date: 1922-p, 198 (approx)
Most Top-50's for A Date: 1922-p, 19
Least Number Of VAMs Attributed for a Date: 1928-p, 2
Least Number of Top-50's For A Date: 0, 1926-d,1928-p,1934-p,1935-p
Highest Ratio VAMs to Top-50: 1927-p, 1 in 3 (3 VAMs Listed For 27-p)
Heres a complete list of all 24 dates and mint marks with there VAM numbers and Top-50 numbers. (Updated Aug. 2011)
1921-p, VAMs... 28, Top-50.. 1, VAM-3
1922-p, VAMs. 214, Top-50. 19, VAM-1A, 1F, 2A, 2C, 2E2, 2F, 4, 5, 5A, 5A1, 5A2, 5A3, 6, 6A, 7, 7A, 7B, 8, 12A
1922-d, VAMs. 135, Top 50... 6, VAM-3, 3A, 4, 7, 7A, 7B
1922-s, VAMs... 70, Top 50... 1, VAM-3
1923-p, VAMs..101, Top 50. 11, VAM-1A, 1A2, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1O, 2, 2A, 3
1923-d, VAMs... 89, Top 50... 1, VAM-2
1923-s, VAMs... 89, Top 50... 1, VAM-1C
1924-p, VAMs... 77, Top 50... 5, VAM-1A,1A2, 2, 5A, 8A
1924-s, VAMs... 15, Top 50... 1, VAM-3
1925-p, VAMs... 55, Top 50... 4, VAM-1A, 1A2, 3, 1T
1925-s, VAMs... 22, Top 50... 3, VAM-2, 3, 3A
1926-p, VAMs... 13, Top 50... 2, VAM-2, 2A
1926-d, VAMs..... 7, Top 50... 0, no Top-50 listed
1926-s, VAMs... 57, Top 50... 4, VAM-4, 4A, 5, 5A
1927-p, VAMs..... 4, Top 50... 1, VAM-2
1927-d, VAMs..... 4, Top 50... 1, VAM-2
1927-s, VAMs... 14, Top 50... 1, VAM-3
1928-p, VAMs..... 2, Top 50... 0, no Top-50 listed
1928-s, VAMs... 16, Top 50... 2, VAM-3, 3A
1934-p, VAMs..... 4, Top 50... 0, no Top-50 listed
1934-d, VAMs... 17, Top 50... 2, VAM-3, 4
1934-s, VAMs..... 4, Top 50... 1, VAM-3
1935-p, VAMs..... 7, Top 50... 0, no Top-50 listed
1935-s, VAMs..... 9, Top 50... 1, VAM-4
Total # of VAMs 1053
As noted above, only 4 coins in the Peace series have no top 50 VAMs listed, the 1926-d, 1928-p, 1934-p and 1935-p (as of Oct. 2010)
The 28-p, 27-p, 27-s, 34-p all have mintages under 1 million
The 21-p, 24-s, 25-s, 26-p, 27-d, 28-s, 34-d, 34-s, 35-p, 35-s, all have mintages under 2 million and combined with the above coins with under 1 million and adding the 26-d with 2.3 million, these 15 coins (20,682,279) account for less then 10.9% of the total of Peace dollars minted.
The 1922-p and 23-p together (82,537,000), account for almost 44% of the 190,577,279 total number of Peace dollars minted!
Total 1922 pieces minted, (p,d,s) 84,275,000, combined with the 1923 mintage (p,d,s) 56,631,000 is a whopping 140,906,000, nearly 74% of all Peace dollars minted! In comparison, the Morgan dollar of 1921 (p,d,s) had a total mintage of 86,730,000, 13.2% of the total mintage of all Morgan dollars, (657,002,781)
In the Peace Dollar series, the average number of coins minted per year (10), based on the total mintage of 190,577,279 is 19,057,728. The average, per date and mint mark (24) is, 7,940,720. Using the Morgan Dollar in comparison, with a total mintage of 657,002,781, the average number of coins minted per year (28) is, 23,464,385, and the average per date and mint mark (96) is, 6,843,778. If you consider that under the terms of the Pittman Act of 1918, 270,232,722, (most if not all) Morgan Dollars, dated between 1878 and 1904 were melted. By the year 1918, the total mintage of Morgan Dollars was 570,272,781, thus, subtracting the number of coins sent to the melting pots, the total population of Morgan dollars had been reduced to, 300,040,059 with a per coin (93) average of only, 3,226,237. With the addition of the 1921-p,d,s mintage of Morgan dollars the 96 coin average would be adjusted to only 4,028,854.
