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QDB: "Appreciating the Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979 to 1981 and 1999)"

GoldbullyGoldbully Posts: 16,823 ✭✭✭✭✭

I respect the man, but I'm not sure I can appreciate this issue.

What are your thoughts?



Appreciating the Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979 to 1981 and 1999)

April 7, 2021 By Q. David Bowers


The Susan B. Anthony dollars, designed by Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro, are interesting, collectible, and inexpensive. When I assembled my set several years ago these were easy to find with a nice appearance and in high grade. If modern dollars appeal to you, building a set of these dollars is a good way to go. While some people want MS-70 and Proof-70 in certified holders, some of which are expensive, you will be pleased with just about any brilliant Proof, as nearly all are Gems. Mint State coins take a bit more care, but MS-65 and MS-66 are inexpensive and can be hand-picked for beauty.


Article continues in link.

http://news.coinupdate.com/appreciating-the-susan-b-anthony-dollar-1979-to-1981-and-1999/

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Comments

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have a 'quantity' of these (15-20), not sure why.... I really do not care for the coin. I put these aside when they first came out and there they sit. Cheers, RickO

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 7, 2021 7:14AM

    There's a nicely toned one that's posted by @bolivarshagnasty I believe. Hopefully it can be posted it to this thread :)

  • CuprinkorCuprinkor Posts: 199 ✭✭✭

    A pleasing MS66 example of the1981-S mint set issue is really tough to find.
    The usual 81-S has dull, drab luster and contact marks (scrapes in Susie's hair) and is generally ugly overall. PCGS has graded only three in MS67 after thirty-five years of looking at coins.

  • MidLifeCrisisMidLifeCrisis Posts: 10,504 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I would happily own this one:
    .

  • MilesWaitsMilesWaits Posts: 5,301 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I appreciate this dollar for use in tips to car wash attendants and deserving and appreciative others: “what the hell are these?!”, along with the Sacajawea and Ike’s.

    Now riding the swell in PM's and surf.
  • MeltdownMeltdown Posts: 8,650 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wow, that is creepy cool. Is that for real?

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @keets said:
    the SBA's are a short series with a couple of interesting varieties. like their predecessor, the Eisenhower Dollar, they are common through MS64 but get progressively more difficult in higher grades. at MS66 and above for the Mint State issues they can be elusive and expensive. I'm putting together a toned set in PCGS holders and have seven of the 18 coins.


    Nice set @keets! For only 4 years, I'm surprised there are 18 coins to collect.

  • keetskeets Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭

    the Eisenhower Set is even more daunting, eight years and I think a 31 coin set.

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 7, 2021 8:17AM

    I have 3 but no photos.

    1 broadstruck
    2 missing clad layer

  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,499 ✭✭✭✭✭

    When the Ike dollar came out I got a couple of rolls of them and spent them and people were surprised but generally happy to see them.

    When the SBA dollar came out I got a couple of rolls and spent them and people were generally leery of them.

    Then I spent one as a quarter, knowing that I had them in my pocket change. I knew at that point that they were doomed.

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 7, 2021 9:36PM

    The SBA was too much like the quarter in size and look.

    The UK 1 pound coin is like 2x the thickness of a smaller coin. The UK 2 pound coin circulates a lot as well.

    The main reason the dollar coin hasn’t been successful now is regional politics that leads to continued issuance of the paper dollar.

  • TurtleCatTurtleCat Posts: 4,589 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’m sure some will appreciate the series for one of many possible reasons. For myself, I just can’t get into them. There’s nothing artistically appealing or sentimental to me. I have one in my 20th century type set and that’s plenty :)

  • messydeskmessydesk Posts: 19,642 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Zoins said:
    The SBA was too much like the quarter in size and look.

    It is, but the nickel and quarter are nearly as similar in diameter, currently the same metal, and much closer in weight. Would a plain edge have made the SBA a bigger success (or a lesser flop) and put any pressure on retiring the $1 note? Had it lasted another few years, there would have been a lot more inertia behind it, especially in the vending industry. $1 bill readers were very fickle on these machines back then, where they existed at all.

  • BuffaloIronTailBuffaloIronTail Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Susi gets a bad rap. A lot of individuals forget that, according to the Red Book:

    "The first time that a woman, other than a model or a mythical figure had appeared on a circulating U.S. coin".

    I like the 1999-P Philly made proof. Kinda an unusual issue.

    Pete

    "I tell them there's no problems.....only solutions" - John Lennon
  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,499 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @messydesk said:

    @Zoins said:
    The SBA was too much like the quarter in size and look.

    It is, but the nickel and quarter are nearly as similar in diameter, currently the same metal, and much closer in weight. Would a plain edge have made the SBA a bigger success (or a lesser flop) and put any pressure on retiring the $1 note? Had it lasted another few years, there would have been a lot more inertia behind it, especially in the vending industry. $1 bill readers were very fickle on these machines back then, where they existed at all.

    The small dollar coin needed a very distinctive design. Look at the SBA and a 1979 Quarter. Head, LIBERTY above, date below, IN GOD WE TRUST in the field. Imagine if it had had the U.S.S. Constitution on it, or a Saturn 5 rocket, or SOMETHING different than the quarter dollar format. And once it failed it poisoned the well for future small dollar coinage.

