To collectors of U.S. coins, 1965 was an epoch in the history of the American monetary system. A coinage shortage and the rise of silver bullion prices begot a new clad composition for the dime and quarter, reduced the half dollar’s composition to silver billon, and doomed an effort to reintroduce the silver dollar.
But things were not quite so cut and dry as that and the United States Mint’s efforts to dissuade the American public from hoarding coins unfairly blamed collectors and tarnished the coin collecting hobby.
The Date Freeze
Under the direction of Mint Director Eva Adams, the U.S. mint continued to strike coins dated 1964 through 1966. This order…
Nickels, quarters, and half dollars dated 1964 were struck in large quantities in 1964 and 1965, and dimes were struck in large quantities in 1964, 1965, and 1966. In 1965, clad quarters and dimes entered production. Circulation quality 1965 silver-clad half dollars would not…
The Market for 1965 Cents
1965 cents continue to circulate, although typical pieces found in pocket change will by in conditions Very Fine and below. The occasional Extra Fine or About Uncirculated example will reveal itself, most likely after an old accumulation of cents is emptied from a large jar of coins and deposited at a bank or at a CoinStar machine.
In numismatic channels, it is not at all difficult to acquire an uncirculated 1965 cent as large numbers of coins were saved in rolls and bags over the years. Notionally, an uncirculated 1965 cent will cost about $1 to $1.50. Beware of Special Mint Set coins masquerading as business strikes. Professional dealers know the difference, but the person listing the coin online or selling at your local store may not have paid too close
PCGS CoinFacts posts a price guide value of $8,000 for the sole 1980 cent. This appears to be a speculative price as there is no auction data to support this price. Given the approximately graded population of seven MS67+ cents in the PCGS population report, we believe that the 1980 Lincoln Cent in MS68RD guide price of $8,000 is high.
Design
Obverse:
The obverse of the 1965 Lincoln cent was designed by Victor David Brenner and appears largely as it did when the type was first minted in 1909. The main difference between the 1965 obverse and the 1909 version is the location of Brenners’ initials, V.D.B., which were added under President Abraham Lincoln’s bust in 1918 after their removal from the reverse in late 1909. The date 1965 appears to the right of Lincoln (viewer’s right), and the motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears above the president. On the left of the central motif is the word LIBERTY.
Reverse:
Frank Gasparro designed the 1959 Lincoln Memorial reverse that replaced the original 1909 Brenner wheat stalk design (the Wheat Cent). Gasparro’s initials FG appear on the lower-right side of the Lincoln Memorial. Below the edifice and along the rim are the words ONE CENT, while the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA run along the top half of the reverse along the rim. Between the top of the Lincoln Memorial and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA inscription is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Edge:
The edge of the 1965 Lincoln Cent is smooth or plain and without reeding, as are all other Lincoln cents.
1965 Lincoln Cent Designer(s)
Lithuanian-born coin designer Victor David Brenner is best known for his iconic design for the Lincoln cent (1909-Present) (View Designer’s Profile). Frank Gasparro was an American medalist and coin designer (View Designer’s Profile).
Millions of 1886 Morgan Dollars Were Struck and Stored
The Philadelphia Mint, being the main mint of the United States, was responsible for producing coins for the America’s mid-Atlantic, New England, and for the populated region of the midwest. The Mint’s branches in New Orleans, Carson City, and San Francisco produced coins in silver and gold for the South and West. All four of these mints were put to task striking millions of Morgan dollars in accordance with a federal law passed in 1878. Demand for these large silver coins in most regions of the country was modest at best, and the surplus of unwanted silver dollars sat in bags in Treasury vaults for decades.
By 1886, eight years into these silver dollar scheme, this lack of demand was acutely felt by the Mint and production levels at each branch was largely based on which location had the capacity to store the coins. While mintages at the branch mints fluctuated because of this, Philadelphia was offered no reprieve.
Coming into 1886, the Philadelphia had already produced 102,324,800 Morgan dollars. That year, Philadelphia would strike 19,963,000 more coins and still more the following year. It is because of these large mintages and the fact that so many coins were saved in large quantity in uncirculated condition that the Morgan dollar series saw a tremendous surge in collecting popularity in the 1960s and 1970s as silver coins disappeared from circulation.
What is the 1886 Morgan Dollar Worth?
The 1886 Morgan dollar is a coin that most hobbyists classify as common in all but the higher uncirculated grades. But this is only part of the story. Due to the fact that the coin has an actual silver weight of .77344 ounces of pure silver, every authentic 1886 Morgan dollar, regardless of condition is worth considerably more than the $1 face value stamped on the coin’s reverse. With silver prices approaching $25 an ounce, that puts a baseline value of a circulated 1886 Morgan dollar at about $19 in metal. Even this price is too low for the coin, as collectors will typically pay between $30 and $50 for circulated examples.
An 1886 Morgan Dollar in uncirculated condition.
More often than not, collectors prefer uncirculated examples of common date Morgan dollars and the 1886 Morgan dollar is plentiful in brilliant uncirculated condition. The vallue of these coins depends on the assigned grade, the coin’s eye appeal, and to some extent, the service that encapsulated the coin. The three grading services that drive the certified Morgan dollar market are CAC, NGC, and PCGS.
Through November 2023, NGC counts 164,067 1886 Morgan dollars in its condition census, from that total 1,151 are noted as having Prooflike surfaces and 607 as having Deep Mirror Prooflike surfaces. The vast majority of these coins fall in the MS63 to MS64 grade band. In this grade range, the 1886 Morgan dollar sells for about $100 each.
PCGS counts 144,127 1886 Morgan dollars in its condition census. 1,251 of these are Prooflike, while 1,005 are Deep Mirror Prooflike. As was the case with NGC, PCGS considered most of the dollars submitted in the MS63 and MS64 grade range. At this level PCGS and NGC coins sell for about the same price: $100 each.
CAC has applied a CAC-approved sticker to NGC and PCGS-graded coins for the past sixteen years. In 2023, it launched a full service grading company with a location in Virginia Beach. To date, CAC has approved 3,512 1886 Morgan dollars with 62 approved with Prooflike and 69 Deep Mirror Prooflike. In addition, this year, the service has graded 81 1886 Morgan dollars, with a distribution of coins in the MS63 to MS66 range.
In Gem Uncirculated condition (MS65), the 1886 Morgan dollar sells for prices between $180 and $220. At this grade and higher, collectors pay large premiums for coins with exceptional eye appeal and toning. To date, PCGS reports one example at the grade MS68+ and estimates it’s value to be $20,000. Recent sales of MS68 coins have fallen in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. Less for coins graded by NGC. At this price point, the market value of an 1886 Morgan dollar is coin and time dependent.
Design
Obverse:
The obverse of the 1886 Morgan dollar exhibits the characteristic left-facing Liberty Head motif seen on all issues of this classic dollar series. The central Liberty bust wears a Phrygian cap encircled with a ribbon adorned with the inscription LIBERTY. Miss Liberty also wears a crown of wheat and cotton, which were two of the nation’s most lucrative natural agricultural assets in the 19th century.
The phrase E PLURIBUS UNUM is inscribed along the upper half of the obverse rim, and the date 1886 is centered at the bottom of the obverse adjacent to the rim. Seven stars appear between the left side of the date and the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM, while six stars fill the gap between the date and motto on the lower right side of the coin. In total, the 13 stars symbolize the 13 colonies that combined to form the original Union of the United States. At the base of Liberty’s neck is the “M” monogram representing Morgan’s initial.
Morgan designed the Liberty head bust after the likeness of Anna Willess Williams, a Philadelphia schoolteacher who modeled for the coin. Williams received significant public recognition after her face appeared on the Morgan dollar, but she rejected the attention that was heaped upon her. She refused offers for acting roles and apparently had turned down an offer for marriage following her engagement to an unknown suitor. Before dying at the age of 68 in 1926, Williams, who sat for Morgan on the sworn condition of anonymity, rebuffed her single stint as a coin design model as little more than an “incident of my youth.”
Reverse:
The reverse of the 1886 Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
Along the rim of the upper two-thirds of the reverse is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with the tip of the eagle’s left wings, which virtually touch the coin’s rim, interrupting the space between UNITED and STATES; the right wing visually divides the words OF and AMERICA. The words ONE DOLLAR, seen at the bottom center of the reverse, are flanked by a single, six-sided star on either side of the denomination inscription.
Edge:
The edge of the 1886 Morgan dollar is reeded.
Designer
Engraver George T. Morgan was born in Birmingham, England in 1845. He emigrated to the United States and began work as an assistant to Mint Chief Engraver William Barber and continued to produce patterns and commemoratives under the administration of Barber’s son, Charles. Morgan himself became Chief Engraver in 1917. He died in 1925.
1904 Was Supposed to Mark the End of the Morgan Dollar
In mid-to-late 1904, an article appeared in newspapers across the country with the blaring headline: “Passing of the Good Old American Silver Dollar.” Under the subtitle “It Is Probable That No More of Them Will Ever be Coined by the Government,” the author, Katherine Pope, reported “that ponderous and more or less troubling coin, the silver dollar, has had its day… the supply of silver bullion purchased under the Sherman act [sic] is exhausted… in all probability no more new silver dollars will be turned out by the government’s mint plants.
“Which, for old associations’ sake,” she wrote, “seems regrettable.”
… But for the New Orleans Mint, it Was
The New Orleans Mint’s last Morgan dollars were struck as the United States Mint prepared to shutter the facility. Economic turbulence in the 1890s spelled doom for these cartwheels prized by free silver advocates and the demise of the dollar prompted staff cutbacks at the southern branch mint.
The New Orleans Mint was a major part of the Morgan dollar’s life. Reactivated by the federal government in 1879 after its loss almost 20 years earlier during the Civil War, the facility struck Morgan dollars every year until the denomination’s end. Of all the Morgan dollars created by the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, those struck at New Orleans are known for a generally “weak” strike and saw perhaps the most actual circulation in commerce.
Ultimately, the New Orleans Mint struck 3,720,000 Morgan dollars in 1904.
The facility outlived the Morgan dollar by five years, its coining operations being suspended in 1909.
What Happened to Millions of Morgan Dollars?
Millions more Morgan dollars were struck than were needed for circulation, and the coins sat unused in bank vaults and Treasury facilities for years until 1918, when Congress passed the Pittman Act. Named for Senator Key Pittman of Nevada, the Act authorized the melting of up to 350,000,000 silver dollars and the sale of the resulting silver to Britain, whose monetary regime in India was stressed after a run on silver. The Pittman Act also called for the melted dollars to be recoined, precipitating the reintroduction of the Morgan dollar and the introduction of the Peace dollar in 1921.
270,232,722 Morgan dollars were melted under the terms of the Pittman Act. This was done without regard for date, making rarities of some previously common issues. For decades, collectors regarded the 1904-O Morgan dollar as this kind of rarity, as few Mint State 1904-O Morgan dollars entered the market, and prices reflected this belief. For instance, an ad published in The Numismatist in August 1951 by B.M. Douglas, a Washington, D.C.-based coin dealer, offered “Brilliant unc” 1904-O Morgan dollars (under the heading “RARE MORGAN DOLLARS”) for $50 USD.
This view held sway until the early 1960s.
Initially stored in the New Orleans Mint’s vault, the surviving coins were moved to Philadelphia in 1929. In October of 1962, large numbers of Mint State Morgan dollars were released – including many examples of the once-scarce 1904-O. The glut of supply drove prices down. In April 1963, a Philadelphia-based dealer offered 1904-O Morgan dollars in “BU” for just $2.00 in The Numismatist.