Interesting to note that the combined mintage of the Peace 1922 p, (214 VAMs) d, (135 VAMs) s, (70VAMs) and the 1923 p, (101 VAMs) d, (89 VAMs) s, (89 VAMs) is 140,906,000, and total 698 VAMs listed, while the combined mintage of the Morgan 1921 p, (378 VAMs) d, (201 VAMs) s, (146 VAMs) is 86,730,000 and total around 725 VAMs listed. (as of April 2011). The total number of VAMs for the Morgan 1921 p,d,s are only about 187 fewer then the total number of VAMs for the entire series of Peace dollars (1053, as of Nov. 2011)
14 of the 24 coins (58.3%) in the Peace dollar series have mintage's of under 2 million. Compared again with the Morgan dollar, 30 coins of the 96 in the series have mintage's of under 2 million (31.25%) which include 11 of the 13 Carson City mints.
Mintage figures are as follows:
1921-p.....1,006,473
1922-p.. 51,737,000
1922-d.. 15,063,000
1922-s.. 17,475,000
1923-p.. 30,800,000
1923-d.... 6,811,000
1923-s.. 19,020,000
1924-p.. 11,811,000
1924-s.... 1,728,000
1925-p.. 10,198,000
1925-s.... 1,610,000
1926-p.... 1,939,000
1926-d.... 2,348,700
1926-s.... 6,980,000
1927-p....... 848,000
1927-d.... 1,268,900
1927-s....... 866,000
1928-p....... 360,649
1928-s.... 1,632,000
1934-p....... 954,057
1934-d.... 1,569,500
1934-s.... 1,011,000
1935-p.... 1,576,000
1935-s.... 1,964,000
The Philadelphia mint produced a total (10 yrs) of 111,230,179 the San Francisco mint (9 yrs) 52,286,000 and the Denver mint (5 yrs) 27,061,100.
Notice that the mintage of San Francisco coins is roughly 50% (47% actual) of those from Philadelphia and that Denver mintage is approximately 50% (52% actual) of those from San Francisco. Coincidence or planned?
The 1st Philadelphia mint was established in 1792 by a provision of "The Coinage Act of 1792". It authorized the construction of a mint in Philadelphia, (at the time, the U.S. Capital) to coin and regulate coinage of the United States of America. It consisted of three buildings, of which the smelting building became the first Federal building to be erected under the new nation of the U.S. Although it sustained a massive fire in 1816, after rebuilding, it operated until 1833, only a plaque remains where the 1st mint stood. The 2nd Philadelphia mint, built in 1833, remained in operation until 1901. In 1902 it was sold and demolished. The 3rd Philadelphia mint, operated from 1901 until 1969. It became an instant landmark, covering nearly an entire city block. It still stands today, bought in 1972 by a local community college. The 4th and current mint opened in 1969. Its the largest mint in the World, it can produce a million coins in just 30 minutes, it took the 1st Philadelpha mint 3 years to mint that amount.
The San Francisco mint, first opened in 1854. It was replaced in 1874 by a mint building known as "The Old United States Mint", also known as "The Granite Lady." It was one of the few buildings to survive the earthquake and fire of 1906, and at the time, held over $300 million in gold bullion, 1/3 of the U.S. gold reserve. It operated until 1937 and is now a National Historic Landmark and in 2012, will open to the public as a museum. The current San Francisco mint, opened in 1937, and for 13 years beginning in 1955, it produced no coinage. In 1968, it took over most proof coinage from the Philadelphia mint and also produced supplemental coinage until 1974. Since 1975, it produces only proof coinage except for the Susan B. Anthony dollar and some cents in the early 80's. From 1962 until 1988 it officially was the San Francisco assay office but again gained its status as a mint in early 1988.
The Denver mint first opened for minting coins in 1906. Clark, Gruber and co. coined gold in 1860-61 and minted ingots from gold brought from the gold fields of Colorado. When Congress authorized a mint in Denver in 1862, the U.S. Treasury bought Clark, Grubers operations and opened in 1863 as an assay office, melting placer gold dust and gold nuggets brought in by the miners, into gold bars and ingots stamped with their weight and fineness and then returned to the miners or kept in storage in the assay office vaults. After Congress re-established the status for opening a branch mint in Denver, appropriations were made in 1896 for the purchase of the land to build on. Construction began in 1897 and because of numerous delays, it was not until February 1906 that the first coins were minted. During the first year the Denver mint produced 167 million coins including $20 double eagles, $10 eagles and $5 half eagles. Also, all three denominations of Barber coinage were minted. Today, the Denver mint produces more coins than any other mint in the World.
