Assembling a Set of Eisenhower Dollars

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by CamaroDMD, Jul 20, 2012.

  1. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    Thanks Ruben. Does the guy welcome you to the forum and shake your hand? What's so friendly about the little bugger? :)
     
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  3. CamaroDMD

    CamaroDMD [Insert Clever Title] Supporter

    I know these coins have become extremely popular with a specific group of collectors and they have really documented die varieties nicely. So, my understanding is there are many varieties if you want to collect them. I personally am only interested in assembling a fairly basic set. That said, the 1971-D FEV is probably a good fit for my set.
     
  4. CamaroDMD

    CamaroDMD [Insert Clever Title] Supporter

    This site has all the information about the variety. Basically, one of the die markers is the eagle doesn't have a brow line...which makes him appear more friendly.

    http://ikegroup.org/FEV.htm
     
  5. jaceravone

    jaceravone Member

    Friendly Eagle vs. Mean Eagle = one less eye brow.
     
  6. mrbrklyn

    mrbrklyn New Member

    It had to do with cold war politics actually

    http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/ikes.html
     
  7. CamaroDMD

    CamaroDMD [Insert Clever Title] Supporter

    OK...I was wrong. I dug out the coin tonight and it's not an FEV. What I have is a 1971-D Talon Head Variety. This is a die clash variety. Oh, well...it's still a nice piece.

    Does anyone know what Ike varieties that PCGS recognizes?
     
  8. mrbrklyn

    mrbrklyn New Member

    http://www.cointalk.com/t51006/

    I can't even find my photograph of my FEV Ikes and I have 3 of them! I'm going to have to pull them out and reshoot them all.
     
  9. mrbrklyn

    mrbrklyn New Member

    The initial minting of the Eisenhower Dollar breaks down to 3 basic groups and several varieties within these groups. The mint distributed a clad circulating version from Philadelphia and Denver and the Silver versions from San Francisco. The Philadelphia mintage was 47,799,000 coins and the Denver mintage was 68,587,424 coins. The odd number is not explained. San Fransico produced a shade less than 7 million silver circulated coins and about 4.26 million proofs. One of the major characteristics of the 1971 run was that the mint had to make minor alterations of the design for smooth production. This resulted in at least one major variety out of Denver called the Friendly Eagle Variety (FEV), many of which were actually struck on proof planchets which were excess from the west coast proof production.

    According to the research done by the Ike Group, it seems that the FEV variety was likely the first design intended for the standard strikes for all the clad Ikes and the silver uncirculated strikes. But after testing in Philedelphia, it was modified because of production problems. The Denver mint, however, started early, likely with spare older single chamber presses that most normally would be used for gold coinage production. To my knowledge, there was no standard gold coin production at the time so you can only imagine how anxious Denver must have been about the new cartwheel dollars and getting the coins to Las Vegas if they push these presses into action. With only the original FEV design available, they produced perhaps 500,000 1971-D FEVs and about 10% of those seem to be minted on proof planchets that were extras from the San Francisco Mint. There has also been a debate as to whether this Friendly Eagle Variety is a Variety or a pattern. The consensus is that it is a varity but you may find in the literature the coin referee to as FEP as well as FEV. Articles on the variety have been written in the coin press including July 2007issue of NUMISMATIST.
     
  10. Leadfoot

    Leadfoot there is no spoon

    When I put together a registry set of Ikes, I chose to collect in "top pop minus 1 grade". I could never justify paying the multiples that the top-pop coins fetched, and the thought being, if I chose really attractive examples of those coins, I should do OK. It remains to be seen if I accomplished that goal or not, but I do know I learned a lot through collecting Ikes.

    My advice: Look at as many coins as possible. Try and select good coins for the grade as there's quite a bit of variability within a grade, and some of your coins, even in 65, are going to be pricey.

    I think Ikes have a lot going for them, and being collectible at virtually any price levels is among them....Mike
     
  11. mrbrklyn

    mrbrklyn New Member

    I'm not spending 300 bucks on an Ike ... I don't care
     
  12. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    Neat thread you started here Richie........:)
     
  13. bkprewitt

    bkprewitt Member

    Sorry about using the acronym. I was responding on a mobile device at the time and thus attempting to keep it brief. As others have said, FEV means the "Friendly Eagle Variety" as is also known as "RDV-006" (meaning the sixth identified different Reverse Die Variety used on Ikes). Someone else in the thread included a link in their reply to the Ike Group page describing FEV and its diagnostics.

