Eisenhower Dollar Prototype Listing

Original Heritage Auction listing

https://coins.ha.com/itm/proof-eisenhower-dollars/1971-s-1-eisenhower-dollar-prototype-specimen-67-pcgs-r8/a/1341-4650.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

@Survivor50 said:
What was the price realized at the original Heritage auction? Is it possible there are additional examples to the three known? @19Lyds is there a published story with additional information of your original discovery? I would be interested in what led you to discovering this coin.

As for what led me to discovery the coin?
Simple. I was looking for a 1971-S Uncirculated 40% Silver IKE with a Type 2 Reverse.
As you may or may not known the Type 2 reverse (as appears on the 71-S Proof Coin, does not have island raised above the surface of the coin but instead have merely the outlines of 3 Islands off the coast if a Florida that is shaped like a tornado.
Given my lack of louping expertise, I could see that this coin was of a very high grade and I thought I'd scored. Well getting under a stero scope showed a reverse I'd never seen before.
It was total luck.

@Byers said:

@RedRocket said:

@Byers said:

@TomB said:
I think it's the same coin and now has a Judd number added to the cert. It was also probably sent in for regrade when the Judd number was added.

Same coin

@Byers Please tell us more about this if you have any insider information regarding this coin.
A truly fascinating dollar.

No insider information.

I helped promote the sale when Heritage auctioned it. And studied it.

It’s the same coin. Subtle marks and spots match up.

Thank You Mike.

@Floridafacelifter said:

I find it hard to believe that it's been 18 years since I came across this coin at a Long Beach Show. Probably because I remember it like it was yesterday

In those 18 years how many Ike’s do you figure you have searched looking for another one?

My friend @FlyingAl and I have independently found several 1921 Satin Peace $ proofs in business strike holders and got them certified as proof but I’ve looked at a LOT of 1921 Peace Dollars

Oh Man! You just had to ask that question!

Sadly I missed an auction on ebay that clearly showed the Prototype reverse but somebody else picked it up for only a couple of hundred.
That failue on my part, also gets added to the eBay Auction of the 1971-S Proof coin listed on ebay that had a Type 1 reverse! Andy O. picked that one up for a couple of hundred as well.

Now, One needs to ask, "Why have important coins such as this gone unseen or unidentified for nearly 5 or 6 decades?"
The answer is simple.
The US Mint advertised the Eisenhower Dollar as a Silver Dollar even though the coins made for the public were CnClad. No Matter.
For Collectors of Proofs and Uncirculated coin, it was a different story. The 40% Silver Uncirculated coin sold for $3.00. The 40% Silver Proof Coin sold for $10.
Many Dealers jumped on that Proof coin and literally lost their butts. Come to think of it even in 1980 when Silver Jumped to $50 and ounce, the coins STILL weren't worth $10 plus shipping in Silver Content.
As such interest quickly waned in the coin between 1971 and 1972 because there wasn't any money to be made. Couple that with a low mintage on the 1973-S 40% Silver Proof and dealers lost even more money. While the coin sold from the mint for $10 prices soared to over $250 on the after market because of that low mintage. That one fell off the interest scale when the BiCentennial Coins came out and literally FLOODED the Market with 40% Silver Unc and Proof coin sets. The US Mint made so many of them that they were still selling then at the turn of the century. (1998-1999 I think)

So, anyway, the Coin was no Peace Dollar and it sure as heck wasn't a Silver Dollar. The general public liked them but it was rare to ever encounter them in the wild because a Dollar Coin has never, ever been widely used in circulating coinage. The reason behind that is the Paper Buck. Had the Treasury Department ended the Paper buck then the Eisenhower Dollar would have been widely circulated.
As it sits right now, today, there are mint sewn bags of IKEs of all years and mints, sitting in Federal Reserve Vaults just gathering dust. Like Half Dollars, Retail Outlets have no interest in keeping them around or even using them. When somebody spends them, they either end up in somebody's dresser drawer or they get sent back to the bank who then returns them to the Federal Reserve bank when they accumulate enough.

Remember, when these coins were 1st Issued, not a whole lot of people could afford to buy and keep a $20 roll of coins much less order a $1,000 bag from the bank. So, the coin was discontinued in 1978 and replaced with yet another failure the Susan B Anthony until 1981 when that one was discontinued.

All Because the US Treasury, in their infinite stupidity and a strong coin machine lobby, refused to get rid of the Paper Dollar!