Why no silver Ikes in 1977 and 1978?

Overdate

The "blue" uncirculated and "brown" proof silver Ike dollars were annual Mint offerings from 1971 to 1974. Then gazillions of silver Ikes were struck with the Bicentennial reverse in 1975 and 1976, and they continued to be available from the Mint for some time thereafter. Once the Bicentennial year ended and the normal reverse design was resumed, no further silver Ikes were struck. Was this mandated by legislation or did Mint officials decide to discontinue these coins on their own?

CaptHenway

That is an excellent question and I have no idea why. The Mint was still trying to sell the silver Bicentennial sets (until 1982!), so maybe they didn't want competition from new dates.

Cam40

Maybe the over-all interest in Ikes just dissolved like Alka-Seltzer in water by that point?

Bochiman

Depleted their stock of silver for coins?

astrorat

Yeah ... that is a good question! Sorry I don't know the answer ... nor had I ever thought about it, but still an interesting question.

SaorAlba

There are reports of a very few 40% 1977s that were inadvertently struck and slipped out.

ricko

If congress did not authorize the silver coins, they would not be minted. Cheers, RickO

LanceNewmanOCC

.
i recall something about a thread like this but am not sure if it was kennedy and/or ike. for sure someone(s) asked about the discontinuation of silver types well after 64. if you feel like diggin' that is.
.

thebeav

It seems to me that interest in the silver issues was already dying off shortly after their invention. Resulting in lower mintages for '73 and '74. The mint buried themselves in 76's, cooking up way more than they could sell, resulting in them re-offering them years later. After 1976, they probably just figured that this issue, in silver, was not profitable enough.

CaptHenway

<< <i>There are reports of a very few 40% 1977s that were inadvertently struck and slipped out. >>



You may be thinking of the error 1977-D 40% silver dollars that were struck on some planchets that were shipped to Denver from San Francisco mixed in with copper-nickel clad blanks that had been rejected for the Proof coin strikes.

johnny9434

<< <i>There are reports of a very few 40% 1977s that were inadvertently struck and slipped out. >>

i dont think will see them though. its kinda like the 1933 double eagles now, whos going to tip their hand?

19Lyds

<< <i>That is an excellent question and I have no idea why. The Mint was still trying to sell the silver Bicentennial sets (until 1982!), so maybe they didn't want competition from new dates. >>

This may very well be true but I expect the real reason was that interest had been lost in the Eisenhower Dollar from collectors by 1977.

It just didn't make any sense to produce something that wouldn't turn a profit.

Too Bad though...............

19Lyds

<< <i>

<< <i>There are reports of a very few 40% 1977s that were inadvertently struck and slipped out. >>

i dont think will see them though. its kinda like the 1933 double eagles now, whos going to tip their hand? >>

Heritage has sold a few

Another in 2004.

Overdate

<< <i> I expect the real reason was that interest had been lost in the Eisenhower Dollar from collectors by 1977. >>


As I recall, there was quite a bit of early interest in the 1977 Philadelphia Ike, as not many were struck during the first several months of the year. Prices reached close to $10 per coin until a significant number were released later in 1977.