The West Point mint, New York, opened in 1988 as an official mint and coins minted there bear the W mint mark. It mints no coins for circulation, it produces Commemorative and Proof coins and is the only mint to coin Gold, Platinum and Silver American Eagles. It also houses part of the United States gold bullion reserve.
The branch mints in Charlotte, North Carolina (1838-1861) and Dahlonega, Georgia (1838-1861) coined only gold and were closed at the start of the Civil War. The branch mint in New Orleans, Louisiana, also opened in 1838 and operated until the start of the Civil War, was re-opened in 1879 and minted coinage until 1909.
The Carson City, Nevada mint operated from 1870 until 1893. In 1886 and 1887, no coins were produced at the cc mint.
The only United States branch mint to operate outside of the U.S. was in Manila, The Philippines. From 1920 until 1922 and again, from 1925 until the start of WWII in 1941, it coined only the centavo for the then colony of the United States.
35,401 1922 Peace Dollars of the high relief design were melted at the mint after the new low relief design was approved.
The Matte Proof of 1921 and 1922 were minted and exist and feature the high relief designs.
There were 316,076 1964-d Peace Dollars minted in early 1965 but all were believed melted before any were released for circulation.
In addition to the 1921-p Peace Dollar and the 1921-p-d-s Morgan Dollar there were 5 other coin denominations minted in 1921. Here are the comparison mintage's in 1921 of those 5 coins.....
Lincoln Cent: 140 dates issued for general circulation, 1909-1958, p-d-s wheat reverse, Bronze and Zinc, 1943, p-d-s, Zinc.1921-p, 39,157,000 #49 lowest in the series. 1921-s, 15,274,000 #27 lowest in series. These two coins (54,431,000), amazingly total 10,604,000 fewer then the total number of 1921-p and 1921-d (65,035,000) Morgan Dollars. Most Lincoln cents minted, 1944-p, 1.435 Billion. Least minted, 1909-s-VDB, 484,000 minted.
Buffalo Nickel: 61 dates issued for general circulation, 1913-1938, p-d-s, 1921-p, 10,663,000 #35 lowest in the series. 1921-s, 1,557,000 #6 lowest in series. Most buffalo's minted, 1936-p, 119,001,420. Least minted, 1926-s, 970,000.
Mercury Dime: 77 dates issued for general circulation, 1916-1945, p-d-s, 1921-p, 1,230,000 #3 lowest in the series. 1921-d, 1,080,000 #2 lowest in series. Most Merc's minted, 1944-p 231,410,000. Least minted, 1916-d, 264,000.
Standing Liberty Quarter: 37 dates issued for general circulation, 1916-1930, p,d,s, 1921-p, 1,916,000 #12 lowest in the series. Most standing Liberties minted, 1920-p, 27,860,000. Least minted, 1916-p, 52,000.
Liberty Walking Half Dollar: 65 issued for general circulation, 1916-1947, p-d-s, 1921-p, 246,000 #2 in the series. 1921-d, 208,000 #1 in series. 1921-s, 548,000 #5 in series. Most minted, 1943-p, 53,190,000. Least minted, 1921-d, 208,000.
A comparison of the three coin denominations (6 coins) minted in 1921 with 90% silver content (.10 .25 .50) together total, 5,228,000 minted (876,007 Troy ounces) The Walking Liberty, p-d-s alone totals only, 1,002,000 (362,413 Troy ounces) The combined mintage of the 1921 Peace and the 1921, p-d-s Morgan Dollars total 87,736,473! (73,272,977 Troy ounces)
1921 was the only year that Peace Dollars were minted at only the Philadelphia mint and not minted in at least one branch mint. The 1921 standing Liberty Quarter was also minted at only the Philadelphia mint.
Although legislation was introduced authorizing the mintage of the Peace Silver Dollar on May 9th, 1921, ( the same day the first 1921 Morgan Dollars were struck) congressional approval was not required under the terms of the Pittman Act (April 23, 1918).
The Pittman Act of 1918 was a law written by Raymond T. Baker (1877-1935) and sponsored by Senator Key Pittman (1872-1940) from Tonopah, Nevada. It Authorized the melting of (not to exceed) 350,000,000 standard silver dollars (412.5 grains) Almost immediately after Congress had voted in support of the Act, melting began. Eventually, 270,232,722 silver dollars were melted, mostly of the Morgan type. Under a provision of the Act, for each coin melted a replacement would be made. Those replacements would start with the 1921 Morgan dollar and end with the mintage of the 1928-p and 1928-s Peace dollars, with exactly 270,232,722 replacements minted over that eight year period.
In 1934 and 1935, the Peace dollar would again resume production and an additional total of 7,074,557 Peace dollars would be minted over that two year period.
