Do you use Ike dollars? (USA)

Does anyone here seek out Eisenhower dollars for circulation in the United States?

Besides being novel to many, they're fun to see people's reactions. I sometimes use them as tips, which makes my tip more memorable than another of equal value. Like the three other rarely used circulating denominations (half-dollars, dollar coins, $2 notes), I almost never spend just one at a time, since that would give the impression that they're rare.

Until the other day, the most I've found at any bank I've asked is 10. Then I asked a local credit union (not mine, I was getting money someone owed me) and I asked for all their Ikes in my denomination rundown, thinking they might have a few. Turns out they had over 400. I bought them all and am having fun with them. That amout sure is heavy.

Let us know what you think, and your stories if you do use them.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I've only gotten two Ikes in change in the last 10 years. My credit union doesn't ever have any - I can't even get rolls of half-dollars to search thru. I asked last week end after much fumbing around and checking with various people they had zero rolls. Hard to believe, I thought. :-( The have plenty of the new dollars though. So no - every Ike I find, I keep!

 

I never find any Ike dollars. I do like to spend $2 bills and half dollars though!

 

Hope you're checking those for varieties before you spend 'em. Be a shame of a nice, high-end MS '72 T2 slipped through your fingers....

 

Other.. i'm not a big fan of the design but i like asking for them probably just because i can sell them for a small profit and also I like to check for the varieties

 

ya I like them and I also ask for them. They are getting very hard to find in my neck of the woods.

 

Three responses

I don't think there's anything even close to a Mint State Ike in the bag. They're well circulated. Some are even hard to tell what they are. However, I did find one gold-plated Ike. Kind of interesting.

Before I got these, the last time I saw one in circulation was in the late 1980s, when i gave one of my six that i had to my brother who spent on a He-Man doll.

I spend halves also, but my OK/TX regional bank (IBC) suddenly decided to refuse to order any more of these currently made coins. So, I'm changing to a small town bank that will get them for me. Out of about 400 halves spent, I found only one silver one (40%). I don't roll search (but I keep my eyes open for silver), I just figure if a denomination is made to be spent, I will, regardless of the public's disuse of them.

I like the non-bicentennial reverse, but the other designs suck. Ike is hard to tell apart from FDR on the dime. The tiny profit just isn't worth it to me. I'd rather spend them.

When I run low again, I'll call around banks and the like to see if anyone deposited a hoard of them like happened at that credit union. My father gets a kick out of spending them, too.

 

I have found thousands of Ikes in my area over the last year or so, including several hundred BU Ikes. I've kept many, sold more, and cashed in even more. Tough to generate a good premium on ebay that makes them worth the time.

Even a circulated T2 in low AU is worth $40-$50. I asked because out of the Ikes I've gone through, I've pulled seven of those, including three that are uncirculated. Just pulled the most recent one yesterday.

 

I like Ike!

It has been awhile since I have seen one in circulation. I think I will ask the teller at the bank today if they have any.

Derek

 

Haven't seen or gotten on in circulation in years. I'm not a big fan of them but I keep them when I do find them. I think I have about 8 or 10 currently. My dad use to give us one on our birthdays as youngsters to use to spend on candy. My brother and sister would spend theirs, I'd keep mine.

 

anytime i go to a ballgame or concert i take a handful of ikes to use as tips. really get some strange looks when i do so

 

When I go to the banks, I always ask for them. Even found a couple 40% silvers over the years. The shear size reminds me of the earlier peace and morgans.

 

I consider them collectible so I keep them in 2x2s, as I can sell them for more than face.

 

I spend some and keep some. I usually ask one of my banks every month or so to give me whatever they have in the vault. Last month, that number was 350. Out of the 350 that I acquired, I found 2 40% proofs as well as 5 '72 T2. Those are really the only ones that I keep. Everything else I spend here and there. At this point I have 13 silver Ikes and 31 type 2s, all found at banks over the last few years.

 

That's a lot of type 2s. Any true silver dollars? I have found 1 Peace and 3 Morgans.

 

Gotta ask, what is a T2?

 

I saw one in a teller's tray last week, so I bought it and 3 Pres $1 ... 1972, but Type 1. First time I'd come across one 'in the wild', as it were.

 

I'll not be lazy and will answer my own question: http://www.supercoin.com/iketypes/

 

I would love to circulate Ikes, but I've only received an Ike in circulation once and that was at a coin shop, otherwise I have to buy Ikes. I think they'd be cool to spend, but until I buy a decent amount for face, I won't be doing that.

 

A lot, indeed. Too bad only 2 are in what I consider MS. Eventually I'll send a few in to get graded, but I'm in no real hurry.

I have found 2 Morgans and 0 Peace in the last 4 years or so. (Had to pull up and look at my spreadsheet to remember!)