Why We Like IKE DOLLARS

COLLECTING EISENHOWER DOLLARS FOR FUN & PROFIT

- BY JOSHUA MCMORROW-HERNANDEZ

The Eisenhower dollar debuted in 1971. COURTESY PROFESSIONAL COIN GRADING SERVICE

The largest clad coin ever struck for circulation by the United States Mint may also be one of the biggest things among collectors of modern American coins. The Eisenhower dollar had a relatively short run, being produced from 1971 through 1978. Yet, in the nearly 50 years since the coin's retirement, the Ike dollar has enjoyed something of a numismatic renaissance, especially among collectors of more contemporary coinage.

Eisenhower dollars aren't just novelties for newbies to pursue. They're numismatically rewarding coins with opportunities for collectors with virtually any budget or level of experience. The series boasts a multitude of varieties. And, perhaps surprisingly to some folks, every copper-nickel clad business strike is conditionally rare in superb-gem uncirculated grades. They're also a coin with a story.

LAST OF ITS KIND

The death of World War II general and two-term president Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 28, 1969, at the age of 78 spurred legislators to honor the decorated war hero and popular postwar commander-in-chief on a dollar coin. As some argued, honoring the fallen Republican icon on the dollar would constitute “equal time.” After all, President John F. Kennedy was placed on the half dollar in 1964, just after the popular Democratic commander-in-chief was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, at the age of 46.

President Richard M. Nixon, who served as Eisenhower's vice president, signed the Ike dollar into law on December 31, 1970. This paved the way for the first circulating U.S. dollar coin since the Peace dollar in 1935. The Ike dollar also went on to become the nation's last circulating large-sized dollar coin.