Raymond Thomas Baker was appointed director of the United States Mint in 1917 by then President, Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) and served in that capacity until March of 1922. Baker was a native of Nevada, born in the small town of Eureka. After college at the University of Nevada and Stanford University, he invested in Gold mining in Rawhide, Nevada and became wealthy when he sold his interests. During his brother Cleveland Baker's (died Dec.5th,1912) term as Nevada State Attorney General, he served as the warden of the Nevada State prison in Carson City from Feb 2nd, 1911 until May 10th, 1912. He also served as secretary to the U. S. Ambassador to Russia, George T. Marye Jr. (1849-1933) in 1915 and 1916. He married in June, 1918, Margaret (Emerson) Vanderbilt, heiress to the Bromo-Seltzer fortune and former wife of railroad tycoon, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt who died on the RMS Lusitania on May 7th, 1915. In 1928 they divorced and in that same year, he married Delphine (Dodge) Cromwell (1899-1943), daughter of Horace Dodge Sr., co-founder of the Dodge motor company
Key Denson Pittman, born in Vicksburg, Mississippi and educated a lawyer. From 1897 until 1901, he joined the Klondike Gold rush in the Yukon Territory with an estimated 40,000 miners looking for wealth and riches. He moved to Tonopah in 1901 and was elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada in 1913. From Mar. 4th 1933 until his death on Nov. 10th 1940, he served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and pro tempore of the U.S. Senate. His brother, Vail M. Pittman (1883-1964) was the 19th Governor of Nevada from 1945 until 1951.
In compliance with President Warren G. Harding's (1865-1923) executive order (July 28, 1921), the Federal Commission of Fine Arts, on Nov. 23, 1921 announced a competition for the design of the Peace Dollar and invited 9 of the Nations finest Medalists. Among them were, Victor D. Brenner (1871-1924, Lincoln cent), Herman A. MacNeil (1866-1947, Standing Liberty Quarter), Adolph A. Weinman (1870-1950, Mercury Dime, Walking Liberty Half) and John Flanagan (1865-1952, Washington Quarter). Also included were, Robert I. Aitken (1878-1949), Chester Beach (1881-1956), Henry Hering (1874-1949), Robert Tait McKenzie (1867-1938) and the youngest of the nine competitors, at age 34, Anthony de Francisci (pronounced dee Fran-chee-shee). On Dec. 23, 1921, only 26 days after the announcement of the competition, the design choice was reported to congress and the winner was Anthony de Francisci. He received a $1,500 cash award and each of the other participants received a $100 cash award.
The seven members of the Federal commission of fine Arts were, chairman and journalist, Charles Moore (1855-1942), serving as chairman from 1915 until 1937. Architect, Henry Bacon (1866-1924), who served from 1921 until his death in 1924. American Artist, H. Siddons Mowbray (1858-1928), also serving until his death from 1921 until 1928. Landscape Architect, James L. Greenleaf (1857-1933) on the Commission from 1918 to 1927. Architect, John Russell Pope (1873-1937), serving from 1917 until 1922. Architect, Louis Ayres (1874-1947), his tenure was from 1921 until 1925. And Sculptor, James Earl Fraser (1878-1953), designer of the Indian Head or Buffalo Nickel and on the Commission from 1920 until 1925. Assisting in the selection process were former commission members, both of whom were sculptors, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931) and Herbert Adams (1858-1945).
On Dec. 19th 1921, at the Treasury building in Washington D.C., Francisci along with his wife Mary Teresa and Charles Moore, presented his models of the Peace dollar to mint director Baker, Under Secretary of the Treasury, Seymour P. Gilbert (1892-1938) and Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937). The models were then taken to the office of President Harding for his approval. Secretary Mellon officially approved the design on Dec. 20th, 1921.
Andrew W. Mellon served as Secretary of the Treasury from Mar. 4th 1921 until Feb, 12th 1932 under three Presidents, Warren G. Harding, 1921-1923, Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) 1923-1929, and Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) 1929-1933. He was the second longest Treasury Secretary to serve in that position, only Albert Gallatin (1761-1849) who served from 1801 until 1814 under two Presidents, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) 1801-1809 and James Madison (1751-1836) 1809-1817, had a longer term as Treasurer.
Seymour Parker Gilbert, educated at Rutgers College and Harvard Law School. In 1920 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in President Woodrow Wilsons Cabinet, and in June of 1921 became the Under Secretary of the Treasury in President Hardings Cabinet, serving until 1923 in that office. From 1924 until 1930 he served as Agent General for Reparations to Germany. In 1931 he was an associate Partner at J.P. Morgan, his son, S. Parker Gilbert, born in 1934, was Chairman of Morgan Stanley from Jan. 1984 until Dec. 1990.
