1922 High Relief Peace Dollar Value

The US Mint produced a little more than one million high relief Peace dollars in the last four days of 1921. This was somewhat under duress. Considerable political pressure was applied to get coins struck with the 1921 date. This effort resulted in an astounding number of broken dies.

Each high relief Peace dollar die failed after an average of 25,000 strikes. As a reference, Morgan dollar coin dies usually lasted 250,000 strikes. To prolong Peace dollar die life as long as possible, the pressure on the coin presses was dialed back, which meant that the high points of the design were not fully struck.

After various experiments failed to achieve satisfactory results, Peace dollar designer Anthony de Francisci worked with US Mint Chief Engraver George T. Morgan to develop a low-relief design. Dies using this design did not break nearly as often, and this became the standard design for the Peace dollar until production finally ended in 1935.

Image: USA CoinBook

The First 1922 High Relief Peace Dollars

The first mintage of 1922 Peace dollars retained the high relief design of the 1921 issue, with minor adjustments by Chief Engraver Morgan. After 35,401 coins had been struck, four obverse and nine reverse dies had already broken and production was halted. There was no way that the Mint could produce the tens of millions of Peace dollars required, if a die broke every 3,000 coins.

The entire mintage was melted down while the Mint tested changes to the design that would give an acceptable die life. Somehow, a single High Relief 1922 Peace dollar survived. Not only that, it was spent! This unique coin was graded VF20 after it was discovered.

1922 High Relief Proof Peace Dollars

Some of the 35,401 High Relief 1922 Peace dollars were struck as proofs. There are two types of 1922 High Relief proof Peace dollars. One type has a matte finish, and the other, a sandblasted finish. There are approximately ten 1922 High Relief Matte Finish Peace dollars known, and eight with the sandblasted finish.

1922 High Relief Peace Dollar

Mintage: 35,401
Survivors: 1

1922 High Relief Proof Peace Dollar (Matte Finish)

Mintage: included in above
Survivors: 10 (estimated)
Finest Known: PF67 (NGC) PR67 (PCGS)
Auction Record: $458,250 (PR67)

1922 High Relief Proof Peace Dollar (Matte Finish) Price Guide

1922 High Relief Peace Dollar (Sandblasted Finish)

Mintage: included in above
Survivors: 8 (estimated)
Auction Record: $192,000 (SP64)

Modified High Relief 1922 Peace Dollars

The move from the original High Relief Peace dollar design to the eventual Low Relief design was not made in a single step. After the failure of the High Relief Peace dollar design, Morgan worked to bring the high points of the design down, while keeping the relief as high as he thought he could.

Image: USA CoinBook

Only 3,200 Modified High Relief Peace dollars were struck before it became apparent that the coin dies were breaking as frequently as the original high relief. These coins followed the 35,401 High Relief 1922 dollars into the melting pot—at least, they were supposed to.

The first Modified High Relief Peace dollar was not identified until 2001, 79 years after it was struck. Graded AU55, it had been lumped in with other 1922 Peace dollars until the slight differences were noted. Four other examples have been discovered since then, including three business strikes, a matte proof, and a satin proof coin.

Raymond T. Baker 1922 Modified High Relief Peace Dollars

Raymond T Baker served as Director of the US Mint from 1917 until 1922. The Philadelphia Mint regularly sent him examples of trial strikes of different coins. These samples included three of the known five surviving Modified High Relief 1922 Peace dollars. These were a matte/sandblasted proof, a satin (“bright”) proof, and the last business strike Modified High Relief Peace dollar made, marked “3200” in ink.

The satin proof and the “3200” business strike 1922 Modified High Relief Peace dollars trace an unbroken provenance back to Director Baker. The only surviving sandblasted proof is widely considered to be the one sent to Baker, but this cannot be proven.

1922 Modified High Relief Peace Dollar

Mintage: 3,200
Survivors: 3 (1 owned by Mint Director Raymond T. Baker)
Graded AU55, AU50, and Baker’s “3200” coin, graded MS65

1922 Modified High Relief Proof Peace Dollar (Satin Finish)

Mintage: included in above
Survivors: 1 (PF67, owned by Mint Director Raymond T. Baker)

1922 Modified High Relief Proof Peace Dollar (Sandblasted Finish)

Mintage: included in above
Survivors: 1

The information on this page does not constitute an offer to buy or sell the coin(s) referred to. Statistics are for Mint State coins only. Proof and prooflike examples of this issue may have greater or lesser "finest known" and different record auction prices.