First strike of 1979 dollars was done in 1978!
Zoins
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Just ran across this on the bay which I thought was very interesting.
The first strike of 1979 Susan Brownell Anthony dollars was done on December 13, 1978!
Photo credit: brianjmax2k0l
8
Comments
Press Release from Mint Director Stella Hackel on SmallDollars.com
smalldollars.com/dollar/12-13-78.html
Great Press Release!
It says that legislation was signed on October 10, 1978. Is just over 2 months to striking a record?
Calling @DrDarryl who might be interested in this.
Either this or the Kennedy half dollar.
There were great hopes for this coin.... all of which failed to materialize. Cheers, RickO
You're right! The Kennedy half dollar had an even shorter time from authorization to first strike! Just less than a month and a half!
https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2013/11/5-facts-about-the-kennedy-half-dollar.html
There were many great hopes for the dollar coin of many types which all failed to materialize, starting with the Draped Bust Dollar which was discontinued and left us without a dollar coin for 30 years.
For some reason, the dollar coin is just not a very successful circulating denomination in the US.
As I recall there had been some work done on a potential small dollar coin before the SBA coin was proposed. The original proposal was for a depiction of Liberty with a Freedom Cap.
So, the proposals for the SBA might have started the process for that coin even before the actual legislation was passed.
Also, on the commemorative item pictured above, I don't see any statement the SBA included was actually struck on the first day.
SBAs, along with Sacagawea Dollar and Presidential Dollars (and the $2 bill) were all doomed to fail unless the $1 bill was eliminated.
While cash registers may have had a space for half dollars years ago, there is no place to put a dollar coin. In another 50 years, the Fed will release the "SBA Hoard" to collectors.
Other failures included the Draped Bust Dollar mentioned above, along with the Peace Dollar and Eisenhower Dollar. I wonder if their failure can be attributed to the bill as well?
i think they would have done better if they had some soeta color to them, jmo
You will notice that that artist's conception image does not have a mint mark on it. I was still working for Coin World in the Fall of 1978 when these pictures came in along with a press release.
The Editor passed the pictures around and I asked her "Where are they going to put the mint mark?" The Editor said that she did not know but that she would call the Mint Director and ask. A few minutes later she came out of her office and said that the Mint Director did not know, but that she would ask her staff.
Within half an hour or so the Editor said that the Mint Director had called back and said that the mint mark would be by the back shoulder, and that they were going to use a "P" for the Philadelphia strikes! I got the impression that this was a complete surprise to the Mint Director, and I have always wondered if my question somehow caused the Mint Director to get involved in the mint mark issue and order the use of the P mint mark.
TD
Possibly, although my understanding is the Ike Dollar was produced primarily for the Nevada gaming industry as silver dollars disappeared from circulation.
Bad politics seems to keep the dollar coin from succeeding, we only need to look to Canada and Europe to see that eliminating (or not producing) the $1 bill or 1 Euro bill works.
The UK 1 pound coin circulates effectively as well, as there is no 1 pound note anymore.
Thanks for posting this, @Zoins ! I've been looking for a signed Frank Gasparro piece, and I am now the proud owner of the one you posted.
We must have some old till drawers then. We normally use the the "sixth" space for paper clips and "odd" denominations (.50 and dollar coins).
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Ever since the first dollar coins were made in the US nobody has liked to use them. They were never popular for commerce. Same thing with the $2 notes. The SBA was doomed more because it got easily confused with quarters thou. I remember as a kid getting what was supposed to be 80 cents in change and instead it was $3.05 cents.
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Awesome! I really love this piece but it's not part of my core collecting focus now and I need some discipline. I'm glad you got it! It's really special!
That's true, but I consider it a bit of a failure to be replaced by a dollar with a different size.
The UK has circulating £1 and £2 coins that both circulate. The £2 is worth US $2.75!
Thanks for the heads-up !
Notice the promotion of the size? So proud to unveil the MINI-DOLLAR!
I bought a roll of dollars last week just for kicks...found just one SBA, and a mix of Sacagawea and the edge lettered Native Americans and some not so pretty Presidential coins. The interest level in all of these is pretty low, and I can see why. No junk silver to discover, most of the President coins were not released for circulation, Sacagaweas weren't even consistent as a series...it's all like one mini-dollar experiment.
Good article by Lianna:
https://coinweek.com/modern-coins/the-story-behind-the-susan-b-anthony-dollar/
Here's just the first two paragraphs:
If PCGS offered a First Strike label for these, how many would come off these press release announcements?
The Seated Dollars were issued for more years than these, and all of these were discontinued.... The Morgan was discontinued for over 15 years before 1921. The Peace was the end of the line for dollars for decades and didn't liast 15 years. The Ike was the end of the line for large dollars and didn't last 10 years.
A large dollar isn't the right form factor any more.
The UK pound coin is the diameter of a nickel but bimetallic and thicker.
It seems not enough people care enough to bring back Lady Liberty on circulating coins. There was a House bill to do this a few years ago. Not a single person on the forums indicated they contacted their representative on this. It's not surprising Lady Liberty cannot come back if even coin collectors won't get behind it!
Does Lady Liberty Have a Better Chance Now?
Cool piece! Thanks for sharing