After approval of the Peace dollar design and before production commencement, because of great controversy over the broken sword the eagle held on the reverse of the coin symbolizing defeat, changes were made by eliminating the sword altogether and having the eagle clutching only an olive branch in his talons, the symbol of peace and goodwill.
Production started on Monday, December 26, 1921 and ended on Saturday, December 31, 1921. In that 6 day period, 1,006,473 1921 Peace Silver dollars were coined, an average of nearly 168,000 coins per day. Peace Silver Dollars (dated 1921) were placed into circulation, Jan. 3rd 1922. President Warren G. Harding was presented the very first coin minted for circulation on that day
Warren Gamaliel Harding, 29th President of the United States (Mar. 4th,1921-Aug. 2nd,1923) Born in Marion, Ohio on Nov. 2nd 1865. Newspaper publisher, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio (1903-1905) U.S. Senator from Ohio, (1915-1921) Died in office as President in San Francisco at age 57 years 9 months. Succeeded by Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) who served as President from 1923 until 1929. Harding is one of eight Presidents who have died in office and one of seven Presidents from the State of Ohio, only Virginia (8) has more.
The seven Presidents from the state of Ohio, #18 Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885), in office 1869-1877. #19 Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822-1893), in office 1877-1881. #20 James Abram Garfield (1831-1881), in office 1881-1881 (6 mos.). #23 Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), in office 1889-1893. #25 William McKinley (1843-1901), in office 1897-1901. #27 William Howard Taft (1857-1930), in office 1909-1913. #29 Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923), in office 1921-1923. An amazing run of Presidents from Ohio! All were republicans, and five of the seven had military backgrounds and fought in the Civil War, only Taft and Harding had no military experience. Taft also served as 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921-1930). McKinley, in 1861, enlisted in the Union Army as a private and quickly rose in rank to become a commissioned Brevet Major. Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), 9th President of the United States, in office only 32 days, the shortest term of any President from the United States. He had a military background starting with the Northwest Indian War (1785-1795) in 1793 and the war of 1812 against the British. He also was the oldest to be elected as president at age 68 until the election of Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) in 1980 at age 69, and the last President to be born under British rule. W.H. Harrison was also the first President to die in office (1841), he died of pneumonia. Both Garfield and McKinley were assassinated in office and Harding died in office of a heart attack. The other four Presidents who died in office were, #12 Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), in office 1849-1850, died of acute gastroenteritis. #16 Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), in office 1861-1865, assassinated. #32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), in office 1933-1945, the longest term of any President, died from a cerebral hemorrhage. #35 John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), in office 1961-1963, assassinated.
As a footnote, although W.H. Harrison was born in the state of Virginia and is claimed by Virginia as one of the eight Presidents coming from that state, he lived in the state of Ohio at the time of his election to the Presidency in 1841, and had since his marriage in 1795 at age 22.
The high relief design of 1921 was soon recognized as impractical because of its difficulty to strike, causing excessive die breakage. Because of the tremendous pressure needed to properly strike the 1921 in high relief, 41 die-pairs were used for an average of only 24,548, per die-pair, compared to the average die-life of Peace dollars minted from 1922 to 1935 of around 500,000 per-die pair, and beginning with the 1922 issue, (after 35,401 of the 1922 in high relief were minted) the relief was lowered. Also, in addition to the high rate of broken dies the high relief design caused, banks complained that the coin was almost impossible to stack.
The 1921 Peace Dollar is only one of three U.S. coins minted for circulation, to be struck in high relief. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) design of the 1907 Indian $10 Gold Eagle with wire rim and periods and the 1907, $20 Gold Double Eagle with Roman numerals, MCMVII and wire rim were the first two to be minted in high relief.
Eisenhower proof dollars of 1971 and silver issues of 1972 both struck for collector sets, were minted in high relief as well. Modified high relief obverse dies were used on all Ikes starting in 1973.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), born in Dublin, Ireland. Immigrated to the United States at 6 months old with his Mother and Father and raised in New York City. In 1867 at age 19, he traveled to Paris France and then to Rome Italy to study art and architecture. He met his future wife, Elizabeth Fisher Nichols (they married in 1877), she was the 4th cousin of Winslow Homer. In 1896, Saint-Gaudens was elected a member of the "American Academy of Arts and Sciences", and in 1904 was elected one of the first seven members of the "American Academy of Arts and Letters". In 1920 he was elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. In 1940, Saint-Gaudens was honored on a 3 cent commemorative postage stamp in the "Famous Americans" series, Scott #886. Saint-Gaudens has many famous works but is probably best known in the coin collecting community for his gold coin designs of the "Indian Head" $10 eagle and the $20 Liberty type double eagle.
