Hello Silver & Gold stackers! This week another US coin. An Ike dollar — silver version!

I'll give some basic coin stats, then we'll look at both sides, and then I'll give some more general info!

Sound fun? Let's go!

Stats

Some basic coin stats for you:

• Weight: 24.59 g
• Diameter: 38 mm
• Edge: reeded

and most importantly, it's 40% silver, so that means about 9.8 grams of silver. Woohoo silver!

Let's look at the coin a little more.

Front Side

An almost bald President Eisenhower (Ike). Actually there is hair there, but it's tough to see, making him look bald. Not much else here. "Liberty", "In God we trust" and that's it.

Back Side

This side is much nicer. The image is based on the Apollo 11 mission insignia. You have an eagle hovering over the moon with the earth in the background.

About

The Ike dollar was issued in 1971, making it the first dollar coin since the Peace dollar ended in 1935. Unfortunately the public had gotten used to not having a dollar coin so this one never caught on except in casinos. Actually, according to Wikipedia the silver dollar had never been popular except out West, which I suppose may have been one reason nothing came after the Peace dollar. Well... that destroys my image of old timey people using silver dollars for everything.

At any rate, they made the Ike dollar using base metal, but did mint a bunch of them with 40% silver for collectors. This is one of the 40% versions.

Overall

I always liked the Ike dollar. When I was in college I'd cash my paycheck in the local bank each week and always ask for as many dollar coins (or $2 bills) as they had. Then I'd go do my weekly spending with the dollar coins (and/or $2 bills) and enjoy the confused cashiers everywhere, many of whom had never seen any of this kind of money.

I remember once the bank had an entire bag of Ike dollars, so I got most of my paycheck in them. I had fun spreading those around the city. I brought some with me when I moved to Japan and gave them away to various Japanese folks over the years.

Part of me wishes I had saved them because I've heard they have become much rarer over the years, but oh well. They aren't silver, so are good for spending. Though to be honest, I never checked the ones I spent to see if any silver versions had been mixed in. Hmmm. It's too late to worry about that now!

It's a nice size for a coin, nearly the same size as an old silver dollar. I don't have any Peace dollars, but I do have a Morgan dollar. Here you can see them compared:

All in all, it's a cool coin. Probably not too good for silver stacking. This coin may cost you more than one of the 90% junk silver half-dollars and those half-dollars will get you more silver (11.3g vs 9.8g), because it's more of a collector's piece. But this is a neat coin to have at least one of.

❦

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.