1973 EISENHOWER DOLLARS

 

The Eisenhower Dollar was released in 1971 and became the first circulating dollar coin officially issued by the United States since 1935. Some of the impetus in getting the Eisenhower Dollar rolling was to honor Dwight D. Eisenhower, a highly respected World War II general who went on to serve as the nation's president from 1953 through 1961. Eisenhower died in 1969 at the age of 78, and many in Congress felt it would be a fitting honor to place his likeness on a coin just as the nation did with President John F. Kennedy in the months after his assassination in November 1963.

The Eisenhower Dollar entered circulation in 1971 with strong enthusiasm from the numismatic community, but the general public was less than enthralled by the new coins. Most American people kept using their folding $1 bills, and while 116,386,424 were cumulatively struck for circulation at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints in 1971 and 168,438,511 more in 1972, most of these coins ended up finding life in the Nevada casino circuit, where they were widely used as slot machine prizes and served a role as veritable poker chips.

The powers that be in the U.S. Treasury and U.S. Mint did not see a dire need to produce another 100+ million in 1973 for circulation when it was already bearing out that the coins had gained little traction as circulating coinage. So, U.S. Mint officials restricted the production of 1973 Eisenhower Dollars to numismatic sets only, with the business-strike specimens from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints devoted solely to 1973 United States Mint Uncirculated Sets. All told, the U.S. Mint produced 2,000,056 strikes in Philly and 2,000,000 at the Denver facility. However, only 1,769,258 of each were distributed in Mint Sets, leaving the balances to endure their fates at the smelter.

 

To read the complete article, see:
Why Weren't 1973 Business-Strike Eisenhower Dollars Minted for Circulation? (https://www.pcgs.com/news/why-werent-1973-business-strike-eisenhower-dollars-minted-for-circulation)
The Story Behind Blue Ikes & Brown Ikes (https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/blue-ikes/)

 

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