What are 1904-O Morgan Dollars Worth Now?
Today, examples grading MS-65 routinely sell at auction for between $100 and $200.
Large numbers of 1904-O Morgan dollars survive in grades up to MS-66 and the date becomes conditionally scarce in MS-67. It is one of the most abundant issues in Mint State. According to Q. David Bowers’Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia, more Mint State 1904-O Morgan dollars exist that any other date from the New Orleans Mint after 1885.
PCGS CoinFacts gives an estimate of 372,000 surviving examples, 100,000 of which grade MS-60 or better, with 40,000 grading better than MS-65. PCGS has certified more than 133,000 1904-O Morgan dollars; NGC has certified more than 151,000.
CAC has applied its sticker of approval on 353 coins and has certified nine examples since the company began accepting regular submissions in the summer of 2023.
As for collectible varieties, VAMWorld, a website dedicated to VAM varieties, lists 66 individual VAM varieties for the 1904-O Morgan dollar. A book dedicated to the VAM varieties of 1904-O Morgan dollars was written by Alan Scott and published in 2010; a new edition was released in 2014.
Randy Campbell, Senior Grader and Numismatist at Independent Coin Graders (ICG) and an expert on Prooflike (PL) Morgan dollars, stated in a phone interview that 1904-O Morgans with Deep Mirrored Prooflike (DMPL) obverses and reverses are rare; many coins exhibit DMPL or PL qualities on one side, but rarely both.
CoinFacts claims 9,900 surviving dollar coins are PL, all of which are MS-60 or better; 1,880 are MS-65 or better. DMPL 1904-O Morgan dollars number 1,761 in grades MS-60 and better. Three hundred and ninety-six examples grade MS-65 and better. VAMWorld explains that “Prooflike coins are quite available in terms of absolute population, but they comprise just under 3% of the uncirculated population at PCGS and NGC. Contrast on these tends to be poor.”
In his Getting Started column published in the December 2018 issue of The Numismatist, Mitch Sanders discussed “micro” and “macro” numismatics. Micro numismatics, Sanders wrote, involves “a highly detail-oriented examination of differences among coins with the same date and mint mark, usually focused on die varieties.”
Macronumismatics “emphasizes depth over breadth” and is interested in “coins as representations of the larger economic, political, technological and artistic contexts in which they were produced and used.” 1904-O Morgan dollars have something to offer to both camps.
Collectors can hunt well-struck examples, VAM varieties, and PL and DMPL coins, making the date a worthy endeavor for those who want to delve into the series’ technical minutiae with one of its penultimate dates – and the last date struck at the New Orleans Mint. The 1904-O Morgan dollar marked the beginning of the denomination’s hiatus and the beginning of the end for the New Orleans Mint.
1904-O Morgan Dollar Price Records
The following record prices are still current as of the time of publication:
The obverse of the 1904-O Morgan dollar exhibits the characteristic left-facing Liberty Head motif seen on all issues of this classic dollar series. Lady Liberty bust wears a Phrygian cap encircled with a ribbon adorned with the inscription LIBERTY. Miss Liberty also wears a “vegetal” crown of wheat and cotton, which were two of the nation’s most lucrative natural agricultural assets in the 19th century.
The phrase E PLURIBUS UNUM is inscribed along the upper half of the obverse rim, and the date 1904 is centered at the bottom of the obverse adjacent to the rim. Seven stars appear between the left side of the date and the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM, while six stars fill the gap between the date and motto on the lower right side of the coin. In total, the 13 stars represent the 13 colonies that combined to form the original Union of the United States. At the base of Liberty’s neck is the “M” monogram representing Morgan’s initial.
Morgan designed the Liberty head bust after the likeness of Anna Willess Williams, a Philadelphia schoolteacher who modeled for the coin. Williams received significant public recognition after her face appeared on the Morgan dollar, but she rejected the attention that was heaped upon her. She refused offers for acting roles and apparently had turned down an offer for marriage following her engagement to an unknown suitor. Before dying at the age of 68 in 1926, Williams, who sat for Morgan on the sworn condition of anonymity, rebuffed her single stint as a coin design model as little more than an “incident of [her] youth.”
Reverse:
The reverse of the 1904-O Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the national motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
Along the rim of the upper two-thirds of the reverse is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with the tip of the eagle’s left wing (which virtually touches the coin’s rim) penetrating the space between UNITED and STATES; the right wing visually divides the words OF and AMERICA. The words ONE DOLLAR, seen at the bottom center of the reverse, are flanked by a single, six-sided star on either side of the denomination inscription.
The mint mark “O” for New Orleans is located below the wreath and above the word DOLLAR.
Edge:
The edge of the 1904-O Morgan dollar is reeded.
Designer
Engraver George T. Morgan was born in Birmingham, England in 1845. He emigrated to the United States and began work as an assistant to Mint Chief Engraver William Barber and continued to produce patterns and commemoratives under the administration of Barber’s son, Charles. Morgan himself became Chief Engraver in 1917. George Morgan died in 1925.
Morgan dollar production continued at its Congressionally mandated pace in 1887, despite the fact that even 10 years into the series’ run it had failed to gain a meaningful place as a circulating coin for most Americans.
The 1887 Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin struck at the Philadelphia Mint. The Philadelphia Mint struck 20,290,000 Morgan dollars in 1887 and bore the responsibility of striking all of the nation’s subsidiary coinage and a small number of gold coins, mostly in the $10 denomination. The New Orleans Mint struck 11,550,000 Morgan dollars in 1887 and nothing else, while the San Francisco Mint struck a small by comparison mintage of 1,770,000 Morgan dollars and devoted the rest of its time producing the bulk of America’s gold coins for that year.
The Morgan dollar gets its name from United States Mint engraver George T. Morgan, who designed the dollar coin in competition with then-Chief Engraver William Barber. The two had a generally cordial relationship, though numismatists throughout the generations have supposed that Barber may have been envious of Morgan’s talent as an engraver and treated him with some degree of unprofessionalism. This is not true.
Morgan was born in England and began working for the Mint soon after his arrival in the U.S. in 1876. He was brought on as an assistant engraver in October 1876 and then worked under William Barber. In addition to the Liberty Head dollar, Morgan has several coin design credits to his name, including the Columbian half dollar of 1892 and 1893 and an array of pattern coins designed in the latter half of the 19th century – perhaps most notably the never-released $100 Gold Union coin.
U.S. Circulating Coin Production in 1887 – The Morgan Dollar in Context
In 1887, the Philadelphia Mint handled U.S. coin production for all minor denominations, the silver dollar, and gold denominations up to $10 (with the exception of the half eagle, which was only struck for circulation at the San Francisco branch).
The table to the right illustrates current market levels relative to mintages in the grade of MS65. There are no “Gem” 65 coins known at present for the $10 and $20 denominations, so we substituted in the MS64 value.
Building a complete 1887 year set of circulation strikes in Gem or finest known 64s will set a collector back about $100,000 USD. However, this pursuit is well within the means of most interested adult collectors in the grade of MS62 or MS63. We estimate a choice set to cost about 1/4 to 1/3 of that price.
The 1887 Morgan dollar struck at the Philadelphia is, by a large margin, the most frequently encountered coin of the date to survive in Mint State. As such, the 1887 Morgan is the most affordable issue of the date by a large margin.
In Choice Uncirculated condition (MS63), the 1887 Morgan is slightly more common than the 1887-O and the 1887-S, but all three issues are affordable at this grade. For those interested in a superb Gem dollar for this date, the 1887 Philadelphia strike is likely the only viable option as the O-Mint and S-Mint 1887 dollars are both rare in grades over MS65.
In terms of strike quality, the 1887 is similar to the Philadelphia strikes of 1886. However, specialist collectors will note that 1887 issues often appear softer struck than their 1886 counterparts. This is not uniform throughout the issue but is a factor that collectors should pay attention to when seeking out a specimen for their collection.
How Much is the 1887 Morgan Dollar Worth
Tens of thousands of 1887 Morgan dollars survive in uncirculated condition, while many more likely survive in various states of wear. Given this coin’s low cost, most coin collectors prefer problem-free brilliant uncirculated or better examples.
Expect to pay between $40 and $50 for a lightly circulated 1887 Morgan dollar and between $90 and $120 for a coin professionally graded at the MS63 level by CAC, NGC, or PCGS.
From this level, the value of an 1887 Morgan dollar increases depending on the eye appeal and grade of the coin.
Previously, NGC reported two coins at the MS68 level, one of which was sold by Stack’s Bowers in 2008, for $32,200. That same coin brought $13,800 at a 2019 Heritage auction. Such is the risk that conditional rarities pose in the marketplace. If populations go up–as they have for this issue–prices usually go down as the top end of the market gains its equilibrium. For what it’s worth, that particular coin is no longer certified by NGC, as the service reports no examples higher than MS67 at the present time.
CAC has applied its sticker to 3,113 1887 Morgan dollars and has encapsulated 168 coins. CAC is a newcomer to the coin encapsulation business and we expect these numbers to increase in short order. At the present time, CAC has applied its sticker of approval on 107 coins graded by NGC or PCGS at the MS67 level with one additional coin graded MS67PL. The highest current grade for an 1887 Morgan dollar in a CAC holder is MS66, with five reported.
PCGS reports over 300 coins at MS67 to MS67+ levels with two examples at MS68. There is no recent auction data in regards to the two MS68 coins, but they are imaged on PCGS CoinFacts. A characteristic these coins share is that they both have flashy brilliance in the centers with a hint of toning along the periphery. In our opinion, one is clearly better than the other and we estimate that either one might sell for $30,000 to $35,000 at auction if market conditions are right.
A beautiful toned 1887 Morgan dollar in MS67+. Image: PCGS.
This is only part of the story of the 1887 Morgan dollar at the very top of the market.
As beauty is often “in the eye of the beholder”, the degree to which the 1887 Morgan dollar allows for collector specificity makes these grades attractive to a wide range of collectors. As such, price levels at the MS67 level vary from $3,800 on the lower end to $6,500 or more for the “right” coin.
Gem-quality coins at the MS65 and MS66 level open the issue up to a broad swath of type set and Morgan dollar set builders. As is the case with the Superb Gem 1887 Morgans, at MS65 and MS66, a wide range of options exist. With 50,000 coins graded at the MS65 level at PCGS and NGC combined, there are enough coins to satisfy current levels of demand. MS66 coins are more exclusive, but with a combined pop of over 7,000 coins, a collector with a budget of $300 to $400 can land on an attractive example within a month or two of entering the market.
Of course, variety collectors may find grade a secondary concern. For VAM hunters, the 1887 issue yields more than a dozen collectible varieties, some of which are quite striking. VAM 1A features a distinct die break at the bottom curve of the D that forms a “Donkey Tail“. VAM 2 is a naked-eye-visible overdate where the remnants of the digit “6” are visible under the final digit of the date. And so on.
Design
Obverse:
The obverse of the 1887 Morgan dollar exhibits the characteristic left-facing Liberty Head motif seen on all issues of this classic dollar series. The central Liberty bust wears a Phrygian cap encircled with a ribbon adorned with the inscription LIBERTY. Miss Liberty also wears a “vegetal” crown of wheat and cotton, which were two of the nation’s most lucrative natural agricultural assets in the 19th century.
The phrase E PLURIBUS UNUM is inscribed along the upper half of the obverse rim, and the date 1887 is centered at the bottom of the obverse adjacent to the rim. Seven stars appear between the left side of the date and the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM, while six stars fill the gap between the date and motto on the lower right side of the coin. In total, the 13 stars represent the 13 colonies that combined to form the original Union of the United States. At the base of Liberty’s neck is the “M” monogram representing Morgan’s initial.
