Why is there a dollar bill as the first photo in a post about coins? Because I suspect this is all most Americans of the United States persuasion think of when they hear the word, "dollar." This post is inspired by comments made by readers of my previous installment.
If you look at the serial number, you will note (pun intended) that this is in fact a star dollar. This particular note is not especially rare and is quite worn, so I doubt it has significant value to collectors, but it is a curiosity.
Once upon a time, the dollar was defined as a specific quantity of silver, and silver dollars were minted as a common coin. The saying, "another day, another dollar" originated when a dollar was a common day's wages for many jobs back before inflation devalued the money to the point where it is now.
Left to right: a 1921 Morgan dollar, a 1922 Peace dollar, and a 1978 Eisenhower dollar.
Note that the two silver dollars represent the respective last and first years for their designs. These are circulated coins and have no collector value to speak of. Coin shops sell these as "junk silver" at about the spot price for silver bullion, so you could probably find coins like these for yourself without breaking the bank.
The Eisenhower dollar is not silver, but the cupronickel size was kept to match the old 90% silver designs. "Ike" dollars were minted from 1971-1978, so the one pictured above was from the last year. Have a look at the back halves of these coins below.
The 1976 dollars, like the Kennedy half-dollars and Washington quarters, had a special bicentennial edition with a special reverse design and the date written on the obverse as 1776-1976. I also have a pair of those on hand, so they are pictured below.
Some Ikes were minted as collector coins at 80% silver in some years, but I doubt any are in circulation anywhere, as thebcommon versions of this coin are already almost never seen. Half-dollars are downright common in comparison.
The Ike dollars were replaced with smaller cuporonickel Susan B. Anthony dollar coins minted from 1979-1981, and then revived in 1999 prior to the launch of the Sacagawea manganese brass "golden"dollars in 2000. I have seen these in the wild from time to time, but they are still rarely encountered. I have a couple commemorative coin sets I was suckered into buying that include these dollar coins in "24 karat gold plating." Big whooptie-doo. Here are some pictures.
The Sacagawea dollars were minted from 2000-2008, and then redesigned slightly with edge printing and new obverse designs in 2009. They continue to be minted to the present as I write this.
In 2007, the US Mint supplemented the statehood quarter program with a series of presidential dollars. It was a flop. The last few years of the series were only produced for collectors. Dollar coins have never been very popular after they ceased to be silver. Our neighbors to the north embraced their Loonies and Toonies, but stateside the paper dollar reigns supreme in the minds of the public. The market has spoken, but the bureaucrats persist nonetheless.
Tell your own tales in the comment below! If you are outside the US, how much do coins in larger denominations dominate? What coins are minted but not in common use?
