Interesting link I found obsessing about old coins, was uploaded today
1DZbVBVHpcw
Quote: Michael Lantz, Denver Mint Foreman, Retired, 1961-1995 There is the tale of a legendary Peace dollar struck at the Denver Mint in silver and dated 1964. Rumors of this coin have been around for years. Was it really struck? Did any examples survive? Michael Lantz worked at the Denver during the 1960's and knows what really happened. He tells the story of how and why these Peace dollars were created and whether any have survived to this day
Quote: Looks like a definite no, at least, nobody admits to taking any and replacing them with earlier silver dollars.
I bet there are some that do exist but no one will admit it like with the double eagles that were stolen before melted. I'm almost positive it would also be illegal to own these but just cant imagine not a single person tried to smuggle any out
I hope they exist as well, if they do they'll turn up eventually, likely in Canada or Europe at auction. On a side note it's hard to believe that a coin containing more than 3/4th a troy oz. of silver was ever in general circulation, even if only in the West. From my understanding large dollar coins were more popular than dollar bills in some frontier towns until the 1940's.
It really is amazing when you think back about what coins used to be made of. We question whether copper is the right choice for a coin and they used to basically have silver dollars. Then again silver and gold were much cheaper back then. Today a coin like that would stay in circulation until it was basically handed to the first person. Our modern coins just seem so plain in terms of make up and design compared to past generations. Bring back some walking/seated liberties or do some redesigns or something
Id be a little surprised if someone put that coin at auction. I know the secret service does still chase the stolen double eagles and theyve made arrests from them. Personally once the coins are out like that just let them exist. They can collect a nice tax on their sale.
I would love to get my hands on one of those though.
Maybe you guys could petition your representatives to introduce legislation that makes all 1933 Double Eagles, 1964 Peace dollars, and 1974 Aluminum cents legal to own?
Also 1 thing we know for sure is that the right weight in silver dollars was melted, but not necessarily the right silver dollars.
And thats the key that it was the weight they went off of. If this happened today I would say yes it probably would be really hard to smuggle one out, but back inthe 60s switches could be made. I'm sure they knew for a few days at least that the melt could/would happen giving people time to prepare whatever they were going to do.
Id be willing to bet that guy probably has one or two himself but will say what he needs to in order to keep suspicion off of him.
Petitioning could potentially work except no where near enough people care.
Quote: Petitioning could potentially work except no where near enough people care.
True...UNLESS someone makes the government aware of theirs and gets them confiscated as a martyr to the coin community. Publicity from an elderly gentleman having his coin that he technically paid for [in older dollars] ripped away because of a technicality might make the evening news in some areas.
It might make the news but no where near enough attention. There was some pending case about one of the double eagles the government had confiscated but dont remember how it turned out assuming its not on going.
While it would be nice we need to remember for them to take action most likely at least 50 percent of the population would need to care and probably more like 80. While coin collecting is popular its not something everyone or an overwhelming majority of the public does.
Id be even in the collecting community very few people would get worked up over it knowing they would either never have the chance to own one of these and/or couldnt afford one even if they did.
Quote: On August 3, 1964, Congress passed legislation providing for the striking of 45,000,000 silver dollars. Coins, including the silver dollar, had become scarce due to hoarding as the price of silver rose past the point at which a silver dollar was worth more as bullion than as currency. The new pieces were intended to be used at Nevada casinos and elsewhere in the West where "hard money" was popular. Many in the numismatic press complained that the issue would only satisfy a small special interest, and would do nothing to alleviate the general coin shortage
Wow that really was a terrible idea to try and help with a shortage. Casinos especially in Vegas are great places to get all the half dollars you could ever want though
@basebal21, true, but the dollar coin hasn't been popular anywhere in the US since, the West wanted silver dollars and President Johnson was a-OK with that, without him this never would have got this far in the first place.
The dollar coin will never be popular as long as the dollar bill exists. People wont change unless theyre forced too. But the coins havent been that great themselves.
And true they did want silver dollars but they didnt have to have THAT much silver in them. If they went with say 40% silver or kept it around a half ounce or less those coins would probably exist today
So what exactly is the big deal with someone doing a switch and sneaking out coins? The coin will have a lot of value presumably, but what does the government care?
Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited. Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use
Posted 05/19/2012 10:41 pm
At least I would have. 
Publicity from an elderly gentleman having his coin that he technically paid for [in older dollars] ripped away because of a technicality might make the evening news in some areas.
