Although the first two product launches for the 2023 Morgan and Peace dollars do not begin until July, ongoing subscription sales are on a path toward ensuring that most of the coins will have been spoken for before sales actually begin.

By the time sales launch July 13 for the Uncirculated 2023 Morgan and Peace dollars, more than 70% of the authorized mintage of both numismatic products will have been already reserved for sale through the U.S. Mint’s subscription ordering option.

The maximum mintages authorized separately by the Mint for each of the two Uncirculated silver dollars are 275,000 coins. The household order limit for Mint customers placing advance orders is 25 coins for each product option.

As of May 1, according to U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White, advance subscription orders for the Uncirculated 2023 Morgan dollar totaled 201,161 coins, while orders for the Uncirculated 2023 Peace dollar total 195,976 coins.

The Uncirculated coins are being retailed by the Mint for $76 each.

The Uncirculated 2023 Morgan and Peace dollars are to be struck at the Philadelphia Mint, but without the facility’s P Mint mark.

Later in 2023, the Mint plans release of single Proof 2023-S Morgan and Peace dollars, each bearing the S Mint mark of the San Francisco Mint where the coins will be struck.

The San Francisco Mint is also scheduled to produce the Reverse Proof versions of the Morgan and Peace dollars for the limited edition two-coin 2023 Morgan and Peace Silver Dollar Reverse Proof set. Both of those coins will also bear an S Mint mark.

Subscriptions for single Proof Morgan and Peace silver dollars and for the two-coin Reverse Proof silver dollar set are also currently being accepted.

The single Proof 2023-S Morgan and Peace dollars are each limited to a maximum release of 400,000 coins, priced at $80 each, with the advance household orders capped at 25 of each coin. The single Proof dollars are scheduled for Aug. 9 release for sale.

As of May 2, subscription orders totaled 231,293 for the Proof Morgan dollar and 217,663 for the Proof Peace dollar.

The Reverse Proof set — scheduled for Nov. 14 release — has a product limit of 250,000 sets, priced at $185 each, and the advance order limit is five sets per household. By May 2, 176,008 sets had been ordered through the subscription option.

About the program

The coins are authorized under provisions of the 1921 Silver Dollar Coin Anniversary Act, Public Law 116-286, signed into law Jan. 5, 2021, by President Biden.

The act’s starting provisions called for the production and release of 2021 silver dollars to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the U.S. Mint’s transition of production from the Morgan dollar to the Peace dollar.

The enabling legislation allows for annual production as an ongoing numismatic product. No coins were produced during calendar year 2022 because the U.S. Mint was unable to secure enough planchets to produce a suitable mintage.

Unlike the Morgan dollars issued for circulation from 1878 to 1904 and in 1921 and the Peace dollars from 1921 to 1935, all minted in a .900 fine silver alloy including 10% copper, the coins dated 2021 and 2023 are made of .999 fine silver.

While the composition departs from the original, Mint mark use or lack of use follows historical precedent. None of the original Morgan and Peace dollars struck at the Philadelphia Mint from 1878 to 1935 bore Mint marks; the P Mint mark was first used from 1942 to 1945 on Jefferson 5-cent coins and then on most coins from that Mint starting in 1979 and 1980. However, D and S Mint marks were used for both series on the original strikes, so they appear on the new issues.

Of the total maximum mintages offered for each product, the Mint is reserving 10% for advance purchase by the 18 unnamed coin dealers that comprise the Authorized Bulk Purchase Program, or ABPP, that was introduced by the Mint in February 2021. The program allows the ABPP dealers to buy specifically allocated numbers of coins based on their previous product sales. The ABPP dealers are able to buy their allotments at 5% above the retail price the rest of the public will be charged, and they must pick up their orders, which become available a week before public sales begin, at the Mint’s order fulfillment contractor in Memphis, Tennessee.

The U.S. Mint also reserves 1% of the maximum mintage for each product option for sale through three retail sales outlets — the U.S. Mint sales center on the first floor of Mint headquarters in Washington, D.C., and contracted sales outlets at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints.

Connect with Coin World:  
Sign up for our free eNewsletter
Access our Dealer Directory  
Like us on Facebook  
Follow us on Twitter