Morgan designed the Liberty head bust after the likeness of Anna Willess Williams, a Philadelphia schoolteacher who modeled for the coin. Williams received significant public recognition after her face appeared on the Morgan dollar, but she rejected the attention that was heaped upon her. She refused offers for acting roles and apparently had turned down an offer for marriage following her engagement to an unknown suitor. Before dying at the age of 68 in 1926, Williams, who sat for Morgan on the sworn condition of anonymity, rebuffed her single stint as a coin design model as little more than an “incident of [her] youth.”
Reverse:
The reverse of the 1887 Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the national motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
Along the rim of the upper two-thirds of the reverse is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with the tip of the eagle’s left wing (which virtually touches the coin’s rim) penetrating the space between UNITED and STATES; the right wing visually divides the words OF and AMERICA. The words ONE DOLLAR, seen at the bottom center of the reverse, are flanked by a single, six-sided star on either side of the denomination inscription.
Edge:
The edge of the 1887 Morgan dollar is reeded.
Designer
Engraver George T. Morgan was born in Birmingham, England in 1845. He emigrated to the United States and began work as an assistant to Mint Chief Engraver William Barber and continued to produce patterns and commemoratives under the administration of Barber’s son, Charles. Morgan himself became Chief Engraver in 1917. George Morgan died in 1925.
Even though the United States had no real need for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, presented Congress with an opportunity to cater to the needs of the industry. While United States Mint Director Mary Brooks lobbied for the coin to be struck in silver, Congress instead chose to strike the coin for circulation in the same copper-nickel (Cu-Ni) clad composition in use for the dime and quarter dollar. In a compromise, silver-clad versions were authorized to be struck and sold to collectors.
Signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon (formerly Eisenhower’s Vice President) on December 31, 1970, the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 authorized the production of the coin.
(Incidentally, the amendments also authorized the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell 2.8 million Carson City Morgan dollars from the vaults of the United States Treasury.)
First-year production totals were large (47,799,000 for the 1971 Eisenhower Dollars struck at the Philadelphia Mint and 68,587,424 for the Denver-Mint-produced 1971-D Eisenhower Dollars) but paled when compared to the mintage of the 1971 Kennedy half dollar, which was struck in Cu-Ni clad for the first time this same year. While hundreds of millions of Eisenhower dollars were struck, with many millions entering circulation, the coin was more of a novelty item than a useful coin for the purposes of commerce.
How much is the 1971 Eisenhower Dollar Worth?
This superb gem 1971 Eisenhower dollar sold for $10,200 at an April 2022 Stack’s Bowers auction.
The 1971 Eisenhower dollar is worth a wide range of prices, from $1 for a beat-up circulated example, to potentially $10,000 or more dollars for virtually flawless examples in the Superb Gem grade of MS67. Finer examples have yet to be certified.
Why would a modern coin have such a range of values? The answer lies in the coin’s production history.
Creating a Cu-Ni Eisenhower dollar–a large silver-dollar format coin–proved to be quite a technical challenge. The Denver Mint, which began production of the coin a few weeks before Philadelphia, fared better. Coins struck at Denver have a sharper, cleaner look. Some even appear to have been struck on highly polished planchets. Most Philadelphia issues appear dull, lacking in luster, and have residual annealing chatter marks on the high points of the relief (typically on Eisenhower’s chin and hair).
As the business strike Eisenhower dollar was not issued in U.S. Mint annual sets until 1973, examples that survive in Mint State were originally saved from circulation. Because of this, uncirculated examples of the 1971 (P) issue are worth slightly more than issues struck in 1974 forward. The 1973 is a Mint Set-only issue and carries a slight premium, but truthfully, the 1971 (P) and 1972 (P) issues are more difficult to source in Mint State and should be worth more because of that.
In Mint State 65, the 1971 (P) carries a price of about $80 according to CoinWeek IQ’s current market analytics. This is significantly down from the pricing levels the coin has traded at in recent years. Rising TPG populations and a malaise in the modern coin market bears some responsibility. True gems with great eye appeal can sell for many times more. Our MS66 market price for the issue, as of November 2023, is about $600. CAC coins with very high eye appeal can bring premiums over this number.
Eisenhower Dollar Design
Obverse:
Gasparro’s portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower (as President); Eisenhower facing to the left. Gasparro’s initials “FG” appear raised in the bust truncation. Beneath Eisenhower’s chin, to the left, is the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” LIBERTY wraps around the top of the coin in the space between the rim and the top of Eisenhower’s head. The date wraps around the bottom of the design, between the rim and the bottom of Eisenhower’s bust truncation. While Philadelphia-struck pieces bear no mintmark, coins struck at Denver and San Francisco will bear small mintmarks of “D” or “S” above the space between the last two digits of the date. On Eisenhower dollars, mintmarks were hand-punched and may very in exact location and orientation.
Reverse:
The reverse is based on Michael Collins’Apollo 11 Mission Patch design.
In the center, a bald eagle is in descent. In its talons, an olive branch. Its left wing is raised. The lunar surface lies below. Above the eagle’s head is a depiction of the Earth. North America is prominently visible. Wrapping around the top of the coin adjacent to the rim is the legend “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” Thirteen small five-point stars circle around the eagle. Below the ring of stars but above the eagle is the motto “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. Wrapping around the bottom of the design is the denomination “ONE DOLLAR”.
Edge:
The edge of the 1971 Philadephia Eisenhower dollar is reeded.
Designer
Frank Gasparro was a friend to numismatists and served as Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1965 to 1981 (View Designer’s Profile).
While large silver dollar coins saw little practical circulation in America’s more populated regions, the coins did see use in the American West, where the durability of metal over paper gave coins a clear advantage. Nowhere did American silver dollars flow more freely than at the gambling cities of Reno and Las Vegas, where silver dollars were the currency of choice for casino slot machines.
However, as demand for these silver dollars increased, the supply began to dwindle. Treasury stockpiles of the coins dwindled in the 1960s, which left the gaming industry with a bit of a dilemma. With the March 1969 death of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Congressional openness to reintroducing a circulating dollar coin to honor the former president took root.
Mint Director Mary Brooks initially lobbied for the coin to be struck in silver, continuing with tradition. However, Congress had no interest in continuing to produce circulating coins in silver. The Coinage Act of 1965 called for the removal of silver from America’s dimes and quarters and reduced the silver content of half dollars from .900 fine to a 40% silver-clad composition. In the five years since the composition change, silver coins all but disappeared from circulation and the silver-clad Kennedy half dollars saw very limited use.
Signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 31, 1970, the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 authorized the production of the Cu-Ni clad Eisenhower dollar for circulation. The Act also allowed for the production of numismatic versions struck from a 40% silver composition to be sold at a significant premium over face value to collectors. These coins would be produced at the San Francisco Mint and sold directly by the United States Mint. The Act also carried an important provision that authorized the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell 2.8 million Carson City Morgan dollars from the vaults of the United States Treasury.)
1971-D Eisenhower Dollars Were Struck First
The Denver Mint was the first mint to strike Eisenhower dollars in 1971, beating the Philadelphia Mint by a few weeks. In total, the Denver Mint produced 68,587,424 1971-D Eisenhower dollars, while the Philadelphia Mint struck 47,799,000 coins. These were significant numbers compared to the mintages of the later mintages of America’s Morgan and Peace silver dollars.
Creating a Cu-Ni Eisenhower dollar–a large, silver-dollar format coin–proved to be quite a technical challenge. Despite the fact that the Denver Mint’s presses were older than the presses at the newly finished Philadelphia facility, the Denver Mint typically produced better dollar coins.
Coins struck at Denver typically have a sharper, cleaner look. Many are fully lustrous, and some were struck on highly polished planchets. By contrast, most Philadelphia issues appear dull, lacking in luster, and have residual annealing chatter marks on the high points of the relief (typically on Eisenhower’s chin and hair).
Despite this overall cleaner look, the 1971-D Eisenhower dollar does have a tendency to show significant amounts of die sink along the bottom periphery. On the coin illustrated above, you can see evidence of this along the bottom of the design through the date and flattening the first few letters of the motto: IN GOD WE TRUST.
How Much are 1971-D Eisenhower Dollars Worth?
For coins struck after World War II, Mint Sets have serves as the primary source for high quality uncirculated coins for any given date. The tradition of producing mint sets dates back to the late 1940s, when they first debuted. Initially, these sets included two examples of each coin – one mounted face up and one face down in cardboard holders. This allowed collectors to admire both sides of the coin without removing them from the packaging.
In 1959, the Mint replaced the cardboard-mounted double mint set with a single coin mint set that housed one coin of each denomination from each mint in a cellophane holder. Curiously, the Mint did not redesign this packaging to include Eisenhower dollars until 1973. The implications of this is that the 2,193,396 uncirculated sets sold of the Mint’s 1971 coins do not include uncirculated examples of the Eisenhower dollar, which means that there are far fewer uncirculated 1971 and 1971-D Eisenhower dollars in the market than there are for coins issued from 1973 to 1978.
Americans did save quantities of the 1971-D Eisenhower Dollar, however. It is common that the American public demonstrates added enthusiasm for saving the first or last coin in a series. The first coin is saved out of enthusiasm for a new design and the desire to save one, or more, as souvenirs. The last coin is saved as a way to preserve a moment in time. By our estimation more 1971 Eisenhower dollars were saved in Mint State than 1972 dollars.
So what are 1971-D Eisenhower dollars worth? The answer is surprising. At a minimum, a 1971-D Eisenhower dollar has a face value of $1, which means that it can be used to buy $1 worth of goods, even today. Coin collectors are willing to pay between $3 and $10 for 1971-D Eisenhower dollars in About Uncirculated / Uncirculated condition.
The value of the coin increases dramatically in high uncirculated grades starting at MS65 and above. One caveat though, generally speaking, when modern coins are attributed as being graded MS65 or MS66, collectors expect that coins have been professionally graded and encapsulated in CAC, NGC, or PCGS holders.
This 1971-D Eisenhower Dollar was sold at a April 2023 Stack’s Bowers auction for $840.
In Mint State 65, the 1971-D carries a price of about $30 according to CoinWeek IQ’s current market analytics. It is a first-year-of-issue and type coin that carries a significant numismatic premium in ultra-high grades (or if it is a gem-quality “Friendly Eagle Variety” – more on that in a moment).
In Mint State 67, auction records indicate that the value of this issue at this level has fallen dramatically from where it was four or five years ago when a typical example might bring $1,500. These prices dropped to about $600 in 2020 and has since come back to about $900 today. Stack’s Bowers sold a mid-range example graded PCGS MS67 for $840 in April 2023.
The three finest examples that we’ve ever seen are the two MS67s from the Richland Ikes Collection, assembled by Ike Group founder Andy Oskam, and another MS67 that was part of Troy Weaver’s amazing registry set (now owned by Del Loy Hansen). Weaver’s example was a Peg Leg (die polished R) variety with a Talon clash mark on Ike’s forehead.
But perhaps the best of all was the modestly-toned NGC MS68 that brought an eye-popping $8,225 at a March 2020 Legend Rare Coin Auction. This has to be the highest price ever paid for a 1971-D clad Ike dollar and to date, PCGS has certified no coins at this level.
