1927 $1 MS65 Certification #37240310, PCGS #7370

A premium Gem example of this scarce, low-mintage Philadelphia issue, combining satiny luster, strong definition, clean focal areas, and elegant golden toning. The obverse displays a luminous champagne-gold center with warmer honey, amber, and copper shades gathering near the periphery. Subtle accents of pale rose, blue-gray, and sea-green emerge through the lower field and around portions of the border. Liberty’s profile is sharply defined, while the central waves, curls above the ear, and trailing locks exhibit excellent separation. Her cheek and jaw are exceptionally clean; only a few delicate lines on the neck and one small toning fleck near the coronet interrupt otherwise remarkably smooth surfaces. The reverse is especially attractive, with brilliant silver-gold mint frost surrounded by an iridescent peripheral halo of amber, rose, pale green, aqua, and blue. The eagle is boldly rendered throughout, including substantial breast and wing detail, sharply separated tail feathers, crisp talons, and a fully delineated olive branch. Strong satiny luster energizes both sides beneath the translucent patina. From a mintage of only 848,000 pieces, this conditionally rare MS65 carries CAC approval, confirming its premium technical quality and eye appeal at the assigned grade. The 1927 has the second-lowest mintage of the series, trailing only the 1928 Philadelphia issue. Yet its real difficulty is in Gem Mint State, where PCGS considers it the rarest Philadelphia Peace dollar, even surpassing the more famous 1928. PCGS presently estimates only about 550 survivors at MS65 or finer. The obverse is quietly beautiful. Its champagne-gold patina is light enough to preserve the satiny brightness of the fields, while the richer lower and peripheral color prevents it from appearing generic. Liberty’s cheek is remarkably free from the bagmarks that commonly hold this date below Gem. The tiny dark fleck beneath the B of LIBERTY is visible, as are a couple of faint lines on the neck, but neither becomes a serious focal distraction. The reverse is the more colorful and perhaps the finer side. The central silver-gold frost moves into a subtle peripheral spectrum—yellow, peach, rose, green, and blue—especially along the left and lower borders. The color is thin and translucent, so the luster remains fully involved. The strike is excellent. Liberty’s central hair retains meaningful internal structure, and the eagle is substantially brought up across the breast and wing. The head, neck feathers, tail, claws, olive leaves, rays, and lettering are all sharply presented. This is not merely “good for a Peace dollar”; it is a genuinely well-struck coin. CAC approval carries particular significance on a date commonly limited by bagmarks. It confirms that the coin is not surviving at MS65 primarily through rarity or lenient issue-specific allowances. The clean fields, strong strike, satiny luster, and balanced toning support the grade on their own.

Ron Guth

The 1927 Peace Dollar is a desirable coin for two reasons: it has the second lowest mintage of the series (one of only four dates with mintages below 1 million coins) and it is legitimately hard to find in nice condition.  Overall, the 1927 Peace Dollar ranks as the third rarest of all the Peace Dollars in Mint State, behind only the 1928 and the 1934-S.  In true Gem condition, it is the rarest of all the P-Mint Peace Dollars, beating out even the more celebrated 1928.  Most certified examples fall into the MS-63 category, with significantly fewer appearing at the MS-64 level, followed by a big drop-off in MS-65 and only a handful in MS-66.  Thus, the modern-day population reports have confirmed the "key" date status that the 1927 Peace Dollar has enjoyed for decades.  In terms of eye appeal, this date usually comes with a good strike but a few too many bagmarks.  The luster is often nice and strong, but mitigated by the afore-mentioned marks.

According to a notice in the June 1934 issue of The Numismatist (p. 416), collectors could still purchase Uncirculated 1927 Peace Dollars directly from the U.S. Treasury for "the face value of the coins and an amount sufficient to cover the mail charrges by first-class mail."

---

Q. David Bowers

The following narrative, with minor editing, is from my "Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia" (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., 1993).

Numismatic Information

Commentary: The low-mintage 1927 is a coin that has slipped between the cracks so far as news of bag releases is concerned. Little about this date appeared in print years ago. On the other hand, the historical record shows that its cousin, the 1927-S Peace dollar, was once plentiful in bag and roll quantities, from releases directly from storage in the San Francisco Mint.
Today, the 1927 Philadelphia issue ranks as one of the scarcer Peace dollar issues in higher levels of Mint State.

Circulated grades: Circulated 1927 Peace dollars are scarce in comparison to many other issues in the series. However, there are enough around that there has never been a shortage of any kind. As is true of many circulated Peace dollars, probably quantities went to the melting pot in the late 1970s when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver bullion market, and foolishly chased the price up to nearly $50 per ounce at a point, virtually bankrupting themselves in the process. I estimate that 30,000 to 60,000 1927 Peace dollars exist today in grades from VF-20 to AU-58.

Mint State grades: The 1927 is very available in Uncirculated grade. Most are in lower ranges of MS-60 through 63, but enough MS-64 coins exist that finding one will not be a problem for the specialist. MS-65 coins are in the rare category, and only a few hundred are estimated to have survived.

The usually-seen Uncirculated 1927 is very attractive, well struck, and with lustrous, satiny surfaces a numismatic gem to behold. There are exceptions as there always seem to be among Peace silver dollars-and some are average strikes and/or are noticeably bagmarked.

Varieties

Circulation strikes:

1. Breen-5727. Hub combination II-B2. VAM-I.

Just the one major variety.

Dies prepared: Obverse: Unknown; Reverse: Unknown.

Circulation strike mintage: 848,000

Estimated quantity melted: Unknown.

Characteristics of striking: Usually seen very well struck. Mint State coins are typically very attractive.

Known hoards of Mint State coins: Probably, Treasury bags existed in the 1950s and/or early 1960s, but I have found no records of them.

Commentary

The typical 1927 Peace dollar in Mint State is well struck and very attractive.