Q. David Bowers
There are just nine major date and mintmark varieties of the Eisenhower dollar, with the Philadel-phia coins having mintmarks: 1979-P-D-S, 1980-P-DS, and 1981-P-D-S.
This basic list of nine can be expanded by includ-ing two varieties of the 1979-P: Narrow Rim and Wide Rim; and by two varieties of the 1979-S Proof: the Filled S, properly called the Worn S Punch; (the variety usually seen), and the more elusive Clear S-admittedly a very minor distinction, but among modern coins, minor differences are what count.
Add these, and the total for a set is 11 coins.
The San Francisco coins, minted in 1979, 1980, 1981, can be collected in both business strike and Proof versions. In the context of modern issues, the business strike 1981-P, 1981-D, and 1981-S are of low mintages; ranging from 3 million to 3.4 million. They will never be rare in our time. However, the low mintages are interesting to contemplate and will undoubtedly affect future values.
As of the early 1990s, hundreds of millions of Susan B. Anthony dollars are readily available at face value for anyone requesting same. Perhaps in some future year, numismatists will marvel that in the early 1990s one was able to buy a trio of 1979 P, D, and S Anthony dollars at face value. Ina way, this is a repetition of the Morgan dollar situation of years ago. In the 1950s, when Uncirculated Morgan dollars were available in virtually unlimited quantities from banks, hardly anyone cared. Today, few people care about Anthony dollars.
However, one firm that has made a specialty of them is the Littleton Coin Company of Littleton, New Hampshire, which has hand-picked sets and placed .them in holders, marketing them for just slightly over face value, as an introduction to coin collecting. David Sundman, president of the firm, reports that these have been very popular=and well they should be, for they certainly have an interesting story.
David Sundman furnished a bag of 2,000 Anthony dollars for our study. An approximate distri-bution was found to be as follows.(Grading done by Frank Van Valen.)
MS-60 to, 63: 1,200 pieces (60% of the bag). These have many bagmarks, which may reflect over a decade of storage and handling.
MS-64: 500 pieces (25%). Attractive, with nice surfaces.
MS-65: 300 pieces (15%). Very attractive, with few marks.
The formation of a complete Susan B. Anthony dollar set is an interesting pursuit requiring little effort, and yielding in my opinion one of the more attractive issues of our time, and certainly one of the most historical.
Notes Concerning Market Values
On the following pages, historical market prices are given for Anthony dollars. For the years 1986 to date, the Mint State and Proof categories are divided into gradations. The prices listed are highly empirical as the market did not make fine distinctions in the values of coins between, for example, MS-63 and MS-64.
The time may not be too distant when the market place will have finite pricing distinctions for small grading differences, especially if certification of An-thony dollars becomes popular.