The 1971-D (RDV-006) “Friendly Eagle Variety”
Discovered in 1999 by variety specialist Dr. James Wiles and popularized in the subsequent decade by the Ike Group, the 1971-D “Friendly Eagle Variety” is a naked-eye-visible variety that is not as easy to cherrypick as it once was (you can blame CoinWeek Editor Charles Morgan for lobbying for the coin to get into the Cherrypicker’s Guide’s 5th edition and the Red Book).
The Friendly Eagle features a rounded Earth (the regular issue is not as perfectly round at the upper left area of the globe). On that rounded Earth, you will see a rounded and distinctly carved out Gulf of Mexico and a distinct chain of islands in the Caribean. The eagle’s brow is softer (one might say “friendlier”) than the standard issue. There is no heavy separation apparent in the relief between the top two of the eagle’s tailfeathers on this variety. Also, the lines leading up to the impact ejecta “lines” of the crater are longer, more distinct, and bracket the second L in DOLLAR. In Very Early Die State, some FEVs show a contrail-shaped die scratch bordering the upper left portion of the globe. This feature was discovered by Ike Group member Brian Vaile.
As for scarcity, the Friendly Eagle is not rare but probably represents no more than one million to 1.5 million of the issue’s 68,587,424 struck. Ike dollar specialists consider this a major variety and a semi-key to the series, the key being the 1972 “Type 2” variety.
In MS65, the FEV sells for $100-$125. To date, PCGS reports 66 examples in MS66 with 3 in MS66+. No MS66+ has sold at public auction. MS66 examples have sold for $500 or more. One example, sold in July 21, 2022 by Heritage Auctions slipped through the cracks after the firm misrepresented its population data and offered collectors no information about the variety in the lot description. In that instance, the lucky buyer was able to acquire a $400-$500 coin for $204.
To our knowledge, no finer coins have been certified by NGC. Both services charge a fee to attribute this variety.
Description
Obverse:
Frank Gasparro’s portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower (as president); Eisenhower facing to the left. Gasparro’s initials “FG” appear raised in the bust truncation. Beneath Eisenhower’s chin, to the left, is the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” LIBERTY wraps around the top of the coin in the space between the rim and the top of Eisenhower’s head. The date wraps around the bottom of the design, between the rim and the bottom of Eisenhower’s bust truncation. While Philadelphia-struck pieces bear no mintmark, coins struck at Denver and San Francisco will bear small mintmarks of “D” or “S” above the space between the last two digits of the date. On Eisenhower dollars, mintmarks were hand-punched and may vary in exact location and orientation.
Reverse:
The reverse is based on Michael Collins’Apollo 11 Mission Patch design.
In the center, a bald eagle in descent. In its talons, an olive branch. Its left wing is raised. The lunar surface lies below. Above the eagle’s head is a depiction of the Earth. North America is prominently visible. Wrapping around the top of the coin adjacent to the rim is the legend “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” Thirteen small five-point stars circle around the eagle. Below the ring of stars but above the eagle is the motto “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. Wrapping around the bottom of the design is the denomination “ONE DOLLAR”.
Edge:
The edge of the 1971-D Eisenhower dollar is reeded.
Designer
Frank Gasparro was a friend to numismatists and served as Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1965 to 1981 (View Designer’s Profile).
1893-CC Morgan Dollar. Image: CoinWeek / Stack’s Bowers.
How Did the Morgan Dollar Get its Name?
The Morgan dollar gets its name from United States Mint engraver George T. Morgan, who designed the dollar coin in competition with then-Chief Engraver William Barber. The two had a generally cordial relationship, though numismatists throughout the generations have supposed that Barber may have been envious of Morgan’s talent as an engraver and treated him with some degree of unprofessionalism. This is not true.
Morgan was born in England and began working for the Mint soon after his arrival in the United States in 1876. Morgan was brought on as an assistant engraver in October 1876 and then worked under William Barber. In addition to the Liberty Head dollar, Morgan has several coin design credits to his name, including the Columbian half dollar of 1892 and 1893, and an array of pattern coins designed during the late 19th century, most notable of these being the never-released $100 Gold Union coin.
The 1893-CC Morgan Dollar Was Struck In the Final Years of the Carson City Mint
The 1893-CC Morgan dollar is the last silver coin that was struck at the Carson City branch of the United States Mint. The Mint, running out of bullion deposits from the great Comstock Lode, struck 677,000 Morgan dollars in its final year of coining operations, along with 60,000 half eagles, 14,000 eagles, and 18,402 double eagles.
The United States Mint would officially decommission the Carson City branch in 1899, leaving it open as a U.S. Assay Office until 1933. During its tenure as a coin striking facility, Carson City produced some of the most storied coins in American numismatic history. Coins struck at the Carson City Mint carry with them the allure of the Old West, of stagecoaches, cowboys, gamblers, and gunslingers. It was with this evocative imagery that the Government Services Administration (GSA) sought to market the government’s stash of Carson City dollars in the 1970s and ’80s. In that pool of coins, just one 1893-CC was found.
As far as the striking of Silver Dollars is concerned, the Carson City Mint produced coins in three distinct spurts: 1870-1873 (Seated Liberty Type), 1878-1875 (Morgan Type), and 1889-1893 (Morgan Type). As far as the Morgan dollar type is concerned, the 1893-CC is the third scarcest of the Carson City issues.
Most 1893-CC Morgan dollars wound up in the Treasury vaults with the majority of those being melted down in 1918. The sealed bags of 1893-CC dollar coins that survived the melt were paid out at the San Francisco Mint and the Washington, D.C. Cash Room.
1893-CC Morgan Dollars in the Redfield Hoard
A two-page Paramount International Coin Corporation ad offering a limited quantity of 1893-CC Morgan dollars from the Redfield Hoard. Outdated address and contact information have been obscured.
What is likely the final dispersal of 1893-CC Morgan dollars in quantity came in 1978, When Paramount International Coin Corporation counted a small number of uncirculated examples among the 400,000 coins of the massive Redfield hoard. Accumulated in secret over the course of three decades, the hoard contained mostly uncirculated silver dollars in $1,000 mint bags. The hoard contained a number of common dates, but also counted among its number several better date Morgans, including the 1889-CC, the 1895-S, and, of course, the 1893-CC.
Unfortunately, Paramount’s handling of the Redfield Hoard left much to be desired. Many of the 1893-CC dollars were mutilated after being put through a counting machine. As a result, many coins display curvilinear scratches on the cheek and the eagle’s breast. In all likelihood, this is the quality of coin you would likely receive by purchasing an “MS60” quality coin from the April 1978 Paramount ad published in The Numismatist. Paramount also offered “MS65” coins for $1,150 (approximately $4,800 adjusted for inflation).
Assuming the quality of that coin exceeded PCGS or NGC’s standards for MS63, a buyer would have made a handsome profit off of that purchase. Recent public sales of MS63 1893-CC Morgan dollars have yielded prices in the $5,750 to $6,000 range. In MS64, the price jumps to $9,000. In MS65, the price jumps by many multiples. The record price paid for an 1893-CC is $161,000 paid for a PCGS MS66 at a Legend Morphy auction in 2013. That coin, from the Jack Lee Collection, is the PCGS plate coin for the issue.
What are 1893-CC Morgan Dollars Worth Today?
While the Carson Mint struck 677,000 1893-CC Morgan dollars, only a fraction of that mintage survive. CoinWeek estimates no more than 35,000 to 40,000 coins of this issue likely survive. NGC and PCGS combine to have graded 15,410 coins. CAC, a new grading service, reports only 17 coins in their holder as November 11, 2023. These coins were likely, once in PCGS or NGC holders. Given that it is profitable to certify even circulated 1893-CC Morgan dollars, the likelihood that there are significant numbers of coins that have yet to cycle through the grading services is low.
The value of an 1893-CC Morgan dollar depends on condition and eye appeal.
Condition relates to the amount of a wear that is imparted on a coin through circulation or mishandling. Eye appeal is a visual quality that imparts excitement on an enthusiast. When all coins are struck, they are considered to be uncirculated or in Mint State. But not all uncirculated or Mint State coins are imbued with eye appeal.
At the low end, in the most heavily circulated grades, and 1893-CC Morgan dollar is worth between $300 and $500. A circulated coin in Extra Fine condition will retain most of its design elements. At this level, 1893-CC Morgan dollars will typically sell for prices between $2,000 and $3,000. This jump in price is caused by the increased scarcity of the coin as grades approach uncirculated condition.
Coins that have never circulated will exhibit a range of features that fall in the eye appeal category. Here, the number of visible marks, the strength of the strike, the prominence of the coin’s luster, and sometimes even the color of the coin will dramatically influence the coin’s value. Uncirculated coins trade for prices approaching $10,000 for a lower-end uncirculated coin up to $200,000 or more for extraordinary examples with high eye appeal. Most uncirculated 1893-CC Morgan dollars trade between reputable coin dealers or at major auctions.
Collectors are advised to avoid purchasing any 1893-CC Morgan dollar unless it is first authenticated and certified by CAC, NGC, or PCGS. Also, purchase coins from knowledgable dealers who are authorized dealers of these three services.
Obverse:
The obverse of the 1893-CC Morgan dollar exhibits the characteristic left-facing Liberty Head motif seen on all issues of this classic dollar series. The central Liberty bust wears a Phrygian cap encircled with a ribbon adorned with the inscription LIBERTY. Miss Liberty also wears a crown of wheat and cotton, which were two of the nation’s most lucrative natural agricultural assets in the 19th century.
The phrase E PLURIBUS UNUM is inscribed along the upper half of the obverse rim, and the date 1893 is centered at the bottom of the obverse adjacent to the rim. Seven stars appear between the left side of the date and the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM, while six stars fill the gap between the date and motto on the lower right side of the coin. In total, the 13 stars represent the 13 colonies that combined to form the original Union of the United States. At the base of Liberty’s neck is the “M” monogram representing Morgan’s initial.
Morgan designed the Liberty head bust after the likeness of Anna Willess Williams, a Philadelphia schoolteacher who modeled for the coin. Williams received significant public recognition after her face appeared on the Morgan dollar, but she rejected the attention that was heaped upon her. She refused offers for acting roles and apparently had turned down an offer for marriage following her engagement to an unknown suitor. Before dying at the age of 68 in 1926, Williams, who sat for Morgan on the sworn condition of anonymity, rebuffed her single stint as a coin design model as little more than an “incident of my youth”.
Reverse:
The reverse of the 1893-CC Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
Along the rim of the upper two-thirds of the reverse is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with the tip of the eagle’s left wings, which virtually touch the coin’s rim, penetrating the space between UNITED and STATES; the right wing visually divides the words OF and AMERICA. The words ONE DOLLAR, seen at the bottom center of the reverse, are flanked by a single, six-sided star on either side of the denomination inscription. The “CC” mintmark, denoting that the coin was struck at the Carson City Mint, is located above the DO of DOLLAR.
Edge:
The edge of the 1893-CC Morgan dollar is reeded.
Designer(s):
Engraver George T. Morgan was born in Birmingham, England in 1845. He emigrated to the United States and began work as an assistant to Mint Chief Engraver William Barber and continued to produce patterns and commemoratives under the administration of Barber’s son, Charles. Morgan himself became Chief Engraver in 1917. He died in 1925.
The 1921 Peace dollar is the debut issue of Anthony de Francisci’s Art Deco design, produced from 1921-1928 and then again for two years in 1934 and 1935.
