What is a SBA dollar 1979-P "Near Date"?

Russ

Looking at some leftovers here that include some SBAs, and a couple of the '79-P's are labeled "Near Date". What the heck is that?

Oh, and why does the pop report for this coin say this?



<< <i>Susan B. Anthony Dollars (1971-Present) >>



When they weren't minted until 1979?

Russ, NCNE

Flash

Near date = Wide rim
Far date = Narrow rim

Russ

Thanks! I did notice a Wide Rim listed in the pop report.

Russ, NCNE

greghansen

They're illustrated on page 193 of the 2003 redbook.

cladking

The near date '79-P's were stuck early in the year and account for a small fraction
of the mintage. These do not appear in the regular mint set or the regular souvenir
mint set. They are occasionally seen in the 3-Pc SBA souvenir mint set of 1979.

They were discovered early on so there were adequate numbers saved, but they can
be tough in choice condition.

Rampage

Russ-

Will the Near Date/Wide Rims be your next coin to conquer?

Richard.

wayneherndon

Click here for pictures, etc.

WH

Russ

Wayne,

Cool page, thanks.

Russ, NCNE

richbeat

Everything I've read about them says that they were struck late in 1979, rather than early in the year. That would make more sense because all 1980's and 1981's are near dates. Did some new information come to light that I don't know about?

supercoin

It was also my impression that the near-date/wide-rim coins were struck later, not earlier.

But there isn't (to my knowledge) a definitive work on the series yet, and some of the information out there is wrong... for example, Breen's mintage figures on near-date/wide-rim coins is way too high in my opinion.

cladking

<< <i>Everything I've read about them says that they were struck late in 1979, rather than early in the year. That would make more sense because all 1980's and 1981's are near dates. Did some new information come to light that I don't know about? >>



I could be wrong as I'm going primarily from memory rather than first hand information.

Your point certainly makes sense.

MacCoin

the near date wide rim is pretty common you can pick one up at almost any coin shop for about $10.00 for a BU
I think supercoin is right the early coin was a narrow rim, in 99 the rim was modified even wider.

wallstreetman

MacCoin, it wasnt that long ago that you could get one for $5, they seem to be doubling in price everytime I turn around! I bought a bunch of these at $3.50 each a few years ago, one of the best investments Ive ever made!

sinin1

I was going to ask this very question tonjght but found it already when I did a search


thanks Russ and Wayne for your link to your web site showing very good pictures and descriptions

MrSpud

What I'd like to know is why does Coin Values magazine list a MS-65 as $100 when most other sources list it as worth about $10?

Rampage

<< <i>What I'd like to know is why does Coin Values magazine list a MS-65 as $100 when most other sources list it as worth about $10? >>



I have not seen any sources listing the Wide Rim at $10.00 in MS65. What sources are you using? The Coin Values magazine is about right, although I sold my last five on eBay for BINs of $85.00 each. All were sold the first time listed.

I have seen MS65s sell for up to $150.00 and for as litle as $50.00. They are kind of hit and miss. I suspect the actual value to be somewhere in the middle, or $100.00.

MrSpud

Ok, so the Coin Values price for a MS65 is accurate and not a Typo like I thought it might be. I saw raw ones on E-bay that looked like MS63's or so going for about $10. Also, the redbook lists a MS63 as being worth $11. I guess there is a really big jump between the price of a 63 and a 65 for these.

I was looking them up because my Mother-in-law brought down a bunch of interesting coins for me when she came to visit last week. She owns a bakery and put interesting coins aside for me and MrsSpud when she found out we were collecting. She brought a bunch of SBA's and there were 2 near dates that look to be low grade Uncirculated. She got all excited when I showed her the Coin Values price .

By the way, she also brought down an uncirculated roll of 1964 Quarters that someone bought some baked goods with, several other circulated silver Washingtons and a couple of Mercury dimes, almost a roll of Buffalo nickels, a couple of 40% Kennedys, some Atheist $1 bills and some Silver Certificates, $2 bills and a 1934 $20 bill. It was lots of fun going through them

SilverHaze

1979-P Wide and Narrow Rim: These varieties are sometimes refered to as "Far Date" and "Near Date". This is actually inaccurate as the date was not moved, but instead the border was widened. The Mint began striking the 1979-P SBA Dollars with the "narrow rim". Late in 1979 the border was widened to give the coin a more aesthetic appearance. The "narrow rim" variety is found on all 1979 dollars from all of the mints. The 1979 "wide rim" variety can only be found on the "P" mint issues. The "wide rim" variety was used for the remainder of the series. The Wide Rim variety is pricy in higher grades because most of them were released into circulation prior to recognition. According to information provided by George E. Hunter, the Assistant Director of Technology for the U.S. Mint at the time, there were 643 "wide rim" dies used at the Philadelphia Mint in 1979. With an estimated 250,000 strikes per die, that would give a mintage of 160,750,000 1979-P "Wide Rim" Susan B. Anthony Dollars, or nearly 45% of all 1979-P Anthony Dollars minted. <> Hope this helps, Russ!

Conder101

<< <i>1979-P Wide and Narrow Rim: These varieties are sometimes refered to as "Far Date" and "Near Date". This is actually inaccurate as the date was not moved, but instead the border was widened. >>


But near and far date are better descriptive terms becaus on the near date the date is actually nearer to the rim. Calling them wide and narrow rim is a problem because the width of the rim is not a good tool to identify the variety. The width of the rim is also a function of the alignment of the obverse die. If the die is not centered in the collar and is placed too far "south" the rim below the date will be narrow. I have seen "wide" rim coins with rims that were narrower than the "narrow" rim coins.

DRG

No one knows the actual mintage of the "Near Date" 1979 P SBA coins. It may be that the vast majority were sent to South America (where reportedly SBA’s actually circulate and have been forged). It may be that they are still at the mint (although the mint had to make more SBA's in 1999 because they had run out and were not yet ready to make the Sac's).

One thing is for sure, the vast majority of 1979 P SBA's that are found are the Far Date/Narrow Rim variety.

I have never found an original bag or roll of all Wide Rim coins. They have always been mixed in with their Narrow Rim counterparts. This is interesting in that it has always been reported that the mint changed at some point and started making Wide Rim coins. If that were the case you would expect to find some pure rolls and bags.

In the bags of 2,000 and 100 that the mint used to sell there would occasionally be one or two Wide Rims, but I never found more then a couple at a time. The best I ever did was with a bank bag of $1,000, about 300 were WR's!!! Not bad for $1,600!

The point is that they seem to show up like other variety coins were a couple of dies were used at the same time as the regular die so that the coins come from the mint mixed together.