The 1934-S has the mintage of a semi-key and the mint state rarity of a legend. San Francisco struck 1,011,000 dollars when coinage resumed in 1934, and unlike the 1928, nobody paid attention. The coins went into circulation and stayed there, wearing down through the Depression-era West.
The result is the condition key of the Peace series. Circulated examples are plentiful and affordable; genuinely uncirculated ones are the prize of the whole series, and gems are the coins that anchor registry sets. The gap between what a worn 1934-S costs and what a gem costs is the widest in the series, all because nobody hoarded a bag in 1934.
The mirror image of the 1928: instead of a tiny mintage everyone protected, a modest mintage nobody did. For most collectors the honest circulated coin is the sensible buy, and for the mint state chase, certification is not optional: the premium at the top makes this date a target for both alteration and optimistic grading.
| Issue | Mint | Mintage |
|---|---|---|
| 1934 Peace Dollar | Philadelphia | 954,057 |
| 1934-S Peace Dollar | San Francisco | 1,011,000 |
| 1934-D Peace Dollar | Denver | 1,569,500 |
Mintage figures: United States Mint, Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, cross-checked across independent published references. Specifications: United States Mint coin specifications.