The Peace dollar replaced the Morgan dollar design, which was minted continuously from 1878 to 1904, before the denomination took a prolonged hiatus due to a lack of demand. The Morgan design was revived in 1921 after Congress passed legislation that called on the Treasury to replenish its silver dollar stockpile. During World War I, the United States melted more than 270 million silver dollars from its stockpile, in order to convert it to bullion, which it sold to England.
While the majority of the silver dollar coins struck by the Mint in 1921 were Morgan dollars, a comparatively small number, 1,006,473 were struck in the new design.
Why is Di Francisci’s Design Called “The Peace Dollar?”
Following the end of World War I, a movement grew to issue a coin that simultaneously celebrated the Allies’ victory and to commemorate a, hopefully, long-lasting peace.
Originally proposed as a half dollar, the Peace commemorative coin was instead struck as a silver dollar. The Mint sought input from the nation’s leading sculptors and after competition, Anthony de Francisci’s design was selected.
The designer’s wife, Teresa Cafarelli de Francisci, served as the model for the coin that numismatist Farran Zerbe and others famously dubbed a “peace coin” to honor the end of what was then called “The Great War”[1]. Born in Italy in 1898, Teresa de Francisci was in her early 20s when her medalist husband, also an Italian-born immigrant, enlisted her as his muse for the new silver dollar. The image of Liberty on the coin is not an exact likeness but rather a “composite” of facial features that “typified something of America”[2].
Anthony de Francisci, in choosing Teresa as a model, lovingly fulfilled a dream long held by his young wife. She recalled seeing the Statue of Liberty tower over the ship she and her family were on as they approached the shores of the United States from Italy; a young Cafarelli was heartbroken when she was passed over for the role of the American goddess during a patriotic school play. Her likeness as the basis for Miss Liberty on the beloved Peace dollar lives on decades after Teresa de Francisci passed away at the age of 92 on October 20, 1990 – 26 years to the day after her artist-engraver husband passed away at the age of 77[3].
The original design showed the eagle on the reverse breaking a sword. That image was meant to be a symbol of disarmament (as in the Biblical ‘swords into plowshares’ reference), but some thought the symbology instead showed defeat. Mint Engraver George Morgan modified the design to remove the sword, making this change without de Francisci’s approval.
The 1921 Peace Dollar is Popularly Collected a “Type Coin”
The 1921 Peace dollar is particularly important due to the fact that it is a first-year issue and because the coin was struck in higher relief than issues struck in 1922 onward. The 1921 Peace dollar, therefore, qualifies as a one-year Type coin and is popularly collected as such.
Accounting for the low mintage of the issue, it is important to note that the design for the new dollar design was not finalized until President Warren G. Harding selected de Francisci’s design on December 19, 1921. That same week, the Mint’s engraving department was hard at work preparing dies to strike the initial coinage and on the final week of the year struck 1,006,473 coins bearing the 1921 date.
These coins were released into circulation in January 1922 to mixed reviews by the mainstream and numismatic press. The Wall Street Journal called the coin “our Flapper Silver Dollar”, while tongues also wagged at the ANA, with ANA President Moritz Wormser arguing that there was “nothing emblematic of peace on [the coin] except the inscription “Peace” itself.”
Time has been more forgiving and the Peace dollar, along with the Morgan dollar that preceded it remain two of the most popularly collected U.S. coins.
How Much is a 1921 Peace Dollar Worth?
The 1921 Peace dollar has a value of $150 in average circulated grade all the way up $100,000 for an example that would be considered by numismatists to be among the finest known of the date. A typical uncirculated example, grading MS63, routinely sells for about $1,000. This is a significant premium over what Peace dollars in the same grade sell for if struck in more common dates.
The 1921 Peace dollar is not the rarest Peace dollar in the series, but it is typically considered a key or semi-key issue. When purchasing a 1921 Peace dollar it is important to buy a coin certified by CAC, NGC, or PCGS. Reputable dealers will have no issue sourcing a quality coin that has been authenticated and graded by one of these services. Avoid coins that have been cleaned or damaged.
Obverse:
The obverse is dominated by a left-facing bust of a young Miss Liberty wearing a tiara of rays that unmistakably resembles the radiant crown upon the head of the Statue of Liberty. Most of Miss Liberty’s hair is contained within a bun at the back of her head, though several locks are seen hanging alongside her neck.
Arcing along the rim on the upper half of the obverse field is the inscription LIBERTY, and centered below the bust of Liberty near the bottom rim is the date 1921. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears in a single line of text across the lower quarter of the obverse and spreads across that section of the field, with the words IN GOD WE appearing to the left of Miss Liberty and the word TRUST located behind her neck. Incidentally, the letter “U” in “TRUST” appears as a “V,” which de Francisci employed to represent a “V” for “Victory”[4]. Dots appear between the words IN GOD WE and are also seen on the rim side of the words IN and TRUST. The designer’s monogram, AF, appears below Liberty’s neck in the lower obverse field.
Reverse:
The depiction of an American bald eagle perched on a mountaintop anchors the reverse. Clutched in its claws is an olive branch symbolizing peace; notably not included in this particular depiction of the eagle is a band of arrows representing military strength, a symbol commonly seen in similar visages of the patriotic avian emblem. The rightward-facing eagle is seen at an angle partly turned away from the viewer and towards a sunrise, which symbolizes the promise of dawning peace in the world.
The bold rays in the image of the rising sun harmonize with the rays seen in Miss Liberty’s tiara on the coin’s obverse. The legend UNITED STATES oF AMERICA appears along the rim in top half of the reverse. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM is located directly below in lettering identical in size to the legend. The eagle’s beak breaks the bottom of the “S” in PLURIBUS and visually divides that word from UNUM; meanwhile, a dot punctuates the space between E and PLURIBUS.
The denomination ONE DOLLAR appears across the bottom third of the reverse in a single line of text, with the word ONE inscribed to the left of the eagle by its tail feathers and DOLLAR superimposed over the sun’s rays to the right of the eagle. PEACE is inscribed along the rim below the eagle, atop the rock on which the patriotic bird stands.
Edge:
The edge of the 1921 Peace dollar is reeded.
Designer(s):
Anthony de Francisci was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1887 and emigrated to the United States in 1905. He began his career as a sculptor studying under such notable numismatic artists as James Earle Fraser, Hermon Atkins MacNeil and Adolph Weinman. The Peace dollar (1921-35) is his most famous creation but he also produced several medals. He died in 1964.
Coin Specifications:
Country:
United States
Year Of Issue:
1921
Denomination:
1 Dollar
Mint Mark:
None (Philadelphia Mint)
Mintage:
1,006,473
Alloy:
90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight:
26.73 grams
Diameter:
38.10 mm
Edge
Reeded
OBV Designer
Anthony de Francisci
REV Designer
Anthony de Francisci
Quality:
Business Strike
* * *
Sources
Zerbe, Farran. “Commemorate peace with a coin for circulation”, The Numismatist Oct. 1920: 443-44. Print.
LaMarre, Tom. “The Dollar Daze of 1921”, Coins Oct. 1999: 56–57. Print.
Taxay, Don. The U.S. Mint and Coinage (Reprint Ed.) Arco Publishing, 1983. Print.
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When the production of Proof coins resumed after an eight-year hiatus at the Philadelphia Mint ended in 1950, mintages initially remained quite limited. But in 1957, the United States Mint issued over one million Proof Sets for the first time in its history. Continuing this trend, the 1961 issuance crept above three million for the […]
The Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is one of the most famous of all American coin types, acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought for years to beautify America’s humdrum coin designs. […]
Run mainly by United States Mint officials from the Republican Party, the Carson City Mint was shuttered by President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, in September 1885. It wasn’t until after the next presidential election when Benjamin Harrison, a Republican, was elected in 1889 that the branch mint once again received funding. However, due to this […]
Run mainly by United States Mint officials from the Republican Party, the Carson City Mint was shuttered by President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, in September 1885. It wasn’t until after the next presidential election when Benjamin Harrison, a Republican, was elected in 1889 that the branch mint once again received funding. However, due to this […]
In the grand scheme of things, the recession of 1958, which has come to be known as the “Eisenhower Recession“, was relatively minor. Even though it was the most significant economic downturn between 1945 and 1970, the recession lasted only eight months and was mostly negated by strong economic growth starting in May 1958. However, […]
First struck in 1864 in an attempt to solve the nationwide coin shortage, caused by the onset of the U.S. Civil War, the Two Cent piece never truly caught on and suffered from a consistently shrinking mintage. As only the second issuance, the 1865 type still had a significant mintage of 13,640,000 specimens (for comparison’s […]
First released in 1948, the Franklin half dollar was the last circulating U.S. denomination to adopt the portrait of a real individual, instead of the allegorical Lady Liberty. As this design was replacing the Walking Liberty half dollar–which, even at the time, was widely considered to be one of the most beautiful coins ever struck […]
The famous 1937-D “3 Legged” Buffalo nickel is one of the most important modern US coins and probably the most well-known type in the Buffalo or Indian Head nickel series. Ironically, however, the “3 Legged” Buffalo variety of 1937-D is not a true variety since the missing leg was actually included on the new die. […]
The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–456), called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks or other national sites in each state, the […]
Nine years after adopting the P mintmark, the Philadelphia Mint was on a roll. In fact, 1988 was the first year since 1967 that Philadelphia struck over one billion dimes, a 35% jump from 1987. To accommodate these increased production activities, the United States Mint hired 478 new employees, 196 of which were at the […]
By 2000, the United States Mint was facing a dramatic upswing in the demand for circulating coinage. Consequently, the Denver Mint installed a series of new modern bulk coin bagging machines to help accommodate the overall increase of over 8.5 billion coins. Officially released into circulation on January 27, 2000, with great fanfare after a […]
The Philadelphia Mint struck over 5.5 billion Lincoln cents in 1978, consuming 765,914.1 pounds or 157,583.8 metric tonnes of copper. It should be noted, however, that the West Point facility did strike roughly 1.5 billion of these coins and there is no way to distinguish between the two mintages. Combined, this represented only 56.5 of […]
By 1884, the San Francisco Mint was clearly run low on space to store millions of unneeded silver cartwheels. As a result, the 1884-S Morgan dollar is its smallest issuance until that date. The San Francisco Mint struck 3.2 million Morgan dollars in 1884 – a 51% decrease from the prior year. Nevertheless, in regard […]
The Denver Mint reconfigured its entire production floor in 1953 so that all manufacturing steps occurred in sequence and on the same floor of the facility. The metal was to be brought in as raw ingots on one end and taken out as finished coins on the other. However, due to a slashing of Mint […]
When the United States formally took possession of the Louisiana Territory on December 20, 1803, effectively doubling the size of the country, Napoleon was busy in Europe trying to outwit the English and other Continental powers. Previously, “the Little Corporal” had envisioned a worldwide empire with French flags encircling the globe, but he had […]
1993 marked one of the last years in the 20th century that the Philadelphia Mint would strike less than one trillion dimes. Included in the official mintage of 766,180,000 coins, the United States Mint sold a total of 1,297,431 Uncirculated Mint Sets in 1993. Despite the mintage figures, the modern Mint’s level of quality control […]
1993 marked one of the last years in the 20th century that the Philadelphia Mint would strike less than one trillion dimes. Included in the official mintage of 766,180,000 coins, the United States Mint sold a total of 1,297,431 Uncirculated Mint Sets in 1993. Despite the mintage figures, the modern Mint’s level of quality control […]
Generations of Americans living through the second half of the 20th century had known only the Seated Liberty coinage. The motif was ubiquitous, entering circulation in 1837 and adorning the half dime, dime, twenty-cent piece, quarter dollar, half dollar, and silver dollar denominations. The half dime and twenty-cent piece came and went, but Seated Liberty […]
1925 represented a 31% drop in output from the previous year’s total production at the Philadelphia Mint. Despite producing a fraction of the previous year’s coinage, demand for the cent remained quite high. While continuing to strike coins, the Philadelphia Mint installed two new automatic weighing machines in 1925 to help increase production speed. As […]
Americans of the 1920s seemed so preoccupied with enjoying the present that celebrating the past was destined to take a back seat. Even so, there were those who still recognized the nation’s heritage. Among the ways in which Americans of the Roaring ‘20s marked these occasions was through the issuance of commemorative coins that recognized […]
By 1925, gold coins had mostly fallen from circulation within the United States. Instead, the Government intended these coins to fulfill two main roles: to be exported as payment for trade deals and to back US gold certificates. Specifically, the coins’ role of backing gold certificates was of high importance because by law the certificates […]
