This may seem to be a rather strange question, but here it goes anyway. Is 1964 the last year the US minted silver coins, switching over to clad in 1965 or was clad first introduced (minted) in 1964. Making coins that were minted in 63 and before the silver coins everyone is seeking? Funny, I've been MDing about 10yrs. and never even looked at the dates on the coins I've found. Give most of the stuff (money & jewelry) to the grand kids. Thanks in advance for any and all info on the coin dates. Mack
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Silver and Clad Coins
- Thread starter MackieG
- Start date
Erik in NJ
New member
*halfs and silver dollars I think were made in silver or partially in silver for a few more years....
Erik in NJ
New member
n/t
Erik in NJ
New member
n/t
Erik in NJ
New member
n/t
since the depression was over and people had a new confidence in the economy. Keep in mind that silver dollars were still changing hands at gas stations and grocery stores well into the 60's. People only started hoarding them after silver was pulled from coinage and it was anticipated the the price of silver was going to "skyrocket", why else would the Govt. stop using it? My father was a barber and I can remember still finding plenty of silver in his cash register in the early 70's. Since I was a coin collector I begged him to keep them but he said, "I have to have them to pay the bills." I was only about 12 at the time so I had no "real" money to buy them myself.
therick
therick
SteveP(NH)
New member
It is all tied up in the legislation that was passed to support the silver industry in mining states out west ...
In 1877 the Bland Allison act got passed which required the US Mint to buy something like 8 million ounces of silver every year and mint them into silver dollars whether they were need to meet demand or not. This continued until 1904 when the number of Morgan dollars held in the mint and Federal Reserve vaults reached into the tens of millions. The mint didn't make any silver dollars between 1904 and 1921 as there were so many more on hand in their vaults then was needed. When the Bland Allison act was repealed or expired (not sure which one) the mint immediately stopped making more of them. Since the price of silver was ok the political support for subsidizing the price of silver by buying an extra 8 million ounces every year wasn't there any longer.
The price of silver fell and by the late teens and early twenties the silver mining industry was crying for support again. So new legislation was passed requiring the mint to starting minting dollars again. It was decided to commemorate the end of WWI by striking "Peace Dollars" but the design wasn't ready at the beginning of 1921 and so 1921 Morgan dollars were struck. The Peace dollar dies were ready by the end of 1921 and so a relatively small number of 1921 Peace were struck too, which is why this is a key day in the Peace Dollar series.
The mine owners got together and tried to fix the price of the silver they would sell to the mint at higher than market prices, so the mint director ordered that enough Morgan dollars be melted down so that he could strike the number of Peace dollars required by law and didn't buy any silver. The mine owners realized that they couldn't win and settled for market rate. The mint made large numbers of 1922 and 1923 Peace dollars (which is why they are the cheapest ones) the mint gradually struck fewer and fewer dollars until in 1928 they only struck a small number (the 1928 Philly dollar is a expensive key date) and didn't strike any at all between 1929 and 1933 but in 1934 and 1935 more were struck from silver purchased on the open market to try and help get the economy going again in the great depression. By the time the 1935's were struck the mint vaults were full again.
Those silver dollars were gradually given out when folks wanted them (they were popular for Christmas presents, etc) By 1963 the vaults were running a bit low and so they struck some more Peace dollars in 1963 but these were never circulated and they were all supposed to be melted as the price of silver had risen to the point where a silver dollar had more than a dollar's worth of silver in it. There are rumours that some of these 1963 Peace Dollars were sold to a few collectors and coin dealers but none have ever surfaced for fears that the government would try and seize them just as they do with 1933 $20 gold pieces.
When Nixon was president the General Services Administration sold off all of the remaining silver dollars in the mint vaults to collectors and coin dealer's at market prices.
The millions and millions of silver dollars that sat in mint vaults for year after year are the reason they are so cheap today as you can buy a common date uncirculated Morgan or Peace for $25 or $30 which is a great bargain for a 100 year old uncirculated coin.
In 1877 the Bland Allison act got passed which required the US Mint to buy something like 8 million ounces of silver every year and mint them into silver dollars whether they were need to meet demand or not. This continued until 1904 when the number of Morgan dollars held in the mint and Federal Reserve vaults reached into the tens of millions. The mint didn't make any silver dollars between 1904 and 1921 as there were so many more on hand in their vaults then was needed. When the Bland Allison act was repealed or expired (not sure which one) the mint immediately stopped making more of them. Since the price of silver was ok the political support for subsidizing the price of silver by buying an extra 8 million ounces every year wasn't there any longer.
The price of silver fell and by the late teens and early twenties the silver mining industry was crying for support again. So new legislation was passed requiring the mint to starting minting dollars again. It was decided to commemorate the end of WWI by striking "Peace Dollars" but the design wasn't ready at the beginning of 1921 and so 1921 Morgan dollars were struck. The Peace dollar dies were ready by the end of 1921 and so a relatively small number of 1921 Peace were struck too, which is why this is a key day in the Peace Dollar series.
The mine owners got together and tried to fix the price of the silver they would sell to the mint at higher than market prices, so the mint director ordered that enough Morgan dollars be melted down so that he could strike the number of Peace dollars required by law and didn't buy any silver. The mine owners realized that they couldn't win and settled for market rate. The mint made large numbers of 1922 and 1923 Peace dollars (which is why they are the cheapest ones) the mint gradually struck fewer and fewer dollars until in 1928 they only struck a small number (the 1928 Philly dollar is a expensive key date) and didn't strike any at all between 1929 and 1933 but in 1934 and 1935 more were struck from silver purchased on the open market to try and help get the economy going again in the great depression. By the time the 1935's were struck the mint vaults were full again.
Those silver dollars were gradually given out when folks wanted them (they were popular for Christmas presents, etc) By 1963 the vaults were running a bit low and so they struck some more Peace dollars in 1963 but these were never circulated and they were all supposed to be melted as the price of silver had risen to the point where a silver dollar had more than a dollar's worth of silver in it. There are rumours that some of these 1963 Peace Dollars were sold to a few collectors and coin dealers but none have ever surfaced for fears that the government would try and seize them just as they do with 1933 $20 gold pieces.
When Nixon was president the General Services Administration sold off all of the remaining silver dollars in the mint vaults to collectors and coin dealer's at market prices.
The millions and millions of silver dollars that sat in mint vaults for year after year are the reason they are so cheap today as you can buy a common date uncirculated Morgan or Peace for $25 or $30 which is a great bargain for a 100 year old uncirculated coin.
Erik in NJ
New member
n/t
Don't forget the 1970 Kennedy half, also 40% silver.therick said: