Are all 1976-S Ike Dollar Proofs 40% Silver?

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by JeffC, Sep 14, 2019.

  1. JeffC

    JeffC Go explore something and think a happy thought!

    I need help with something that's a bit confusing (for me). The more I read up, the more information I get (mostly about Types I and II) but my core question still remains open. I know that Ike dollars minted in P and D are not silver. My specific question pertains to 1976 bicentennial Ike dollars. For the 1976-S Ike dollars, how does one know whether they're silver by sight? Or are they all silver? Or is weighing them the only sure way to tell? And is there a separate set of rules for the 1976-S Proofs? Thanks for your help.
     
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  3. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    If you don't own a Red Book, this is the sort of thing that book is really useful for.

    1976 Proof Ikes were struck in both clad and silver.

    The weight is the surest way to tell, but you can look at the edge of the coin - a silver coin will be the same color all the way through, the clad will have a copper layer in the middle. This isn't foolproof, but works most of the time.

    I'm not sure what you mean by "a separate set of rules"?
     
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  4. JeffC

    JeffC Go explore something and think a happy thought!

    Thanks! Oh, by "a separate set of rules," I meant if the guidelines you provided for me differ between 1976-S and 1976-S Proofs. And yeap, I'm going to get the 2020 Redbook this month for sure. I was looking at the Blue Book but realized the Red is better. Thanks again.
     
  5. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The Bicentennial clad Proof Ike Dollars were part of the six piece Proof sets that were issued in 1975-6. The silver clad Proof Ike Dollars were part of the three piece Bicentennial 40% silver Proof set.

    Here is the clad version.

    BiCent Dol Clad O.jpg BiCent Dol Clad R.jpg

    And here is the 40% silver version.

    BiCent Dol Sil O.jpg BiCent Dol Sil R.jpg

    Can't tell the difference? Neither could some collectors back in the '70s and '80s. Back when the 1973-S 40% silver Ike Dollar sold for a lot of money (It sold for over $200 in 1980), crooks would separate the government holders, take out the silver coin and replace it with the clad coin. Some people could see that the clad coin was not quite as bright, but many people couldn't.
     
  6. JeffC

    JeffC Go explore something and think a happy thought!

    Before I had researched a bit more about it, I was under the impression that ALL 1976-S proof Ike Dollars were 40% silver. Now I know that it's not the case, for sure.
     
  7. JeffC

    JeffC Go explore something and think a happy thought!

    Now you got my curiousity up. I'm going to check the prices of silver during that time.
     
  8. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    @JeffC @physics-fan3.14

    If anyone has a copy of the book, "The Authoritative Reference on Eisenhower Dollars, Second Edition" by Wexler, Crawford & Flynn, there is an interesting story on page 190 by Tom DeLorey about the 1976 "No S" Proof Bicentennial Eisenhower Dollar.

    Chris
     
  9. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The silver prices were high, $55 an ounce at one point, but that didn't have much to do with it. With a silver Proof mintage of just over 1 million, the silver Proof 1973-S was the "king" of Ike Dollars.

    In 1973 the mint system did not issue any Ike dollars for general circulation. The only way you could get them was in mint sets, Proof sets and as Uncirculated and Proof single coins, what collectors call the "blue" and "Brown Ikes." It had to do with the mint packaging. The Uncirculated Ike came in a blue envelope, and the Proof came in a brown box.

    Coins were viewed as an "investment vehicle" then, and the Ike Dollars provided a way for the "poor folks" to get in the game.
     
  10. JeffC

    JeffC Go explore something and think a happy thought!

    If the "Brown Ikes" are what I think they are, I see them quite often on ebay and ebth.com. Are they rectangular, with a wood-grained finish top and a gold seal on the bottom? Today, prices for them aren't too bad ($10-$20). So, boy, if they paid $200+ back then, buyers really took a hit.
     
  11. JeffC

    JeffC Go explore something and think a happy thought!

    I don't have the book but if the article is short and "pdf-able," I'd like to see it. I really like to read up on "stories behind the coins," like the one about the 1926 Peace Dollar and bold "GOD" (whether true or yet unproven).
     
  12. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    It's one page (8-1/2"x 11") but since I don't have permission to copy it, I'd rather not.

    Chris
     
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  13. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Easy to forget these days. But yes, our hobby has been taken advantage of by crooks since coin collecting was a hobby.
     
  14. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    I know as a young collector, I was frothing at the mouth to get my hands on Ike dollars back in the 1970’s. I sure didn’t realize that proof Ike’s carried such a premium back then. Could it be attributed in part to collectors being excited about finally seeing something new by the US mint?
     
  15. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The 1971 Brown Ike sold for less than $10 (issue price) for a long time. Except for the 1973, the others sold for just over issue. The 1973 Brown Ike was special. I remember when it was on the Grey Sheet at $235. I took one to sell to a dealer to sell. He didn’t want it, but when I offered it to him for $175, he took it. I had no regrets.
     
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  16. Carlos sanchoo

    Carlos sanchoo New Member

    I have an Ike 1776-1976-s Clad regular strike dollar. Is this a fake?
     
  17. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    If it is not a proof, it may be one of the silver uncirculated pieces. First thing to check is is it a type I or type II, ALL of the silver ones are Type I. If it is type II and not a proof it would be a fake. If it is a type I weigh it. The tolerance range between the copper nickle clad and the silver clad do not overlap on the dollar coins so weight will tell the two apart. If it is an S, a type I and the weight is that of a coppernickel coin then it is either a fake or a very badly mishandled proof. Pictures of both sides and the weight would be helpful. And post them in your own thread please.
     
  18. Troodon

    Troodon Coin Collector

    Really it's more that a lot of people assumed the rarest Ike dollar (1973) would become very valuable, based on "keys" of other coin series seeing similar increases in value. But the reason that say, the 1909-S VDB cent is worth what it is, is because many collectors want it to finish a set. But collector interest in the Eisenhower dollars started to fizzle out at some point (about mid-1980's) so a mintage of about a million wasn't low enough if less than a million people wanted them, and the value of it fell back to earth. As I remember someone posting on this board, a coin with a mintage of 2 is still too high if only one person wants it.

    Ironically a lot of rare coin issues are not worth huge amounts of money because so many people saved them, expecting the value to go up... but because so many people saved them, they are not hard to find, and supply is enough or too much to meet demand. That's why the 1950-D Jefferson nickel can easily be had for about $20 in uncirculated condition; so many people saved it expecting the value to go up that it's actually rarer in circulated condition now than in uncirculated. A similar thing eventually happened to the 1973 Ike dollars. Yes, it's the rarest one... but there's still enough to supply collector interest, and the price dived because of that. But in the 70's and early 80's people were convinced these were great investments, and well, for a little while they were right, but eventually the market corrected the price since supply exceeded demand.
     
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  19. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    Sounds like you need the RS Yeoman Red Book. Not too late to ask for it.
     
  20. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Very well put. Thanks for that.
     
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