Anthony de Francisci (1887-1964) designed the obverse using his 23 year old wife, Mary Teresa-Cafarelli (1898-1990) as the model for Miss Liberty. Mary Teresa died exactly 26 years to the day, Oct. 20th 1990 after her husbands death in 1964!
Anthony de Francisci, born July 13th, 1887 in Palermo, Italy. He immigrated in 1905 to the U.S. and became a naturalized citizen in 1913. In 1920 at age 33, he married Mary Teresa Cafarelli, age 22. de Francisci died in New York City at age 77 in 1964. His wife, Mary Teresa was born near Naples, Italy in 1898. Along with her mother, she immigrated to the U.S. at 4 years old in 1902. She died in New York City at age 92 in 1990.
de Francisci's used the Latin angular "U" in his design font of the inscription "IN GOD WE TRVST"
In addition, de Francisci designed the 1920 Maine Centennial and also the Congressional medal awarded to Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of U.S. forces during World War I. Also among his Military designs were The Navel Defense Button, The Reserve Officers Training Corps medal and The Badge of Service (Ruptured Duck) medal.
de Francisci studied sculpting under James Earle Fraser (1876-1953, Buffalo Nickel) and was an assistant to Herman A. MacNeil and also Adolph A. Weinman during his early years of sculpting. de Francisci worked at Columbia University as an instructor in 1915 and by 1917 had opened his own design and sculpting studio. He also served as Academician of the National Academy of Design and was a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society.
James Earle Fraser, born in Winona, Minnesota and raised in Mitchell, South Dakota. His father Thomas Fraser, helped in the recovery of the remains of solders of the 7th Cavalry after The Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. James worked under Augustas Saint Gaudens (1848-1907) for four years before opening his own studio in New York City, which he maintained for over 50 years. Among his works were, the Navy Cross and the World War 1 Victory Medal, and perhaps his most recognized works, the Buffalo Nickel and his sculpture, "End of the Trail".
Herman Atkins MacNeil, born in Chelsea, Mass. sculptor of many Monuments and designer of the Standing Liberty Quarter. He was an instructor of Industrial Arts at Cornell University from 1886 until 1889. In 1906 he became a National Academician. One of his last works was the Pony Express Statue in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was married to Carol Brooks Macneil (1871-1944) who was a famous sculptor in her own right.
Adolph Alexander Weinman, born in Karlsruhe, Germany. A sculptor and medalist, he came to the U.S. in 1880 as a ten year old. He studied sculpting at the Art Students League of New York with Augustus St. Gaudens and later served as an assistant to Olin Levi Warner (1844-1896) as well as Daniel Chester French. Among his many designs were the reverses of the, Asiatic-Pacific, American, and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medals. Thomas H. Jones (1892-1969) a sculptor for the Institute of Heraldry, designed the obverse of those medals and his Military designs included over 40 service medals. In 1915, Anthony de Francisci did a portrait of Weinman in Bas-Relief. Weinman probably best known in coin circles for his design of the Mercury Dime and the Walking Liberty Half Dollar
The reverse of the Peace Dollar was designed by George T. Morgan (1845-1925). He actually re-designed the original design of de Francisci, the original reverse design had the Eagle holding (or standing on) a broken sword instead of the olive branch of Morgan's re-design. Morgan also added the word Peace to the bottom of the coin, along with minor changes to the perch the Eagle is standing on. (a rock or mountain crag)
George Thomas Morgan, born in Birmingham, England in 1845. Emigrated to the United States in 1876 with his wife Alice, their daughter Grace and Alice's late sisters two youngest children, Hollingsworth and Noel. They would later have three more children, Leonard, Phyllis and Ethel. Hired by the U.S. Mint as an assistant engraver to William Barber (1807-1879). In 1917, following the death of Charles Barber (1840-1917), after 41 years working for the mint he would become the seventh chief engraver of the U.S. Mint and would remain in that position until his death on Jan. 4th, 1925. Many of his designs were U.S. Pattern pieces. His only circulating coin design was the Morgan Dollar.
The Peace dollar is so named because the word "Peace" appears on the bottom of the coins reverse
Although the Peace Dollar was minted to commemorate the end of WW I, it was issued as a circulating coin.
The Peace dollar is the last 90% silver dollar produced for circulation
When Morgan and Peace dollars were minted in 1921:
Warren G. Harding inaugurated 29th President of the United States (March 4th)
The treaty formally ending World War I with Austria-Hungary and Germany was signed into law by President Harding on July 2, 1921
Prohibition in full force since 1920 and would continue until the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933.
