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Coin Of the Month

Plinky's Coin of the Month
December 1999

What five-letter word does this silver dollar honor?  The coin, first minted in 1921, commemorates the end of World War I—at the time called "the war to end all wars."

Hint: Every December 10, a gold medal that honors the same five-letter word is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

What's the five-letter word?  P-E-A-C-E!  The United States Mint struck the first Peace Silver Dollar in December 1921.  And every December 10, the Nobel Peace Prize and its gold medal are awarded in Oslo, Norway.

Photograph of Teresa Cafarelli.

Minted from 1921–1935, the Peace Silver Dollar has a portrait of "Miss Liberty" on its obverse.  The coin's artist (Anthony De Francisci) used his wife (Teresa Cafarelli) for the model.  She loved posing and wrote to her brother: "You remember how I was always posing as Liberty, and how brokenhearted I was when some other little girl was selected to play the role in the patriotic exercises in school?  I thought of those days often while sitting as a model for Tony's design, and now seeing myself as Miss Liberty on the new coin, it seems like the realization of my fondest childhood dream."

Along with a gold medal, Nobel Prize winners receive a cash award and diploma.  The other Nobel Prizes (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economics) also are given out on December 10.  But they're awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.  Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.

Reverse of the 1921 Peace Silver Dollar
The coin's reverse has an eagle holding an olive branch in its talons and the word "peace." It's the only U.S. circulating coin with this motto.

Obverse of the 1921 Peace Silver Dollar
The Peace Dollar's obverse has "Miss Liberty" with a crown like the one worn by the Statue of Liberty. To the left is a photo of the coin's model, Teresa Cafarelli.

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