1933 HK-820, Montana Dollar

Coin Details

Auction Record

$999 MS66 02-16-2017 Heritage Auctions

Description

This 1933 Montana Dollar (HK-820) is a Depression-era silver dollar related to the Pedley-Ryan 'Buy-an-Ounce-of-Silver' campaign, representing Montana's participation in the silver advocacy movement during the darkest year of the Great Depression. The series encompasses seven types (HK-822 through HK-828) produced over the first half of 1933. Type I (60 pieces, January 5) and Type II (15 pieces, January 6) were the earliest, with Type II withdrawn after a fineness error and 'Fine' chiseled out of the die for Type III (fewer than 85). Type IV (up to 500 pieces, January 7 onward) became the most common variety. Type V omitted 'Denver' from the obverse, Type VI featured a 'Robbins on the Corner' counterstamp (300 sold in one day), and Type VII (50 pieces, June 1933) was the sole embossed variety with all previous types stamped incuse. Pedley-Ryan & Co., a Denver investment house, launched its 'Buy-an-Ounce-of-Silver' campaign on January 5, 1933, selling round, rimless, plain-edge silver discs the size of a standard U.S. dollar. Each disc contained one ounce of silver (430 grains, 99% fine) and was sold three for a dollar, with the firm agreeing to redeem them at prevailing silver market prices. Bar silver was then quoted at just 27 cents an ounce, and the firm bet that investors would profit when silver reached the bimetallists' hoped-for 16-to-1 ratio with gold. The campaign predated Roosevelt's March 6, 1933 bank holiday by two months, making these silver speculation pieces rather than emergency scrip. The so-called dollar collecting community has grown significantly since the Hibler-Kappen catalog's initial publication, with specialized dealers, dedicated reference works, and an active collector base supporting a market that values historical significance, artistic merit, rarity, and condition. Heritage Auctions, Stack's Bowers, and other major numismatic auction houses regularly feature so-called dollars in their sales.

Rarity Notes

The Montana Dollar is rare, with limited production during the brief 1933 banking crisis. Depression-era scrip so-called dollars are actively sought by collectors of both so-called dollars and Depression-era Americana.

Cross References

HK-820; PCGS #643555