The Silver bullion average in 1921 was, .66 cents an ounce
The Gold price, $20.58 an ounce
Unemployment, 11.7 %
The U.S. population, 108,538,000 million
Federal spending was $5.06 billion
Number of U.S. homes with electricity, 38.6 %
The Dow Jones Industrial average in August 1921, 62.57
Carlo Gambino, founder of the Gambino crime family, arrives in N.Y.C. as a stowaway from Palermo, Italy, at age 19.
The first Miss America is crowned, she is 16 year old Margaret Gorman (1905-1995) from Wash. D.C. (there are 8 contestants)
On May 19th-20th, from the Municipal Auditorium in Denver, the first radio broadcast of an Opera (Martha) in its entirety occurred on radio 9ZAF
See's candy founded, Nov.1921
The 258' SS Delphine, a Yacht owned by Horace Dodge, co-founder of the Dodge Motor Co. and named after his daughter, would be launched.
The 7th Cavalry Regiment ( of "Little Big Horn" fame) is assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division.
F.D.R contracts polio at age 39.
A national quota to curb immigration is imposed by Congress
West Virginia imposes first State sales tax
Iowa is the first state to levy a cigarette tax
Tomb of the unknowns is dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery
Average costs in 1921:
The average wage was around $1189 a year or $22.86 weekly
The average cost of a 1 bedroom home, $7,913
Price tag on the model T-Ford, $310, Buick touring car, $650, Cadillac touring car, $3940
Leaded gasoline, .26 cents a gallon
1 dozen eggs, .47 cents
Bread was around .13 cents a loaf
A first class stamp, .02 cents, an airmail stamp, .06 cents
The Parker Duofold fountain pen (named big red) was introduced, its price, a whopping $7 or $85.54 in todays economy!
Inventions and discoveries in 1921:
The first quartz crystal oscillator built.
The adhesive bandage introduced
Western Union sends the first wirephoto.
The vaccine BCG first used in humans for the prevention of tuberculosis.
"Wonder" bread is introduced, named by V.P. Elmer Cline and inspired by his attending the air ballon races at Indianapolis speedway in 1921.
"Wheaties" cereal is invented, named in a company wide contest by Jane Bausman, wife of the export manager of Washburn Crosby Co.
Leaded gas is developed at the G.M. lab in Dayton Ohio (not marketed until 1923)
The Polygraph is invented
Albert Einstein wins Nobel prize in Physics
Insulin is discovered
Vitamin D discovered
Major advancements in Television technology occur.
Chanel no.5 introduced
Sports in 1921:
First radio broadcast of the World Series occurs, N.Y. Giants win series 5 games to 3 over N.Y. Yankees
Ty Cobb reaches milestone 3,000th hit (4th player to do so) He would get his final hit on Sept. 3rd 1928 (4,189) against the Washington Senators
The National Boxing Association is founded (later to be re-named the "World Boxing Association" or WBA)
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (1895-1983) is the heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World. His reign is from July,1919 until September,1926 when Gene Tunney (1897-1978) would defeat him.
California defeats Ohio State 28-0 in the 7th Rose Bowl Game played on Jan. 1st 1921. In 1920 California outscored their opponents 510-14. From 1920 until 1925 Cal would go 50 consecutive games without a loss (4 ties) and win the National championship in 1920, 21, 22 and 23.
Centre College, from Kentucky, defeats Harvard 6-0 (considered the greatest upset in sports history at that time) now ranked in the top ten, all time!
The Ottawa Senators (NHL) win Stanley Cup on April 4th against the Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA) 3 games to 2
In Golf, Jim Barnes wins the U.S. Open, Jack Hutchison the British Open and Walter Hagan the PGA Championship. The first Masters isn't contested until 1934 and is won by Horton Smith. The U.S. Amateur is won by Jesse P. Guilford 7_6 over 2 time Amateur Champion (1909 and 1915), Robert A. Gardner.
The four major tennis Championships were won by, The U.S. Open and Wimbledon, William T. Tilden. The French Open, Jean Samazeuilh. The Australian Open, Rhys Gemmell. In the woman's singles, Molla B. Mallory won The U.S. Open. Suzanne Lenglen, the French Open and Wimbledon.
Charlie Paddock (1900-1943) was the "worlds fastest human", he held the record in the 100m with a time of 10.40 sec., and the 200m in 21.00 sec. The current World records in the 100m is 9.58 sec. and the 200m 19.19 sec. both held by Usain Bolt and achieved in 2009
The Indy 500 was won by Tommy Milton (1893-1962), driving a Frontenac Motor Car built by Louis J. Chevrolet (1878-1941) co-founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. The winning speed was 144.23 mph.
In Horse Racing, Behave Yourself wins the Kentucky Derby, Broomspun the Preakness, and Grey Lag the Belmont Stakes. Grey Lag, as a 3 year old, goes on to win the 1921 Horse of the year. Voted #54 (1999) in the top 100 Thoroughbreds of all time and a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame (1957)
In 1921, the battleships, USS California (BB-44), USS Maryland (BB-46), and USS West Virginia (BB-48) are launched or commissioned. The California and West Virginia would be sunk during the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th, 1941 and the Maryland heavily damaged. After salvage operations and modernization, all three would re-enter the war and make significant contributions to the war effort including support in the invasions of Saipan, Guam and Tinian. In the battle of Surigo Strait the Philippines, these three vessels with the help of the battleships, Tennessee (BB-43) and Pennsylvania (BB-38) both of whom were also heavily damaged on Dec. 7th, sink the Japanese battleship, Yamashiro, in histories last engagement of opposing battleships. Of the nine battleships at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th, six would be salvaged and returned to action, the USS Nevada (BB-36) supported the invasion of Normandy and Southern France, and with guns salvaged from the no. 2 turret of the USS Arizona (BB-39) lost on Dec. 7th, would fire on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa during their assaults. USS Oklahoma (BB-37) was the sister ship of USS Nevada, she had a loss of 429 crew, was salvaged and sold for scrap and while being towed to the west coast of California in 1947 from Hawaii, sank in a storm in the Pacific. USS Arizona (BB-39), was sunk on Dec. 7th with the loss of 1,177 crew, with more then 900 of her crew still entombed on board, her memorial was dedicated in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy's administration. USS Utah (BB-31/AG-16) was a training and target ship. 58 from a crew of 519 were lost that day, 54 of whom are still entombed on board, her lesser known Memorial was dedicated in 1972 under the administration of Richard Nixon (1913-1994) on the northwest shore of Ford Island where she still lies capsized and partially submerged to this day.
The World of Aviation in 1921:
The first transcontinental Air Mail flight between San Francisco and New York City, by the end of 1921 there are 98 planes in service for mail delivery.
On Jan. 3rd, Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) would take her first flying lession at Kinner Field near Long Beach, California.
The 695' Airship, R-38 (built by the British and sold to the U.S. Navy, designated ZR-2) Made her maiden flight (6/23). Exactly to the day, two months later (8/23), in a catastrophic fire and crash during testing, over Hull England, 44 crewman were killed. 16 of the 17 American crewman on board perished along with 28 British crewman. There were 5 survivors.
In the first aerial tests of its kind, under the command of Brig. General, William "Billy" Mitchell, U.S. Army MB2 biplanes, bomb and sink the captured German Battleship, Ostfriesland along with two other former German warships. Later, also under Mitchell's command, the de-commissioned U.S.S. Alabama (BB-8) would be sacrificed and sunk.
The Douglas Aircraft company is founded. (in 1967, a merger with the McDonnel Aircraft Corp. would form McDonnel Douglas and in 1997 would be bought by the Boeing Co.)
The first tests in aerial crop dusting occurred near Troy, Ohio when pilot John MacReady, flying a Curtiss JN4 (jenny) sprayed lead arsenate to eradicate the Catalpa Sphinx Caterpillar
Experimentation and testing in pressurization of aircraft cabins begin.
American test pilot, Bert Acosta, sets a new closed-circut airspeed record of 283.47 km/h (176.7 mph) flying a Curtis CR-1 Bi-plane.
The Boeing Airplane Co. wins a 1.4 million contract to build 200 Thomas-Morse MB-3 fighters for the U.S.Army
Top Movies of 1921:
Hound of the Baskervilles, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Sheik, The Three Musketeers, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Adventures of Tarzan, Black Beauty, The Kid, Jane Eyre, The Scarecrow (All silent films)
Silent film stars of 1921:
Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Lon Chaney Sr., Lillian Gish, Norma Talmadge, Jackie Coogan, Hoot Gibson, Wallace Beery, Roscoe "fatty" Arbuckle, Francis Ford and not to be forgotten, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
Notable births in 1921, Charles Bronson, Roy Campanella, Rodney Dangerfield, Donna Reed, John Glenn, Otto Graham, Gene Roddenberry,
Jim McKay, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jane Russell, Warren Spahn, Lana Turner, Nancy Reagan, Mario Puzo, Jake Lamotta, Cary Middlecoff, James Whitmore, Rocky Graziano, Mario Lanza, Deborah Kerr, Abe Vigoda , Chuck Conners ||
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