Two Unique Prototype Ike Dollars Certified By PCGS

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In 2008, collector Lee C. Lydston and his wife, Denise, were at the Long Beach Expo in California perusing dealer inventories. Denise summoned Lee to a table featuring tubes of Eisenhower dollars, and as Lee inspected the tubes of Ikes labeled as regular San Francisco-minted 40% Eisenhower dollars struck from 1971 through 1974, he noticed one didn’t appear to be quite normal. Since Lee’s discovery of this unusual Ike dollar, it has been determined that his and two other similar specimens of Eisenhower dollars are prototype pieces struck for use by the coin’s designer, Frank Gasparro.

These two newly PCGS-certified prototype Ikes join the third PCGS-encapsulated specimen, bought on eBay in 2013. The Lydston discovery specimen, purchased in 2019 by David Frohman for an undisclosed amount, represents the first of these unusual Eisenhower dollars ever sold while attributed as a prototype.

Read more about the discovery and certification: https://www.pcgs.com/news/two-unique-prototype-eisenhower-dollars-certified-by-pcgs

abcde12345

Cool!
The top one looks better than MS66.

Weiss

I mean.

TurtleCat

Interesting but it looks like something I’d have to see in hand to really tell much difference from my existing 1971 blue pack Ike.

saabkid

These look nothing like any blue pack I've ever seen. These would jump off the table at an Ike fan.

JBK

Great story and discovery, but I must admit I am just a tad skeptical. They are presumed to have been struck for Frank Gasparro's personal use, but did not descend through his estate (as far as anyone knows). They are considered ultra rare but the three known examples were found randomly among normal silver Ikes. How do we know there aren't many, many more of them out there? Perhaps they are more comparable to the Cheerios Sacagawea dollars?

In any case, they look great, and I accept that the differences mentioned in the article exist. It just occurs to me, based on the way they were discovered, that the quantity produced might be much higher than what has been identified so far.

davewesen

They are calling these RDV-007. Can anyone see where the differences are?

daltex

Did these sell/are they for sale? If so, how much?

saabkid

Interesting for sure. Silver Ikes seem to be a coin that our host seems to be have no interest in grading consistently. I see 68's that just make no sense. No gravitas apparently for this series.

keets

I would suspect that the dies being used to strike prototypes somehow got into production afterwards and struck coins.

coinkat

Sad that this series does not get more attention from collectors. The 1971-s type I proof is perhaps the best kept secret among 20th century rarities. And it very well could be the rarest 20th century proof coin. And most collectors do not even know it exists.

ECHOES

Lee C. Lydston,
19Lyds, great guy, miss his knowledge of variety's.
He helped me with this one, still have the PM's.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/706717/1964-d-washington-quarter-is-this-a-type-c-reverse-pcgs-grade-posted#latest

giorgio11

@19Lyds Lee is a great guy and really knows his stuff and I hope he is seeing the incredible favorable coverage these pieces are getting. I mean, those have got to qualify IMHO as, like, the ultimate cherrypicks ever! Lee was last seen around these parts in October last year ... I just checked, according to the site anyway.

Kind regards,

George

ricko

This is interesting....@keets had a good point...makes more sense than having designer prototype pieces somehow get into the distribution cycle...and also gives hope to those who search for varieties... Cheers, RickO

keets

yeah, RickO, that was my thinking. it just doesn't make sense that the designer would keep prototypes in his personal collection and upon his death his estate dumps them into circulation or sells them as generic Dollars to a dealer. all this took place during his tenure as Chief Engraver while turmoil reigned at the Mint, just years since the primary goal seemed to be to confuse and thwart the efforts of collectors. additionally, the Mint has a well documented history of being frugal with dies, not wanting to discard them when they are 100% serviceable and able to strike coins.

I suspect that there are many of these in Blue Packs but that the differences are quite subtle. not to take anything away from Lee who I consider a very astute Collector/Numismatist, but he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. kudos to his wife, also!!

Broadstruck

Is there a CliffsNotes version on how these differ from others?

oih82w8

I would like to see the PUPs on these specimens.