Eisenhower Dollar Proof Sets - 1973 to 1978

The Dollar denominated coins included in U.S. proof sets came up at a gathering of collectors that I attended last week. I was surprised most did not remember the Silver Dollar Proof sets of the 1970's and 1980's. Dollar coins in proof sets were reintroduced when the US Mint debuted the Sacagawea Dollar in 2000 and then added the Presidential Dollars when they were released in 2007. Today's 2015 Proof Set has both series... including a total of five golden dollars. But there was also a short period of time, over 25 years ago, that a dollar was actually considered a normal part of the proof set!

The Eisenhower Dollar was introduced in 1971 but was not included in the yearly U.S. Mint proof set until 1973. The Eisenhower Proof Dollar were unique because they were the last "full-size" (38.1 mm) dollar the U.S. Mint included in proof sets while also being the first dollar denomination since the production of the Peace Dollar halted in 1935. The Eisenhower's large size actually ended up being the trait that sealed the coin's demise, due to the fact that it had to compete with the convenience of lightweight Dollar Bills. The extremely important but short lived series lasted for only 6 years, ending in 1978.

For the Bicentennial celebration the US Mint released the special designs for the quarter, half dollar, and dollar. These dual dated coins (1776-1976) were included in the 1975 and 1976 sets. Did you know they changed the design on the Eisenhower Dollar in 1976? The 1975 release (known as Variety 1) is in low relief - bold lettering on the reverse of the coin. The 1976 release (known as variety 2) is a sharper design with delicate lettering. The easiest place to see the difference is the words "United States of America" across the top of the coin. So the quarter and the half dollar may be the same coin in two sets...but the Eisenhower dollars are unique.