The impact of the Pittman Act of 1918 on the supplies of silver dollars today can never be overlooked. In one brief period a total of 270,232,722 silver dollars were melted, with the bulk of the silver being shipped to India.
It could have been worse. The Pittman Act actually authorized the melting of up to 350 million silver dollars. That said, 270 million silver dollars is a significant number as it probably represented 50 percent or more of the number in vaults at the time.
Full Article: Silver dollars at the back of vault survived - Numismatic News
