While walking around the ANA National Money Show on Saturday with my father, I met a dealer who had a blue envelope that said “United States Silver Dollar” in a fancy script on the cover with a 1922 Peace Dollar in a shrink wrap next to the envelope. I was intrigued and asked the dealer about the coin. The dealer removed it from his case and told me that he bought as part of a lot with other items. The dealer did not know much about the coin except that it was sold as part of a “GSA Hoard Sale” that was offered after the sale of the well known Carson City Dollars.
I like Peace Dollars. Aside from being a classic beauty, the are the first non-modern set I put together—which includes the 1928 Peace Dollar my fiancée (now my wife) bought for me as a gift! Within the envelop was the dollar shrink wrapped with a special GSA token and two information cards. One card was about the coin and the other about the sale. The more I looked, the more interested I became.
With loupe in hand, I looked closely at the coin. Even though the cards say that the coin is circulated, the dealer and I agreed that if it was circulated, that it was very lightly handled. Some wearing on Liberty’s cheek and neck along with the nice luster had both of us agreeing that the coin should grade MS62/63. The dealer was asking for a modest price over the price he paid, so I made the purchase.
When I came home, I searched for more information and found this site that explained how the GSA sold what has been called the “GSA Hoard” that included the famed Carson City Dollars and over 100,000 additional circulated and uncirculated silver dollars. This report noted that there were “84,165 circulated and 27,980 uncirculated coins minted between 1859 and 1935.” The 84,165 circulated silver dollars were various types including Seated Liberty, Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars with mint marks from other US Mint branches.
The article reports that the GSA never published the number that they sold of the blue softpack dollar. It is estimated that there were 100,000 of these coins sold.
The ANA National Money Show in Charlotte was a lot of fun. Now it is time to go to Baltimore for the Whitman Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention.