Teresa de Francisci

In 1921, the United States Commission of Fine Arts held a contest in order to determine who would design the new silver dollar that was to be issued as a commemorative of peace. The coin was slated to go into production later that year.^[3] Eight sculptors were invited to take part. The artists invited were Chester Beach, Victor David Brenner, Anthony de Francisci, John Flanagan, Henry Hering, Hermon Atkins MacNeil and Adolph Alexander Weinman.^[3] De Francisci's design was eventually chosen. As winner of the contest, de Francisci was awarded $1,500; the other seven participants were awarded $100 for their entries.^[3]

Due to time constraints, de Francisci was unable to schedule a professional model to pose for the obverse depiction of Liberty.^[3] Instead, he opted to model his depiction of Liberty on his wife.^[3] In describing his technique, he stated "I opened a window of my studio and let the wind blow on her hair while she was posing for me."^[3] The sculptor later stated that though his wife was the model for the coin, it did not depict a perfect likeness. In remarks published by the Minneapolis Tribune in 1922, de Francisci states that "the Liberty is not a photograph of Mrs. de Francisci. It is a composite face and in that way typifies something of America."^[3] The Peace dollar officially went into production on December 29, 1921.^[5] The coin was minted yearly from 1921 to 1928, and again in 1934 and 1935.^[6]

Van Allen, Leroy C. & Mallis, A. George (1991). Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace Dollars. Virginia Beach, Virginia: DLRC Press. ISBN 1-880731-11-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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