1356

1921-S $1 PCGS MS65 [L#1356

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:455.00 USD Estimated At:700.00 - 900.00 USD
1921-S $1 PCGS MS65 [L#1356
This lustrous Gem, with snowy luster that swirls around the surface on both sides, has exquisite surfaces and a very good strike, with light toning.

In the early spring of 1918 during World War I, the Germans started a propaganda campaign in India claiming the British government could not redeem its silver certificates. This started a run on the Indian redemption agencies which threatened to start a revolution. In consequence, the British ambassador met with U.S. Treasury officials who agreed to provide silver bullion to meet these demands. The U.S. Treasury Department had at that time over 400 million silver dollars held unused in reserve that were coined under the Bland-Allison and Sherman Acts. On April 9, 1918, Senator Key Pittman introduced a bill which passed April 22. It directed that not more than 350,000,000 standard silver dollars be either converted into bullion (and sold at a price not less than $1.00 per fine ounce), or used for subsidiary silver coinage. It also authorized purchase of a like amount of silver (at a price of $1.00 per ounce from American mine owners) as well as the coining of the same number of dollars that had been melted. The silver dollars immediately began being melted after passage of the Pittman Act. When all was said and done, over 270 million Morgan silver dollars had been melted and converted into bullion (the coins were passed through large greased rollers to flatten them, and then melted). In 1921, before the new Peace dollar design was implemented, the government had all three mints strike millions of Morgan silver dollars to replace those melted coins. However, gems (such as 1921-S) are acknowledged as elusive today by just about every collector, coin dealer, or student of the series.