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Author
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Topic: Apollo 11: Eisenhower, Anthony silver dollars
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Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 07-22-2007 12:01 AM
   
Fossicking around today in a flea market, I came across a '74 Silver dollar, the reverse of which is the Apollo 11 patch. A miserable 5 bucks, and in mint condition, it was hard to pass up. Just how hard are these to come by in the U.S.? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-22-2007 12:19 AM
It sounds as though what you found was an Eisenhower dollar:  To quote Wikipedia: The Eisenhower Dollar was struck to celebrate Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died in 1969, and the Apollo 11 moon landing of the same year. It was minted for only a seven year period. The coins were often saved as mementos of Eisenhower and never saw much circulation outside of casinos....some Eisenhower Dollars were minted in a 40% silver clad to be sold to collectors. All of these coins were minted at the San Francisco Mint, with dates 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1976. These coins were either uncirculated or proof. Uncirculated coins came in cellophane with a blue plastic token in a blue envelope. Proof issues came in a proof set-like plastic case, contained in a brown "wood grain finish" slipcase box with a gold seal on the back. The uncirculated coins are referred to as 'Blue Ikes' and the proofs as 'Brown Ikes'. The same Apollo 11 design appeared on the Susan B. Anthony dollar, minted between 1979 and 1981, and again in 1999. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 07-22-2007 01:33 AM
Nope... same face (precisely in fact) but this is circular with no relief depicting the 11 edges / sides apparent in your scan. I have another one that was given to me back in '78 and that was also a '74 coin. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-22-2007 01:44 AM
I think I understand the problem, and it's with my image. I assumed that the Eisenhower and Anthony dollars shared identical reverses. They do not. The image above was of an Anthony dollar. Here is the Eisenhower:  Does that more closely match your coin(s)? |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 07-22-2007 02:19 AM
The Eisenhower it is...What just struck me is that the US time of my first message just happens to coincide with the Australian date of the landing and the moonwalk... 21 07 69. |
TRS
Member Posts: 721
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 07-22-2007 02:04 PM
I obviously struck lucky.On my first trip to the US (for the UACC show in 2005) I got one of the Eisenhower dollars in change on the very first thing I purchased - a train ticket to get to the show hotel from Penn Station in New York! I've still got it - I took it as a sign.  |
Go4Launch
Member Posts: 542
From: Seminole, Fla.
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 07-31-2007 10:26 PM
Mike, in answer to your original question, the Eisenhower dollars are pretty easy to come by through dealers, etc., because hundreds of millions of them were minted during 1971-1978. One in pretty good condition should run you about 6 dollars.In an added Apollo note, all quarter dollar, half dollar, and dollar coins minted in 1975-76 had special reverses for the bicentennial of America's independence. The reverse of the Eisenhower dollar shows the Liberty Bell in front of the moon! |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 07-31-2007 11:12 PM
Thanks John. I checked out some proof versions of the same coin on eBay... looked stunning. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-01-2007 02:37 PM
quote:
Originally posted by TRS:
I took it as a sign.
It is a sign of some sort - because of the Eisenhower's size, they rarely circulated in change outside of areas which have casinos. (The half dollar is encountered more frequently, and they're still a hefty size.)The current sized-dollar coins, which came into production in 1979, are slightly larger than the U.S. quarter, and there are machines which will not only accept them, but dispense them in change (Post Office, New York's Metrocards.) Many times before I went into NYC I used to ask the bank for dollar coins because it was easier and faster to feed in two coins for a Metrocard than feeding in two bills (also a lot less noticeable - I get paranoid by people hanging around the Metrocard machines.) It's probably because of the dissimilar size that you got passed the Eisenhower, because very few people or merchants would recognize and take it. |
TRS
Member Posts: 721
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 08-02-2007 01:32 AM
Ah - it came out of a ticket vending machine... |
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