History of the Eisenhower Dollar
Back in March, 1964, the Treasury Department ordered
the end to paying out silver dollars. Yet with a coin shortage looming, and
silver near or exceeding the face value of a silver dollar, later that year,
congress voted to coin 45 million additional silver dollars, which turned out
to be Peace Dollars, even though the Peace Dollar had not been coined for over
40 years. After production of over 300,000, production was stopped, and it
looked like the end of the large dollar coin. The Coinage Act of July 23, 1965
included a provision that no standard silver dollars were to be coined for a
period of five years.
Near the end of the five year ban, Congressman Bob Casey of
It took more than a year, but after much political bickering, it became law on
December 31st, 1970. The bill called for a circulating coin made from the same
metal content (copper and nickel) used in the dime and quarter (clad) and which
was to be used for half dollars in 1971. The bill also authorized the coining
of up to 150 million silver-clad coins for collectors that would be made
similar to the half dollar produced from 1965-1969 which was two layers. The
outer layers would be 80% silver and 20% copper while the inner layer, or core,
would be approximately 21% silver and 79% copper. Overall, it was a 40% silver
mix. An amendment to the bill called for a portion of the profits from these
collector coins to be donated to
With the political issues now out of the way, Mint Director Mary Brooks wanted
the new dollar in production quickly. Rather than going through a public design
competition, the job was turned over to Mint Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro.
Gasparro already had two designs to his credit in production; the back of the
Lincoln Cent starting in 1959 and the reverse of the Kennedy Half Dollar.
Later, he would also provide the designs for the ill-fated Susan B. Anthony
dollar. Anticipating the new coinage, Gasparro had already begun work on the
designs. Even though the first “Ike” dollar was not coined until November 1971,
the first designs had the date of 1970. Although it is not clearly known why it
took until late 1971 to release the new dollar, it has been speculated that
there were numerous design deficiencies. For example, the relief was too high,
and in fact, coins struck for circulation that year are now known as Type I
while proofs are of Type II which has a higher relief. Additionally, the
copper-nickel combination is a harder metal than the 90% silver composition
which resulted in poor strikes.
Not uncommon when a new coin/issue is released, collectors and the public
hoarded a good portion of what was released on that day and over the next few
months. Over time, the new dollar reached the channels of commerce and then the
issue that is still prevalent today revealed itself, which was that the
American public did not want to use a dollar coin. Since the new dollars were
not often seen, casinos also had a hard time keeping them on hand as people
thought they were rare and kept them.
The year of 1975 saw a change to the design. Just like the quarter and half
dollar, the dollar coin underwent a design change to commemorate the
bicentennial. A nationwide contest was held and the winner was Dennis R.
Williams. His design of a Liberty Bell superimposed on the moon was the winner.
It is similar to the design on the reverse of the Franklin Half Dollar. No
coins were dated 1975. Those produced in 1975 were of the bicentennial type.
Beginning in 1977, the dollar coin went back to the traditional design. Due to
the lack of public acceptance, the IKE dollars were produced for the last time
in 1978 making way for the ill-fated Susan B. Anthony dollar.
During its run, the Eisenhower Dollar saw wide swings in production. Although
over 676 million were produced for circulation, a couple of years saw very low
production. In 1973,