After the conclusion of the Peace dollar in 1935, World War II would break out in Europe. Its design would come close once again to being minted in 1964 when Congress authorized the production of 45 million new silver dollars, but the production was halted and squashed after 316,076 Peace dollars dated 1964 were produced and never released. Due to a severe nationwide coin shortage, the Coinage Act of 1965 would suspend any production of a standard silver dollar for a period of five years.
Eisenhower Dollar (1971-1978)
Eagle Reverse (1971-1974)
At the end of Congress’ five year ban on silver dollars, they decided to revisit the idea. On the heels of the passing of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the dollar would honor the war hero and two-term President. However, with all the silver gone from circulating coins like the dime and quarter dollar, the ongoing debate of the precious metal in circulating Eisenhower dollars were never sincerely considered. There were also those that called for the next circulating commemorative dollar to honor both Eisenhower and the Apollo 11 space flight and the first landing of man on the moon. An alternative reverse featuring a heraldic eagle was also prepared by the United States Mint.
With over a year of political talks, the Eisenhower dollar was authorized via a bill becoming law on December 31, 1970. The circulating coin would be made from the copper-nickel clad composition and feature a left-facing profile of the late President on the obverse. “LIBERTY” appears above him and “IN GOD WE TRUST” seen below his chin. The date is depicted at the very bottom of the design with the mint mark (if any) above it just under Eisenhower’s neck.
The reverse depicts an eagle with an olive branch of peace in its talons as it looks to land on the moon. The Earth is pictured in the background to the left as the motto “E PLURIBUS UNUM” is seen above the eagle and “UNITED STATES MINT” is arranged along the top arc of the design. “ONE DOLLAR” is seen along the bottom edge with stars surrounding the eagle and a small “FG” representing Chief Engraver and designer Frank Gasparro under the eagle’s tail.
The coins were not released until November 1, 1971. The late release was revealed to be due to the fact that the American public had no use for such a large and heavy coin. They were looked at as souvenirs too often and the demand dropped significantly for new Eisenhower dollars from 1972 to 1973. To put it in to perspective, the Mint produced over 75.8 million dollars from Philadelphia in 1972 and over 92.5 million from Denver. In 1973, just a little over four million were minted in total from both Philadelphia and Denver combined after the Mint recalibrated their approach and struck only enough coins to fulfill orders for uncirculated coin sets. The remaining coins were what made up the mintage for both branch mints.
From the beginning, San Francisco only struck collector coins that were made from a silver-clad composition (known as the Blue Ikes) and the Proof version of the same coin (Brown Ikes). Starting in 1973, the Mint also decided to strike a Proof version of the copper-nickel coin for the regular Proof Set.
Bicentennial (1776-1976)
The nation’s impending celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States gave way to a competition for a commemorative design that would be featured on the reverses of the quarter dollar, half dollar and dollar. Almost a thousand designs were submitted for the dollar and was narrowed down to 12 semifinalists. The judges would ultimately choose the design of Dennis R. Williams as his concept of the Liberty Bell superimposed on the moon connected the past and the present.
Regular coinage was dated 1974 until the middle of 1975 when production of the Bicentennial design began. Those coins were dated 1776-1976 as no dollar coins were dated 1975.They were first released in the Fall of 1975 and their minting continued on through the following year of 1976. The obverse design remain unchanged except for the dual date at the bottom (1776-1976). Coins with the dual date and special reverse were produced in copper-nickel clad, silver-clad, and Proof versions from Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco.
Eagle Reverse Resumed (1977-1978)
The regular designs returned in 1977 and were produced through 1978 until the series would ultimately see its demise. Over 58.7 million Eisenhower dollars were struck in its final year between Philadelphia and Denver. A little over 3.1 million silver-clad coins were struck at San Francisco.
Susan B. Anthony (1979-1999)
As the Eisenhower dollar series came to an end after just seven years in production due to lack of demand, the following series would be met with even more public scrutiny. The Susan B. Anthony dollar debuted in 1979 and was minted for circulation for just two years until the public completely abandoned them. Their failure was chalked up to lack of artistic merit and as a marketing tool regardless of their intent and high hopes for the series.
Public Law 95-447 was passed on October 10, 1978, and provided legislation that would issue a new dollar coin that would be completely different from all the previous dollar coin issues from the United States Mint. With the complaint of the Eisenhower dollar being too big and too heavy, they made sure to rework the new issue to be smaller in both size and weight.
As far as the design was concerned, politics outweighed sentiment and the White House would ultimately make the decision that the coin should portray a real woman instead of the idealized or mythical figures that had appeared on United States coinage previously. Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) was chosen as she was a prolific women’s rights advocate.
United States Mint Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro was tasked with the design, using working photographs to soften her harsh features. However, many disapproved of this approach and wanted her to be featured more realistically. The portrait in response was accurate but met with cruel public opinion as many did not approve of Susan B. Anthony being chosen in general. With this, no reverse design was even considered or given any thought, so they simply reused the Eisenhower design and fit it to the new smaller issue.
The obverse design features a right-facing bust of Anthony (c.1870) with “LIBERTY” featured above the top arc and the date featured below her. “IN GOD WE TRUST” is seen to her right by her chin with thirteen stars surrounding her and Gasparro’s initials above the star to the right of the date. Mint marks, if any, are seen above her shoulder to the left of the design.
Coins were struck at Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco through 1981. Over 500 million coins were minted in anticipation of the release on July 2, 1979. Once again, the public did not react the way the Mint had hoped. They were often mistaken for quarters as they were similar in size. Some of the nicknames given to it were the “Susan B. Agony” or the “Carter quarter” in reference to then-President Jimmy Carter’s White House struggling with growing inflation.
Regardless of the media attention and advertising given for this new dollar coin issue, the public still preferred paper money. Most of the coins produced at the Mint in 1980, including the ones produced in 1979, were stockpiled in vaults waiting on demand. It never gained in popularity. In 1981, coins were only produced for the annual sale of the Uncirculated sets.
It was not until 1999 that the Mint produced Susan B. Anthony dollars once again in anticipation of a new dollar design being adopted in 2000. They minted millions of 1999-dated Anthony dollars hoping it would increase public demand. Again, they failed to meet expectations and those dollars were instantly thought of as novelty. While some were hoarded by collectors, many are speculated to still be waiting in vaults for distribution.
Source: NGC Coin; The Official 2023 Red Book