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • oih82w8oih82w8 Posts: 11,867 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I did not care for the design or concept at the time, but I do have one in my collection;

    1979-P SBA Near Date / Wide Rim PCGS MS66

    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

    BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug...
  • raysrays Posts: 2,327 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The reason these are relatively inexpensive is that almost no one wants them.

  • raysrays Posts: 2,327 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Same reason CN three cent pieces will never be priced fair value to their rarity.

  • 1northcoin1northcoin Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @keets said:
    the SBA's are a short series with a couple of interesting varieties. like their predecessor, the Eisenhower Dollar, they are common through MS64 but get progressively more difficult in higher grades. at MS66 and above for the Mint State issues they can be elusive and expensive. I'm putting together a toned set in PCGS holders and have seven of the 18 coins.


    The toning really suits the subject. It adds a period patina that just looks timely and nicely enhances an otherwise lackluster depiction.

  • JimnightJimnight Posts: 10,765 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I don't care for the Susan B. Anthony dollar ... however I really like the error shown of this coin by @messydesk

  • ernie11ernie11 Posts: 1,899 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 7, 2021 12:55PM

    I thought these no longer circulated, but a friend brought me a 1999-P he got in his workplace vending machine last week. I have a full set of Susie's, with the exception of the 1981-S Type II.

    It's true that its similar size to the quarter doomed its chances for circulating, but that's giving it too bad a rap. The Eisenhower and the Sacajawea and the Presidents series all met the same fate - no matter what size or color the Mint makes them, they don't circulate. I seriously hope that dollar series are finally dumped after the current Innovation series.

  • BryceMBryceM Posts: 11,721 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If they stop making the $1 and $5 bills the $1 and $5 coins will circulate. :)

    That’s what they should do, along with eliminating the nickel and cent.

  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 31,499 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Time for Hollywood to remake “Cleopatra.” I nominate George Clooney to play the role of Caesar. Who do you nominate to play the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton roles?

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • MidLifeCrisisMidLifeCrisis Posts: 10,504 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CaptHenway said:
    Time for Hollywood to remake “Cleopatra.” I nominate George Clooney to play the role of Caesar. Who do you nominate to play the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton roles?

    Brangelina

  • element159element159 Posts: 493 ✭✭✭

    @WillieBoyd2 said:
    Susan B. Anthony is older than she looks.

    image

    Two thousand years ago she was a Queen of Egypt, her beauty was celebrated throughout the world, and she had a lover named Antony.

    :)

    Her charm was world renowned, she was the richest person in the world, so could have any jewelry she wanted, and supposedly liked to wear live snakes as bracelets! My kind of lady. :)

    image
  • WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,034 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 7, 2021 2:52PM

    image

    :)

    https://www.brianrxm.com
    The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
    Coins in Movies
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  • YoloBagelsYoloBagels Posts: 151 ✭✭✭

    @WillieBoyd2 said:
    Susan B. Anthony is older than she looks.

    image

    Two thousand years ago she was a Queen of Egypt, her beauty was celebrated throughout the world, and she had a lover named Antony.

    :)

    She then went on to be a relative to multiple Roman emperors and pull political strings behind the empire.

  • CryptoCrypto Posts: 3,368 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I remember them from my youth, I gave my son a set a few years ago and he traded them for Pokémon cards :(

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @messydesk said:

    @Zoins said:
    The SBA was too much like the quarter in size and look.

    It is, but the nickel and quarter are nearly as similar in diameter, currently the same metal, and much closer in weight. Would a plain edge have made the SBA a bigger success (or a lesser flop) and put any pressure on retiring the $1 note?

    We may never know but I’ve never heard of people mistaking a nickel for a quarter and vice versa but I have known people to mistake a SBA for a quarter in commerce.

  • 1northcoin1northcoin Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 7, 2021 9:56PM

    @BryceM said:
    If they stop making the $1 and $5 bills the $1 and $5 coins will circulate. :)

    That’s what they should do, along with eliminating the nickel and cent.

    In effect that is what Japan did with the 500 yen note which would be most equivalent to our $5 bill. Now when I travel in Japan my pockets are weighed down with heavy coins and it is a real nuisance. They have long since had a 100 yen note so basically everything is coins for 500 yen and less.

  • daltexdaltex Posts: 3,477 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Zoins said:
    The SBA was too much like the quarter in size and look.

    The UK 1 pound coin is like 2x the thickness of a smaller coin. The UK 2 pound coin circulates a lot as well.

    The main reason the dollar coin hasn’t been successful now is regional politics that leads to continued issuance of the paper dollar.

    I don't believe this at all. If there is truth to it, why did so many Morgans never circulate? Surely no one wanted paper dollars in the 1870s.

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 7, 2021 10:26PM

    @daltex said:

    @Zoins said:
    The SBA was too much like the quarter in size and look.

    The UK 1 pound coin is like 2x the thickness of a smaller coin. The UK 2 pound coin circulates a lot as well.

    The main reason the dollar coin hasn’t been successful now is regional politics that leads to continued issuance of the paper dollar.

    I don't believe this at all. If there is truth to it, why did so many Morgans never circulate? Surely no one wanted paper dollars in the 1870s.

    Many Morgans never circulated because many were not meant to circulated but created due to graft, more commonly known as pork today. It was a political gift, with many struck never intended for commerce.

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