    From what I've read from the Ike Group, it appears that the 1971D FEV has an estimated mintage on the same order of magnitude as the the 1972 Type II, and the mintages may differ by about a factor of two from each other. So if the 1972 Type II is indeed the "King of Ikes" as some have called it, the FEV is the crown prince. For this reason, and because of the fact that it's bona fide die variety like the 1972 varieties and not a die-clash or die-state error, for me it belongs in a complete set of Ikes. Ultimately it's up to you what you define your set to be and there's no wrong answer, but that's how I define mine. The Red Book doesn't include it, so most people beyond the hard core Ike lovers leave it out.

    One advantage I have found from it not getting the respect it deserves is you can sometimes cherrypick them if you know what to look for. As I gleefully bragged in this post: http://www.cointalk.com/t208194/, I scored three in MS condition at a coin show recently for a total of $10. Raw, these are often selling between $20 - $35 on eBay. I imagine once Red Book includes it, or if Dansco ever adds a slot for it, they might become a lot harder to cherrypick, but may also go up in value if demand ticks up as a result.

    -Brian
     
  14. Morgandude11

    Morgandude11 As long as it's Silver, I'm listening

    I just got the Ike full series of 32 coins for the Dansco album. It arrives tomorrow, and after viewing a lot of pictures of it, I agree with the seller that the coins are high level gems. I'd say the average grade is around MS 65 and above--it is a very nice set at a reasonable price. I will take my own daylight close up pix and you can judge for yourself, Camaro. I do like IKES a lot, and think they have been a "sleeper" coin--one that is just beginning to come into its own popularity. Since the coins are readily obtained reasonably, I figured that getting a NICE set in a Dansco was a good start--that I'd replace any dates with which I was unhappy with regard to condition or eye appeal. So, I agree that what you are doing is interesting and will be a very attractive collection when you finish. :) :)
     
  15. 19Lyds

    19Lyds Member of the United States of Confusion

    Not enough IMO!

    1971-D Friendly Eagle Variety (RDV-006) This coin should never have gone through the CPG but should have been recognized on its own merits. It is the exact equivalent to the 1972 Type 2 which does not require the extra $24 for the attribution. (Coin Number 509951)
    1971-S Silver Business Strike PegLeg FS-401 (Coin Number 148405)
    1971-S Silver Business Strike RPM FS-501 (Coin Number 396477)
    1971-S Silver Prototype (Coin Number 509322) http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/CoinDetail.aspx?s=509322&x=33&y=10
    1972 Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 (Coin Numbers 87409, 97409 and 7409)
    1976 P&D Type 1 and Type 2 (Coin Numbers 7418, 7419, 7420, and 7421)

    1971-S Silver Proof Doubled Die Obv FS-103 (Coin Number 395911)
    1971-S Silver Proof Doubled Die Obv FS-106 (Coin Number 395916)
    1971-S Silver Proof Doubled Die Reverse DDR-005 FS-901 (Coin Number 510590)
    1972-S Silver Proof Doubled Die (Actually Tripled Die) FS-101 (Coin Number 396481)
    1973-S Silver Proof Doubled Die Obverse (Actually Tripled Die) FS-101 (Coin Number 396478)

    They NEED to recognize the 1974-S Silver Proof MMS-001 (Rare Mintmark)
     
  16. Irish2Ice

    Irish2Ice Member

    Lee,

    What about the 1971-S SPL Straight Peg Leg and 1971-D Tiger Claw.

    Both of these seem extremely elusive!
     
  17. 19Lyds

    19Lyds Member of the United States of Confusion

    The 1971-S Straight Pegleg can get attributed as FS-401 as PCGS does not make a distinction.

    As for the Tiger Claw? I'm not one to really insist that a TPG attribute a Die State Variety at this point in time although, there are MANY Die State Morgan and Peace Dollar Varieties in the CPG. As a matter of fact, of the 20 Peace Dollar Varieties in the CPG, 12 are nothing more that die state's where the die has cracked in some "nameable" location.
    If the Eisenhower Dollar collectors were to insist upon this as a criteria for a variety, folks would dismiss the coin even more than it already is.

    Having said that, the Nightcrawler is a bit elusive as well as the 1971-S Proof with Small Stars.

    Even more elusive is the 1971-S Proof with the Type 1 reverse.

    There could be other significant die varieties out there just waiting to be found though.

    Of course, I'm thinking about the RPM's as well as doubled dies.
     
  18. Morgandude11

    Morgandude11 As long as it's Silver, I'm listening

    Collecting all the Ike minor varieties are like collecting Morgan VAMs.
     
  19. Irish2Ice

    Irish2Ice Member


    Forgot about that darn Nightcrawler!! That son of a gun has yet to find his way into my house!! Slippery sucker......

    Read a little bit on the small stars (figured it was all die state as well), but didn't even know there WAS a Type 1 reverse on the 1971 Proof.....
     
  20. Atarian

    Atarian Well-Known Member

    So is a Crown Prince higher than a King?
    Methinks I need more Ikes!!!
     
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