1923-S

The 1923-S, at 19,020,000 pieces, ran the largest San Francisco output of the Peace Dollar series and exceeded both the 1923 Denver and the 1922-S for the year. The Pittman Act of 1918's recoinage timeline gave San Francisco a meaningful share of the third-year production, and the 1923-S is one of only three S-mint dates in the series above the 10-million mark. Anthony de Francisci's Low Relief design carried through unchanged, and San Francisco's dies came up to the same Low Relief specifications used at Philadelphia and Denver.

Strike quality on the 1923-S follows the established San Francisco pattern of weak hair detail above Liberty's ear and softness on the eagle's breast feathers. The 1923-S typically shows softer central detail than the 1922-S despite the higher mintage, because longer die runs produced more late-state pieces across the year. Most surviving examples grade MS60 to MS64 from circulation and broken Treasury bag releases, with PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations clustering at MS62 and MS63. MS65 is condition-scarce and trades at meaningful premiums; MS66 and above is genuinely rare. The 1923-S is one of the dates that establishes the S-mint condition-rarity pattern that culminates in the 1934-S top key.

The 1923-S is a regular common date in lower grades but a meaningful condition rarity above MS64. Pricing has held flat for two decades at the low end and trended upward at the high end, mirroring the broader S-mint strike-quality pattern across the series. The 1923-S pairs naturally with the 1922-S at the entry-grade level for S-mint date-set collectors and sits as the largest-mintage San Francisco Peace Dollar in the series, a useful fact when negotiating against sellers who reach for scarcity arguments on lower grades. For the broader San Francisco strike-quality story and the Pittman Act backdrop, see the Peace Dollar series history.