1923-D

The 1923-D, at 6,811,000 pieces, ran the second-largest Denver output of the Peace Dollar series after the 1922-D launch year and dropped meaningfully from the 15-million 1922 figure as the Pittman Act recoinage program approached its scheduled conclusion. Denver's third-year production share reflected the same wind-down pattern Philadelphia followed, and the 1923-D is the last D-mint date above the million-piece line for the entire decade until 1934. Anthony de Francisci's Low Relief design carried through unchanged on the obverse and reverse, with Liberty's radiate head and the rock-perched eagle holding the standard configuration.

Strike quality on the 1923-D follows the Denver pattern of slightly softer central detail than the matched Philadelphia issue. Liberty's hair above the ear and the eagle's breast feathers tend toward weak on coins from later die states, though the year's mid-volume run keeps the overall strike profile cleaner than the higher-mintage 1922-D. Most surviving examples grade MS62 to MS64 from broken Treasury bag releases, with PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations clustering at MS63 and MS64. MS65 examples are available and trade at modest premiums; MS66 is condition-scarce. No major doubled-die or repunched-mintmark varieties command material premiums outside the Van Allen-Mallis specialist market.

The 1923-D is a regular common date and the second-easiest D-mint pickup of the series after the 1922-D. Pricing has held flat for two decades at small premiums above the 1922-D, with the gap widest at MS65 because the slightly lower mintage shows up directly in the certified-pop ratio at the top tier. Treasury bag examples from the 1950s and 1960s remain the most common source. The 1923-D anchors the upper end of the affordable D-mint pickups in the series before the post-Pittman mintage collapse takes Denver Peace Dollar production below two million pieces for the rest of the run. For the Pittman Act recoinage wind-down and the longer arc of Denver Peace Dollar production, see the Peace Dollar series history.