By CoinWeek IQ ….. First released on July 7, 1975, the Kennedy half dollar became the first United States Bicentennial design to reach public hands. So popular were these coins that demand, both global and domestic, quickly outstripped previous years. To accommodate, the Denver Mint struck a massive mintage of 287,565,248 pieces across two years […]
As with all war nickels, the 1943-S Jefferson nickel contained the updated wartime alloy of 35% silver, 9% manganese, and 56% copper authorized in late March 1942. Instituted to reduce unnecessary demand for strategically important copper and nickel, these new coins not only created an interesting series for future numismatists but they also had a […]
In celebration of the current San Francisco Mint’s 50th anniversary, an unprecedented 2,263 visitors were allowed to tour the building all while under heavy guard. The visitors were made to leave their pocket change, jewelry, belts, and shoes with security. All the while, the Mint was extremely busy. For in 1987, San Francisco was responsible […]
The Liberty Head nickel–or “V” nickel, as it’s more commonly known–was the second design style of the United States five-cent nickel coin. The design, the work of Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber, was a modest improvement over James B. Longacre’s Shield nickel, which had entered production in 1866 and served the nation for 17 years. […]
Despite the Bicentennial Coin Program that resulted in the redesigning of half the United States circulating denominations, the Lincoln cent remained unchanged. While the Philadelphia Mint reported an official mintage of 4,674,292,426 Lincoln cents for 1976, this is slightly deceiving. In fact, as stated in the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint for […]
While the Walking Liberty half dollar was well received by the public, a general lack of demand and the silver dollar production requirements of the Pittman Act of 1918 resulted in a decade of sporadic production figures. Throughout the 1920s, the United States Mint’s San Francisco facility was responsible for striking nearly 60% of all […]
The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and Third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. He […]
The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and Third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. He […]
With the opening of their brand-new facility at 1700 Spring Garden Street, 1901 was a big year for the United States Mint in Philadelphia. This new facility afforded the Mint a much larger production capacity through massive upgrades in equipment. Most importantly, all aspects of the production line would now be powered by electricity, and […]
By 1904, the United States’ large format gold double eagle had begun to fall in popularity and had practically ceased to circulate. As a result, production far outstripped demand, and while gold coins were still used in many of the western states, most US citizens would not use gold coins in regular commerce. This was […]
The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. He […]
On February 9, 1977, Frank H. MacDonald, then-Deputy Director of the United States Mint, announced that the Denver facility would cease production. Two days later, the branch mint in Colorado shut down. This was mainly due to the suspension of die cutting at the Philadelphia Mint on February 1 caused by the nationwide natural gas […]
The specific design of the Franklin half dollar–Founding Father Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse–was heavily advocated for by the pioneering United States Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross, who served from 1933 to 1953. Unfortunately for Ross, the law required the reverse design of the US half dollar to […]
In 1944, the United States Mint was working overtime to accommodate not only the wartime needs of the United States but also the needs of its allies. The need was so great that “nearly three billion domestic coins” and “nearly 800,000,000 coins” for 17 other countries were produced “at cost”, which combined to make the […]
History of the 1861 Dahlonega Gold Dollar During the lead-up to the Civil War, branch mints in the southern United States began preparing for the war. While the Treasury Department decided not to send any additional bullion, the Philadelphia Mint shipped two pairs of dies to the mint in Dahlonega, Georgia. But two weeks after […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456, the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks or other national sites in each state, […]
At the height of the Great Depression and resulting from the dramatic decline in the public’s demand for coins, the Denver Mint’s operations nearly ground to a halt. This resulted in an 88.8% drop in mintage figures for the Lincoln Cent, from over 40 million pieces to almost 4.5 million coins. Adding to this initial […]
The story of America’s $2.5 gold Indian, also known as the Pratt-Bigelow quarter eagle, is at its core, a story of two presidential cousins. Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt were responsible for the inception and termination of the series. In a 1904 letter, Theodore Roosevelt called 19th-century US coinage “atrocious hideousness” and began his crusade to […]
In 1864 when the Two Cent coin was first issued, the US Civil War was still raging. One effect of the war was a massive shortage of hard currency. While specie coins had disappeared from circulation quite early in the war, by ’64 even small copper cents were thin on the ground as evidenced by […]
Charles Barber’s quarter dollar design was introduced in 1892, a beneficiary of the provision of the Mint Act of 1890, which allowed for the design of a coin to be changed every 25 years. Though not mandated by law, Barber’s designs for the dime, the quarter, and the half dollar were set aside in 1916. […]
While not necessarily a well-known year in American history, 1886 saw a series of interesting and important historical events: the dedication of the Statue of Liberty by President Grover Cleveland, the introduction of Coca-Cola by John Pemberton, and the Chicago Haymarket Affair, which forced the implementation of the eight-hour workday. Even at the United States […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456, the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks or other […]
Hindsight is 20/20, and despite the Great Depression looming right around the corner, it was business as usual at the United States Mint in 1929. In fact, that year the Philadelphia facility struck 185,262,000 cents coins alone, and when combined with the other mint facilities, the mintage topped 277 million pieces. This was the largest […]
As United States Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross’s brainchild, she continually pushed the government to design and release a half dollar depicting Benjamin Franklin and the Liberty Bell. However, there was a law that required the reverse design of the US half dollar to include an eagle. Ross was so attached to the idea of […]
Too much gold? Start minting the Liberty Double Eagle It was 1849, and the Philadelphia Mint had more Gold Rush gold than it could possibly mint. First, they minted $2.50 quarter eagles. Then half eagles. Then eagles. And still, the Mint’s coffers overflowed with unused gold (if only we all had that problem). So, Congressman […]
By CoinWeek IQ ….. With the United States Mint moving at lightning speed, the Kennedy half dollar was designed, stuck, and placed in circulation just over four months after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. These coins sparked instant demand from a grieving nation. Despite being struck in substantial numbers until […]
First released in 1916 with a minuscule mintage, the Standing Liberty Quarter garnered almost immediate controversy. As the newly appointed Director of the Mint, Robert W. Woolley held a public competition to replace the earlier Barber designs on the dime, quarter, and half dollar. While anyone could submit designs, the famous American sculptor Hermon Atkins […]
1932 was a seminal year for the US quarter. The United States Mint had concluded the design process of the commemorative quarter destined to mark the bicentennial of George Washington’s birthday and was ready to begin striking the coins by 1931. Released in 1932, this design would soon become one of the most recognizable around […]
The Draped Bust was the second design type of the half cent denomination. Conceived as an important low-value coin for the everyman, the denomination was never popular with the American public. With rising copper prices and decreased spending power, the US Congress discontinued the denomination with the Coinage Act of February 21, 1857. Among collectors. […]
Suspended in 1904 due to a significant drop in the demand for silver resulting from the passage of the 1890 Sherman Silver Act, no further Morgan dollars would be struck until 1921. The series was thought to be dead. Yet because of World War I, the government of Great Britain was facing an economic crisis. […]
As the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth in 1932 drew closer, the United States Mint began preparing the Nation’s numismatic arena. With the Act of March 4, 1931, the US Senate decreed that the portrait of George Washington “shall appear on the obverse, with appropriate devices on the reverse” (U.S. Mint Report, 1932, pg. 134). […]
By Blanchard & Company …… It was 1905. American coins had been sporting the same designs for over 50 years, and President Roosevelt decided that it was time for a change. He wanted our nation to have coins comparable to those of the ancient Greeks. Roosevelt initiated this effort by contacting sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to […]
The smallest denomination ever struck by the U.S. Mint, the half cent is an extremely complex series. It features five major types and subtypes that all have a series of varieties, the last of which was the Braided Hair half cent (1840-57). As the new Chief Engraver, Christian Gobrecht was responsible for shifting the design […]
Description: Even though the United States had no real need for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President […]
The Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is one of the most famous of all American coin types, acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought for years to beautiful America’s humdrum coin designs. […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998 – save for a two-year run in 1975 and ’76, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design […]
Demand for domestic coinage continued to grow in 1936 and the United States Mint responded by adding shifts and ramping up production. In Philadelphia, cent production was higher than it had been at any time since 1920. In total, 309,632,000 pieces were struck, all from blanks that were manufactured in-house. This production level largely satisfied […]
As the Roosevelt dime entered production in 1972, the design had served its statutorily-mandated minimum service life of 25 years. The four-term president was a fitting choice to replace Weinman’s Winged Liberty design in 1946, and sentiment about the longest-serving U.S. president remained high as the generation he led through the Great Depression and World […]
By January 1861, the process of southern secession was underway, signaling the onset of America’s deadliest war. Throughout this tumultuous year, the country experienced a multitude of historic events: Abraham Lincoln would become the 16th president, the Confederate States of America was born, and the Civil War commenced. Despite the loss of its branch facilities […]
As one of the key dates of the series, the 1949-S Roosevelt dime is second in rarity only to the Philadelphia Mint’s 1955 mintage of 12,450,181 pieces. But with an issuance of 13,510,000 pieces, this coin is not exactly “rare”. However, it is one of the more interesting pieces from the series and commands something […]
With the passage of the Coinage Act of 1864, the United States Congress authorized the design and production of a brand-new denomination, the short-lived Two Cent coin. As part of the government’s experimentation with odd denominations (including the three-cent nickel, the silver trime, the 20-cent piece, and the three-dollar stella gold coin, the two-cent piece […]
While still a fledgling design, the Philadelphia Mint struck nearly 50% more 1910 Lincoln cents than in 1909 or 1910. In fact, it was the largest single issuance of Lincoln cents by the Philadelphia Mint until 1917. With a mintage of 146,801,218 pieces, this coin is easily obtainable in both general circulated and Mint State […]
In 1919, Alabama celebrated the centennial of its admission into the Union at the nation’s 22nd state. Two years later, the occasion was marked by the issuance of a commemorative half dollar coin. Both the story of how the coin came to be and the rather unusual circumstance where a living person was featured on […]
1935 marked the third year of production for the Washington quarter. The coin design was introduced in 1932 to honor the 200th anniversary of President and General George Washington’s birthday. Then-President Calvin Coolidge signed the authorizing legislation in 1924, eight years before the planned commemoration was to take place and just eight years into the […]
As the Roosevelt dime entered production in 1972, the design had served its statutorily-mandated minimum service life of 25 years. The four-term president was a fitting choice to replace Weinman’s Winged Liberty design in 1946, and sentiment about the longest-serving U.S. president remained high as the generation he led through the Great Depression and World […]
The Presidential Dollar Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) was passed into law on December 22, 2005. The Act compelled the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin, [and] to create a new bullion coin”. The […]
According to the 1988 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, due to declining demand, no 1987 Kennedy half dollars were struck for general circulation. The coins already in circulation were “sufficient for current needs,” and all freshly struck pieces were destined for mint sets. Proof versions were struck only at the San Francisco […]
To honor the 200th anniversary of President and General George Washington’s birthday, Congress passed a joint resolution in 1924 that was signed by then-President Calvin Coolidge. The resolution was to ensure the country hosted adequate celebrations in 1932, the deceased president’s bicentennial year. One of the sponsored actions was to replace the Standing Liberty series […]
To honor the 200th anniversary of President and General George Washington’s birthday, Congress passed a joint resolution in 1924 that was signed by then-President Calvin Coolidge. The resolution was to ensure the country hosted adequate celebrations in 1932, the deceased president’s bicentennial year. One of the sponsored actions was to replace the Standing Liberty series […]
