"1964-D" Peace 90% silver over-strike, Die Pair 8 low relief, High Grade

The 1964-D Peace silver dollar is one of the most enigmatic coins in history. On August 3 1964 legislation was enacted authorizing 45 million new silver dollars to be coined. In May 1965 the White House finally ordered some to be produced and the Denver Mint soon minted 316,076 of the coins which carried a 1964 date and a design identical to the Peace silver dollar last minted from 1921-1935. Shortly after the first mintage, an order went out to destroy them. The Treasury Department claims every one was accounted for and melted. None have publicly surfaced in the 45 years since. If an original 1964 Peace silver dollar were to turn up, it would be subject to immediate confiscation since it would be assumed to be stolen government property.

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2020 Update (Die Pair 8 & Die Pair 9 “1964-D” Over-Strikes):

“1964-D” over-strikes using Die Pairs 1 through 6 were produced prior to 2011. In 2014 “1965-D” (Die Pair 7) over-strikes were produced. No photographs of 1964 Peace Dollars were known to exist at that time, so the style of the “64” date digits on those over-strikes were modeled after the 1964 Kennedy half dollars. Later in 2011 it came to light that a supposed photo of a genuine original 1964-D Peace Dollar had previously been published in “The Comprehensive U.S. Silver Dollar Encyclopedia” (1992 edition, page 709) by John W. Highfill. The photo caption credited the source as Bob Wilhite of Numismatic News.

However, in late 2019 an image of an original U.S. Mint coin die for the 1964 Peace Dollar obverse surfaced. That photo shows exactly what the original 1964 Peace Dollars would have looked like. Speculation over the years generally contended that Frank Gasparro (or some other US Mint employee in 1964-1965) would have re-sculpted the entire coin and that would result in differences between the 1964 mintage and the prior issues of 1921-1935. After reviewing the newly-obtained US Mint photo of the 1964 Peace Dollar die it is apparent that (except for the “64” of the date) the obverse was NOT re-sculpted. In fact, it is an exact match to the previous (most recent) sculpt of 1934-1935.

The 1922-1928 Peace Dollar obverse has a relatively large triangular dot between “GOD” and “WE”, and the diagonal leg of the “R” in TRUST is somewhat curved. For 1934-1935 the dot is smaller and round, and the diagonal leg on the “R” is straighter. It is also apparent that the Bob Wilhite photo is actually of a 1934 coin with the “3” retouched to look like a “6”. The “4” in the date of the Wilhite photo is an exact match for a 1934 coin with the horizontal crossbar of the “4” being about half way up. The US Mint photo of the original die shows the crossbar of the “4” being a little less than half way up. The US Mint photo also shows that the “6” in the date has an upper arc that extends farther to the right than any other published images.

It appears that there is no corresponding imagery of a 1964 Peace reverse. But based on the fact that the obverse was directly based on the 1934-1935 version, it is reasonable to assume that the 1964 reverse would have also been directly based on the reverse of 1934-1935. Some 1935-S Peace Dollars have an extra 4th ray below “ONE”. Other coins of this period (1934, 1934-D, 1934-S, 1935, and most 1935-S) do not have the 4th ray. It is unknown if the original 1964 Peace Dollars had the 4th ray or not. Over-strike Die Pairs 1 through 7 all have the 4th ray. Die Pairs 8 and 9 do not, so that provides an easy way to differentiate them. Die Pairs 8 and 9 over-strikes also have “64” date digits which are a match to the US Mint die photo, unlike previous over-strikes.

The quality of the engraving of Die Pair 8 was not fully satisfactory, and this die pair also had excessive bead-blasting which diminished the clarity of the over-strikes. Die Pair 8 was used to produce a total of 70 over-strikes. Die pair 8 is low relief (about 0.015") on both sides.

Die Pair 9 was created to correct the deficiencies of Die Pair 8. Original Peace Dollars of 1921 have a high relief obverse (about 0.030") and a low relief reverse (about 0.015"). Except for a few prototype Peace Dollars of 1922, all others from 1922-1935 have low relief (about 0.015") on both sides. Die pair 9 over-strikes have medium relief (about 0.020") on both sides. This provides better sculptural clarity without being obviously higher than normal.

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This modern over-strike "1964-D" Peace is the most exacting and faithful rendition ever produced. Holding this item in hand gives the viewer a true sense of what it would be like to own an original 1964-D Peace silver dollar.

Since these are over-struck on genuine coins, they have the correct weight (no metal is added or removed), correct metallic content, and correct diameter and edge type. There may be faint evidence of the original coin design showing since the over-strike is usually not perfectly aligned with the original strike. All the over-strikes are privately and painstakingly performed using a surplus Denver Mint coin press.

All are struck on 90% silver Peace Dollars originally minted from 1922-1935.

NOTE: Defacing of US coins is legal so long as the defacement isn't for fraudulent purposes.

By purchasing one or more of these, the buyer agrees to provide full disclosure of their origin when reselling them. Failure to provide potential buyers with complete and accurate information when offering these could result in criminal and/or civil fraud charges. In other words, don't try to sell to unaware buyers as original coins of this date.

Do not attempt to use these as legal tender. This product is NOT endorsed or approved by the US Mint, US Treasury, or US Government.