1971 Silver Ike dollar
Hello Silver & Gold stackers! This week another US coin. An Ike dollar — silver version!
I'll give some basic coin stats, then we'll look at both sides, and then I'll give some more general info!
Sound fun? Let's go!
Stats
Some basic coin stats for you:
- Weight: 24.59 g
- Diameter: 38 mm
- Edge: reeded
and most importantly, it's 40% silver, so that means about 9.8 grams of silver. Woohoo silver!
Let's look at the coin a little more.
Front Side
An almost bald President Eisenhower (Ike). Actually there is hair there, but it's tough to see, making him look bald. Not much else here. "Liberty", "In God we trust" and that's it.
Back Side
This side is much nicer. The image is based on the Apollo 11 mission insignia. You have an eagle hovering over the moon with the earth in the background.
About
The Ike dollar was issued in 1971, making it the first dollar coin since the Peace dollar ended in 1935. Unfortunately the public had gotten used to not having a dollar coin so this one never caught on except in casinos. Actually, according to Wikipedia the silver dollar had never been popular except out West, which I suppose may have been one reason nothing came after the Peace dollar. Well... that destroys my image of old timey people using silver dollars for everything.
At any rate, they made the Ike dollar using base metal, but did mint a bunch of them with 40% silver for collectors. This is one of the 40% versions.
Overall
I always liked the Ike dollar. When I was in college I'd cash my paycheck in the local bank each week and always ask for as many dollar coins (or $2 bills) as they had. Then I'd go do my weekly spending with the dollar coins (and/or $2 bills) and enjoy the confused cashiers everywhere, many of whom had never seen any of this kind of money.
I remember once the bank had an entire bag of Ike dollars, so I got most of my paycheck in them. I had fun spreading those around the city. I brought some with me when I moved to Japan and gave them away to various Japanese folks over the years.
Part of me wishes I had saved them because I've heard they have become much rarer over the years, but oh well. They aren't silver, so are good for spending. Though to be honest, I never checked the ones I spent to see if any silver versions had been mixed in. Hmmm. It's too late to worry about that now!
It's a nice size for a coin, nearly the same size as an old silver dollar. I don't have any Peace dollars, but I do have a Morgan dollar. Here you can see them compared:
All in all, it's a cool coin. Probably not too good for silver stacking. This coin may cost you more than one of the 90% junk silver half-dollars and those half-dollars will get you more silver (11.3g vs 9.8g), because it's more of a collector's piece. But this is a neat coin to have at least one of.
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
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Ike's are always cool, easy to collect the entire set because of the short production run. People never liked carrying around heavy coins when they could carry a silver or gold certificate which was much lighter. That's why we have so many Morgan and Peace dollars in such great condition, the ones that weren't melted down anyway! Great coins!
I guess it's the same everywhere. In Japan these silver ¥100s I've been collecting were not commonly used because they still had a ¥100 banknote at the time. And these ¥100 coins are much lighter than a silver dollar, slightly smaller than a quarter. Guess people just always prefer bills. Oh well.
Good for us collectors though!
Beautiful coin at first I was reading Ike as like and I was so confused 😂 !DHEDGE
haha ah font problems... the similarity between I and l is always confusing. Believe me, I am confronted with bad font and typesetting issues and the confusion they can cause on a regular basis here in Japan.
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I have several Ike's. Uncirculated Ike coins came sealed in a cellophane with a blue plastic token in a blue envelope. The Uncirculated coins referred to as the "blue Ikes" and the silver proof as "brown Ikes".
Both are 40% silver. The circulated are clads.
Interesting info! You have a nice collection of them there.
i still need to get one of those :(
Hope you can find one. I was lucky that this one showed up in the local shop and he didn't charge too much for it. Looking on ebay, you might be paying a large premium for the silver version if you buy off there.
oh it's easy to find, just never bothered lmao as i am going for other stuff these days XD
Lovely coin! Even though I have no knowledge in terms of coins other than these of my country, it's still a lovely looking one!
I'm the same. I know nothing about coins outside America or Japan. But I do enjoy looking at other countries coins when I see them.