The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. He […]
The 1969-D Kennedy Half Dollar was the last of the silver-clad half dollar struck in quantity for circulation. The silver-clad half dollar would take its final bow in 1970 when the Denver Mint struck the coin one last time, but the mintage was limited to that year’s annual Mint Set and the published mintage of that set […]
1976 was an important year in American Numismatics. The Bicentennial quarter, half dollar and dollar had been released, featuring Jack Ahr’s drummer, Seth Huntington’s view of Independence Hall and Dennis William’s Liberty Bell, respectively. But from the start, United States Mint Director Mary Brooks was against the idea of changing the designs of all six […]
Background of the Washington Quarter Series Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design […]
Between 1999 and 2008, the 50 State Quarters circulating commemorative coin program honored each state in the order in which it joined the Union. The series was authorized by Public Law 105-124 on December 1, 1997. Five quarters were released every year with a common obverse and different reverses representative of the states being commemorated. […]
The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. He […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998 – save for a two-year run in 1975 and ’76, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design […]
The 1999-D Delaware quarter, released on January 1, was the first issue in the 50 States Quarters series struck at the Denver Mint. Delaware became the first state on December 7, 1787, when all 30 delegates of the Delaware Constitutional Convention ratified the United States Constitution. 11 years earlier, key votes on the call for […]
Bicentennial quarters are still doing their job, nearly a half-century after their issue in 1975 and 1976. Introduced alongside redesigned half dollars and dollar coins to mark the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the quarters were struck in the largest quantities of the three. A slightly larger mintage and a […]
The 1970-D Kennedy Half Dollar was the last of the regular-strike silver-clad half dollars and the last Kennedy half intended for circulation that contained any silver at all. Its release took collectors by surprise, as it was available only in mint sets that year. The United States Mint didn’t publicize this fact, and by the […]
Description: 1982 was a landmark year for the United States one-cent coin, as the metallic composition of the coin was changed from bronze to copper-plated zinc. It was the end of an era for the “penny,” which had become too expensive to produce with its 95-percent copper composition; the cost of making the one-cent piece […]
The California Gold Rush may have been set off by James Wilson Marshall’s January 24, 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, but the commercial extraction of oro fino in California had already been underway for eight years by this time. This fact is important to understand because contrary to popular belief, the 1848 “CAL” […]
Description: The 1881-S Morgan dollar is a large silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. Known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, the Morgan dollar is named for designer George T. Morgan, who served as a United States Mint engraver from 1876 until his death in […]
The 1881-S Morgan dollar is a large silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. Known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, the Morgan dollar is named for designer George T. Morgan, who served as a U.S. Mint engraver from 1876 until his death in 1925. He […]
Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1912-D Liberty Head nickel was struck during the only year when any of the coins in the series were struck at branch mints. The Liberty Head nickel series officially spanned from 1883 through 1912, though five examples of a 1913 Liberty nickel exist that may have been […]
Acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States, the Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is also one of the most famous of all American coin types. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who, over Mint objections, sought for years to beautify […]
By CoinWeek IQ ….. The Philadelphia Mint struck 15,646,000 Kennedy half dollars in 1998. A typical year for a denomination that didn’t see much in the way of circulation but was still being struck in quantity, in the event that new halves were needed from the Federal Reserve. Most collectors, however, would acquire their 1998-P […]
The era of the big dollar coin was already coming to a close when the United States Mint struck the last 59,000,000 Eisenhower dollar coins for circulation at the Denver and Philadelphia Mints. Denver had the honor of striking slightly more, and as had been the case through the entire series, struck them better than […]
The Jefferson nickel’s 1938 debut marked the end of the 25-year production run of the Buffalo nickel. James Earl Fraser’s Buffalo design, a classic in terms of coin art and Americana, gave the Mint fits. It was a difficult coin to strike, was hard on dies, and the speed at which the coin’s date wore […]
Description: The 1886 Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Nearly 20 million 1886 Morgan dollars were made, and while the vast majority were ultimately melted, enough survive today to satisfy general collector demands. The Morgan dollar, as […]
By Dan Duncan – Pinnacle-Rarities …… Description The 1861 half dollars from the New Orleans Mint have the distinction of being the only issue in U.S. numismatics struck under the authority of three different authorities. At the time, all working dies were prepared in Philadelphia and distributed to the branch mints as no tooling or […]
This second-year Proof issue of the Franklin half dollar was struck at the Philadelphia Mint and represents a challenging issue for collectors looking to complete this popular 20th-century half dollar series. Replacing the Walking Liberty half dollar in 1948, the Franklin half dollar obverse was designed by United States Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, […]
Description The 1909-S Indian Head cent is a semi-key coin that also represents one of the last issues of the iconic one-cent coin series that began in 1859 and ended in 1909. After being struck exclusively at the Philadelphia Mint since its inception, Indian Head cents were finally issued by a branch mint beginning in […]
The penultimate coin issued in the program’s penultimate year and the 44th overall, the Wyoming 50 State quarter was released in September 2007. Arguably, the coin is one of the most representative of its state, with its simple, albeit polarizing, design of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. But as far as collectors are concerned, […]
Description: The 1969-S Lincoln Memorial cent is collected by many people for many reasons. Among Lincoln cent enthusiasts, the coin is, at the very least, coveted for its merits as a business-strike and Proof issue produced by the San Francisco Mint and serves as a necessary addition to a date-and-mintmark series collection. For die variety […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. And while the golden era of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and […]
Description: The Mercury or Winged Liberty dime (1916-1945) has long stood as an iconic coin the U.S. series. The coin’s elegant design draws heavily from the French Beaux Arts movement of the late 19th century. Its release immediately preceded the Roosevelt dime (1946-Present), and it is the last U.S. dime to be struck entirely in .900 […]
Description: The 1999 Delaware quarter, released on January 1, was the first issue in the 50 States Quarters series and honors the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. Delaware became the first state on December 7, 1787, when all 30 delegates of the Delaware Constitutional Convention ratified the U.S. Constitution. 11 years earlier, […]
Description The 1928-S Peace dollar is among the most common later-date Peace dollars and one of the series’ major condition rarities. The last date struck from silver purchased under the terms of the Pittman Act, it’s more affordable than its counterpart from the Philadelphia Mint in circulated and lower uncirculated grades. But in MS-65, it’s […]
Description: The 1990 Eisenhower Centennial Dollar is the second United States coin struck to honor the 34th President of the United States, the first was the circulating Eisenhower dollar issued from 1971-1978. Authorized by Public Law 100-467 (Act of October 3, 1988), which authorized the striking of up to 4,000,000 silver dollars to commemorate the […]
Description Lincoln cents were in short supply as the United States entered its second year of war in Europe. Increased wartime economic activity drove up demand for circulating coinage, resulting in larger mintages. The more than 288 million cents produced at the Philadelphia Mint in 1918–the largest mintage in the series up to that point–were […]
In the fall of 1986, the first silver bullion coins produced by the United States were released, marking the beginning of a series whose enduring popularity is evidenced by rapid sellouts of U.S. Mint products that include them. The American Silver Eagle (ASE) remains one of the world’s most sought-after bullion coins, and its inaugural […]
Struck against the backdrop of war from an alloy developed to save copper and nickel, the 1944-P Jefferson nickel is one of the most abundant dates of the silver alloy subtype. Uncirculated examples are plentiful and can be purchased inexpensively, though fully-struck examples are elusive. The date was counterfeited in the 1950s by Francis Henning, […]
Description President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s portrait on the dime was a fitting choice in 1946. He was a revered figure for many of the “Greatest Generation”: those who lived through the Great Depression (1929-39) and prevailed in World War II (1939-45). Though his administration was not without criticism (numismatists might lament his 1933 Executive Order […]
Description: While the country-at-large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President Dwight D. […]
The Eisenhower Dollar While the country at large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing […]
Description In mid-to-late 1904, an article appeared in newspapers across the country with the blaring headline: “Passing of the Good Old American Silver Dollar.” Under the subtitle “It Is Probable That No More of Them Will Ever be Coined by the Government,” the author, Katherine Pope, reported “that ponderous and more or less troubling coin, […]
By CoinWeek IQ ….. The last Franklin half dollar struck at the San Francisco Mint, the 1954-S, offers a window into an evolving postwar United States Mint. Replacing the Walking Liberty half dollar in 1948, the Franklin half dollar obverse was designed by Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, and the reverse was created by […]
by CoinWeek… 1971 was meant to mark a significant change in the life of the Kennedy half dollar. Introduced in 1964 to honor the recently-assassinated president John F. Kennedy, the Kennedy half dollar replaced former United States Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock’s design featuring Founding Father Benjamin Franklin that had been in use since […]
The 1933 double eagle $20 gold coin is one of American Numismatics’ most notorious coins. Only one surviving specimen was ever monetized and made legal to own, yet an uncertain number of examples still exist. When the United States made the controversial decision in 1933 to suspend the gold standard that it had based its […]
Consumers in San Francisco and along the West Coast were handling a rarity in the mid-1860s. As their counterparts in the east were vanishing from circulation during the Civil War, silver coins in San Francisco circulated much more extensively – including the 1864-S Seated Liberty quarter, which turned out to be a major rarity. Consumers […]
Even though the United States had no real need for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent death of beloved war-hero-turned-president Dwight D. […]
Description Morgan dollar production continued at its Congressionally mandated pace in 1887, despite the fact that even 10 years into the series’ run it had failed to gain a meaningful place as a circulating coin for most Americans. The 1887 Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin struck […]
Description A year after the initial buzz… and then thud… of the release of a new dollar coin, the United States Mint continued its work to refine and improve Frank Gasparro’s design. A number of subtle changes were undertaken by the Mint’s engraving department, including a mid-year change in the quality of die steel used […]
Description The Morgan dollar gets its name from United States Mint engraver George T. Morgan, who designed the dollar coin in competition with then-Chief Engraver William Barber. The two had a generally cordial relationship, though numismatists throughout the generations have supposed that Barber may have been envious of Morgan’s talent as an engraver and treated […]
Description: Americans have long considered the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 as the birthday of the United States. And 1976 was a special year: the 200th anniversary, or bicentennial, of our nation’s founding. But Congress and the U.S. Mint were still leery of what they viewed as the abuses of […]
Image: Coins in Motion. Description: The 1923 Peace dollar is one of the most common issues in the series of dollar coins (1921-35) designed by Anthony de Francisci. Peace dollars bear an obverse image of a young Lady Liberty crowned with rays, strikingly resembling the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. First issued five […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. But while the golden age of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, it is […]
Description: The 1921 Peace dollar is the debut issue of Anthony de Francisci’s Art Deco design, produced from 1921-1928 and then again for two years in 1934 and 1935. Peace dollars bear an obverse image of a young Lady Liberty crowned with rays, strikingly resembling the Statue of Liberty. First issued five years after the […]
Description President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s portrait on the dime was a fitting choice in 1946. He was a revered figure for many of the “Greatest Generation”: those who lived through the Great Depression (1929-39) and prevailed in World War II (1939-45). Though his administration was not without criticism (numismatists might lament his 1933 Executive Order […]
Description The New Orleans Mint was one of three branches of the United States Mint authorized to be opened by the Coinage Act of March 3, 1835. The same Act authorized the opening of an important assay office in New York City. The Louisiana facility was built on land donated to the federal government by […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. But while the golden age of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and […]
