During its eight years of production, it enjoyed the same obscure status as the half dollar and was a coin rarely seen outside of areas where gambling was legal. The circulating edition of the 'Ike' Dollar, though it did answer the needs of casinos, was otherwise a flop with the public. Mint Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro, the Eisenhower Dollar debuted in the fall of 1971. The reverse carried a reproduction of the Apollo XI emblem, both Eisenhower's passing and the first moon landing having occurred in 1969.ĭesigned and sculpted by U. Eisenhower, the late president and Army general. These dollars were of the traditional size and bore a portrait of Dwight D. An omnibus bill passed at the end of that year provided for the elimination of all silver from the half dollar and production of a new dollar coin that was likewise to be of the copper-nickel-clad composition. As this restriction ran out in 1970, the owners of gambling casinos were lobbying for dollar coins to replace the ones lost to silver hoarders. It should be noted that 40% silver Eisenhower dollars are much more common in the higher Mint State grades because they were minted with the much greater level of care generally afforded numismatic strikes.VarietyPlus Eisenhower Dollars (1971-1978)Īfter the aborted Peace Dollar coinage in 1965, Congress mandated that no more silver dollars be coined for a period of five years. Thus, copper-nickel clad business strikes grading MS60-64 are typical in MS65 they are scarce, are rare in MS66, and prove virtually elusive in MS67.

This is because the coins are relatively large and heavy and thus more prone to surface gouges and other imperfections during shipment in bags. While hundreds of millions of Eisenhower dollars were made, copper-nickel clad business-strike specimens grading MS65 or better are remarkably scarce. Williams, was replaced in 1977 with the coin?s regular reverse visage ? the Apollo 11 insignia.

In 19, all Eisenhower dollars honored the nation?s bicentennial with a 1776-1976 dual date on the obverse and a special reverse design with the Liberty Bell superimposed on the surface of the moon. While most Eisenhower dollars are made from copper-nickel clad, many uncirculated pieces were minted in a 40% silver format at the San Francisco Mint and bear an ?S? mintmark. The Eisenhower dollar symbolizes at least two numismatically significant elements, being the first dollar coin minted during the copper-nickel clad era (which began in 1965) and the last regularly issued dollar coin with physical dimensions approximating the traditional silver dollars of earlier times.

Eisenhower dollars were minted from 1971 through 1978 and designed by Frank Gasparro.

1972 eisenhower dollar pendant