Same! Haha
In 1971 I ordered and received from the U.S. Mint, 5 of the 1971 S Proof Ike Dollars and 5 of the 1971 S Uncirculated Ike Dollars... I gave away one of the Proofs, but I still have all the rest... I also have 1,000 of the non Silver Ike Dollars that I obtain at some of the Las Vegas Casinos... I wasn't aware of "my version" of the U.S. Monetary Correction at the time, but I'm glad I have 1,000 of the regular Ike Dollars...
Next time I'm in the States I'm going to have to go around to a few banks and see if they have any regular Ikes I can pick up. I'd love to have some more. I don't really like the Susan B Anthony or the Sacagawea dollars. Nothing wrong with the subjects on them, they are just too small. A dollar coin should be large, y'know?
I figure our $1 Silver Coins will be about the size of a Dime...
I want to say I have some of these, but I honestly don't know for sure. I will have to dig back through my stuff and check to see. There is just something really familiar about it to me. I think I shared a post a long time ago with all the old silver I got from my grandparents, but I don't recall for sure.
You may have just seen the regular one here and there and that's why it looks familiar. I think they were fairly common in the midwest when we were kids, at least they were in Indiana. The Susan B Anthony dollars were more common, but Ikes still showed up here and there.
Anyway, if you find you do have some silver ones, you should do a post!
Thanks, I will have to look into it. That could be it. I feel like I have some thing that is tied to the moon landing, but again, I am not sure. I will have to dig into my stuff again to see.
The very last of the true silver dollars, although only being 40% silver, it's more of a symbolic gesture than a preservation of intrinsic value. Testing the waters to see if the public would accept a silver dollar that's not a silver dollar. It seems the public at large did eventually accept it... although interesting to note how disliked the "Susan B. Anthony" coin was.
I think the main beef against the Susan B Anthony dollar was that it was so easy to confuse with a quarter, but vending machines were never updated to support it so they were always getting clogged up with the coin. It proved really annoying. I remember when they released the Sacagawea dollars one of the reasons they gave for the gold color was to avoid confusion with a quarter.
Even if there is no precious metal in the coin, I like the idea of maintaining a size difference, and the silver dollar size should have been maintained. But at this point I don't think the mint really cares about the matter.
The dollar coin, Sacagawea, President, and "American Innovation" coins, are minted using an alloy that gives it a golden color. I'm shocked the number of people who believe there is actual gold in the "gold dollars" as if this is a modern and more valuable version of the silver dollar. Yet when an ACTUAL gold coin is offered (1/10 oz gold eagle), vs a snickers bar, people choose the snickers bar. Why? Because snickers bars taste better and the coin is so small!
So the golden dollar coins are no longer confused with a quarter but they are now confused with actual gold.
haha that video is great. So people either think the gold isn't real in this case or they think 1/10 oz is not very valuable. Does that speak to America's bad math skills? Or maybe a lack of awareness that gold still has value.
At the same time, this feels like a bit like Leno's old "stupid people" videos, where he freely admitted to simply not including all the smart responses in the video.
I think it speaks to America's lack of understanding of value. Their stomach is more valuable to them than gold!
This is quite possible, my guess is that most people were happy to accept a free gold coin, but he probably (awkwardly) had to explain to them it was a social experiment and not an actual offer. Just the fact he was able to find a small number of people who would accept neither, or accept the snickers bar, is very telling. He shouldn't have been able to find even one turning down a free gold coin! Notice he was right in front of a coin shop?
That's an awesome find, sweet coin :)
Awesome wishing you success with your collection
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The concept behind the other side of the coin is absolutely amazing.
Also of interest is the name IKE DOLLAR which in our local language simply means (Power dollar). 40% silver makes it look beautiful. Must have been a treasure to own Ike dollar out there in Japan.
What a lovely 🌹 silver coin, the Ike dollar coin
It is a cool coin I must say, with the size and 40% silver content.
That coin came out a year before I was born. I've always appreciated coins, and dollar coins, with silver or not, are pretty cool. I love your story of getting your paycheck in dollar coins and $2 bills to distribute and confuse people manning cash registers..😂 That sounds like something I'd do! 😁 🙏 💚 ✨ 🤙
Awesome coin enjoy adding it to your collection
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