The 1811 Classic Head half cent is a low-mintage key in the popular series and a challenging condition rarity in high grade. Only a handful of high-quality examples have survived over the years, and any auction appearance of a Mint State specimen is a notable event for early copper collectors. PCGS has certified only five […]
The story of the 1916-D Lincoln cent, which claims a mintage approaching 36 million coins, mirrors those of its contemporaries. The issue can be found without trouble through grades as high as MS64 Red, though many pieces are spotted or struck from excessively worn dies, displaying soft detail. Nonetheless, even Gem Red coins are accessible, […]
Description: The United States silver dollar denomination was authorized by the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, but not produced until the fall of 1794. The legislation called for the coins to be struck at a weight of 416 grains and a fineness of .89243. In theory, the coin was meant to circulate as the […]
Description: Acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States, the Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is one of the most famous of all American coin types. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought for years to beautiful America’s humdrum coin […]
Description: The small “white cents”, so-called because of their light color compared to that of the older large cents, had at first escaped the hoarding of coins that came with the Civil War. But by 1862, in spite of the production of millions of the coins, the cent had also disappeared from circulation, joining the […]
Description: The Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is one of the most famous of all American coin types, acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought for years to beautiful America’s humdrum coin […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. But while the golden age of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and […]
Description: Besides removing silver from the quarter, dime, and nickel, the Coinage Act of 1965 also mandated that no new silver dollars could be coined until 1970, at which time the need for the denomination would be reevaluated. That “need”, apparently, came from an unexpected source: Nevada gambling casinos. Though small numbers of silver dollars […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner, […]
Description: Besides removing silver from the quarter, dime, and nickel, the Coinage Act of 1965 also mandated that no new silver dollars could be coined until 1970, at which time the need for the denomination would be reevaluated. That “need”, apparently, came from an unexpected source: Nevada gambling casinos. Though small numbers of silver dollars […]
Description The 1887-S Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. The San Francisco Mint struck 1,771,000 Morgan dollars in 1887 and a majority of all of the U.S. gold coins struck during the year. Production […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and Third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description The 1887-O Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the New Orleans branch of the United States Mint. New Orleans struck 11,550,000 Morgan dollars in 1887 and nothing else, and while the vast majority were ultimately melted, the coin remained plentiful in the […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description: The Albany Half Dollar is one of twenty 1936-dated commemorative silver coins issued by the United States Mint. The coin was authorized by Public Law 687, which authorized “the production of a minimum of 25,000 coins dated 1936 and bearing a special single design to commemorative the 250the Anniversary of the founding of the […]
Description: Even though the United States had no real need for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998 – save for a two-year run in 1975 and ’76, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description: U.S. Circulating Coin Production in 1887 – Putting the 1887 Half in Context In 1887, the Philadelphia Mint handled U.S. coin production for all of the minor denominations, the silver dollar, and gold denominations up to $10, with the exception of the half eagle, which was only struck for circulation at the San Francisco […]
Description: 1976 was an important year in American Numismatics. The Bicentennial quarter, half dollar and dollar had been released, featuring Jack Ahr’s drummer, Seth Huntington’s view of Independence Hall and Dennis William’s Liberty Bell, respectively. But from the start, U.S. Mint Director Mary Brooks was against the idea of changing the designs of all six […]
Description: While the country-at-large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President Dwight D. […]
The siren song of gold called from California to every corner of the country. Across the nation, men (and a much smaller number of women) sold their possessions, borrowed money, and spent their savings to get themselves to the Promised Land. The journey, however, was perilous. Prospective gold miners, called ’49ers for the year (1849) […]
The siren song of gold called from California to every corner of the country. Across the nation, men (and a much smaller number of women) sold their possessions, borrowed money, and spent their savings to get themselves to the Promised Land. The journey, however, was perilous. Prospective gold miners, called ’49ers for the year (1849) […]
Too much gold? Start minting It was 1849, and the Philadelphia Mint had more Gold Rush gold than it could possibly mint. What to do? First, they minted $2.50 quarter eagles. Then half eagles. Then eagles. And still, the Mint’s coffers overflowed with unused gold (if only we all had that problem). So, Congressman James […]
Too much gold? Start minting the Liberty Double Eagle It was 1849, and the Philadelphia Mint had more Gold Rush gold than it could possibly mint. First, they minted $2.50 quarter eagles. Then half eagles. Then eagles. And still, the Mint’s coffers overflowed with unused gold (if only we all had that problem). So, Congressman […]
Description: It was the “War to End All Wars”. When the United States entered the conflict on April 6, 1917, World War I had been raging for almost three years. During that time, the liberal President Thomas Woodrow Wilson had maintained the country’s political neutrality – despite his own feelings to the contrary and the […]
By Doug Winter – RareGoldCoins.com …… CoinWeek Content Partner …… I’m not sure the 1795 Small Eagle half eagle is my favorite American gold coin, but it is certainly well up on my Top 10 list. I have handled dozens of 1795 half eagles in grades ranging from Fine-12 to MS65, and to this day, […]
Description: In 2017, the United States Mint celebrated the 225th anniversary of its creation with the construction of the Philadelphia Mint as authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The highlight of the Mint’s celebrations was the 2017 American Liberty Proof Gold Coin. Part of a new series of coins and medals that showcase a […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of Jack […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of Jack […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description: 1982 was a landmark year for the United States one-cent coin, as the metallic composition of the coin was changed from bronze to copper-plated zinc. It was the end of an era for the “penny,” which had become too expensive to produce with its 95-percent copper composition; the cost of making the one-cent piece […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: While the country-at-large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President Dwight D. […]
Description: Americans have long considered the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 as the birthday of the United States. And 1976 was a special year: the 200th anniversary, or bicentennial, of our nation’s founding. But Congress and the U.S. Mint were still leery of what they viewed as the abuses […]
Description: The 1970-D Kennedy Half Dollar was the last of the regular-strike silver-clad half dollars and the last Kennedy half intended for circulation that contained any silver at all. Its release took collectors by surprise, as it was available only in mint sets that year. The United States Mint didn’t publicize this fact, and […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: The 2017 Lions Clubs International Centennial commemorative silver dollar honors the 100th anniversary of the world’s largest service club. Founded in 1917 by Chicago businessman and philanthropist Melvin Jones, Lions Clubs International has more than 1.4 million members working together to help improve communities around the world. There are more than 46,000 associated clubs […]
Description: The 2017 Boys Town commemorative $5 gold coin is one of three special United States Mint issues that honor the 100th anniversary of the famous Nebraska-based organization that provides care for at-risk youth. The non-profit organization was founded in 1917 by Father Edward Flanagan, who established Boys Town in Omaha as a home for […]
Description: The non-profit organization Boys Town, dedicated to helping at-risk youth and made famous by the 1938 movie of the same name, is commemorated on a clad half dollar, a silver dollar and a $5 gold coin celebrating the centennial of its founding in 1917. Established by Father Edward Flanagan, the charity’s main focus was […]
Description: The 1881-S Morgan dollar is a large silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. Known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, the Morgan dollar is named for designer George T. Morgan, who served as a United States Mint engraver from 1876 until his death in […]
Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1912-D Liberty Head nickel was struck during the only year when any of the coins in the series were struck at branch mints. The Liberty Head nickel series officially spanned from 1883 through 1912, though five examples of a 1913 Liberty nickel exist that may have been […]
Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1909-S Indian Head cent is a semi-key coin that also represents one of the last issues of the iconic one-cent coin series that began in 1859 and ended in 1909. After being struck exclusively at the Philadelphia Mint since its inception, Indian Head cents were finally issued […]
Description: The 1886 Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Nearly 20 million 1886 Morgan dollars were made, and while the vast majority were ultimately melted, enough survive today to satisfy general collector demands. The Morgan dollar, as […]
Description: The 1969-S Lincoln Memorial cent is collected by many people for many reasons. Among Lincoln cent enthusiasts, the 1969-S Lincoln cent is, at the very least, coveted for its merits as a business-strike and Proof issue produced by the San Francisco Mint and serves as a necessary addition to a date-and-mintmark series collection. For […]
Description: Between 1999 and 2008, the 50 State Quarters circulating commemorative coin program honored each state in the order in which it joined the Union. The series was authorized by Public Law 105-124 on December 1, 1997. Five quarters were released every year with a common obverse and different reverses representative of the states being […]
Description: Between 1999 and 2008, the 50 State Quarters circulating commemorative coin program honored each state in the order in which it joined the Union. The series was authorized by Public Law 105-124 on December 1, 1997. Five quarters were released every year with a common obverse and different reverses representative of the states being […]
Description: On August 27, 2015, the United States Mint issued the 2015 Lady Bird Johnson First Spouse 1/2 oz $10 Gold Coin. The coin is struck in .9999 gold and has a maximum authorized mintage of only 10,000 pieces across all ordering options. The coin was struck at the West Point Mint and carries the […]
Description: On July 1, 2016 the United States Mint issued the 2016 Nancy Reagan First Spouse 1/2 oz $10 Gold Coin. The coin is struck in .9999 gold and has a maximum authorized mintage of only 10,000 pieces across all ordering options. The coin was struck at the West Point Mint and carries the “W” […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: The 2001 New York state quarter is a circulating commemorative coin that, by an awful twist of fate, became one of the most widely publicized, most popular issues in the 50 States Quarters series. The New York quarter was released on January 2, 2001 and became the first 50 States Quarters issue for that […]
Description: The Presidential Dollar Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) was passed into law on December 22, 2005. The Act compelled the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin, [and] to create a new bullion coin”. […]
This CoinWeek Coin Profile is Sponsored by Minshull Trading Description: The Mercury or Winged Liberty dime (1916-1945) has long stood as an iconic coin the U.S. series. The coin’s elegant design draws heavily from the French Beaux Arts movement of the late 19th century. Its release immediately preceded the Roosevelt dime (1946-Present), and it is the […]
Description: The Presidential Dollar Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) was passed into law on December 22, 2005. The Act compelled the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin, [and] to create a new bullion coin”. […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456, the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks or other national sites in each state, […]
Description: The Presidential Dollar Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) was passed into law on December 22, 2005. The Act compelled the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin, [and] to create a new bullion […]
Description: On February 1, 2016, the United States Mint opened sales for the Mark Twain Commemorative $1 Silver Proof and Uncirculated coins. The silver commemoratives were originally supposed to go on sale January 14, the same time as the Mark Twain Commemorative $5 Gold Proof and Uncirculated coins, but the silver issue was delayed due […]
The reverse of the 1886 Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
Reverse:
The depiction of an American bald eagle perched on a mountaintop anchors the reverse. Clutched in its claws is an olive branch symbolizing peace; notably not included in this particular depiction of the eagle is a band of arrows representing military strength, a symbol commonly seen in similar visages of the patriotic avian emblem. The rightward-facing eagle is seen at an angle partly turned away from the viewer and towards a sunrise, which symbolizes the promise of dawning peace in the world.