Trying to catalog all the stuff I've accumulated in the last 40+ years, I discovered that I had a number of Ike dollars, and some questions have arisen while I'm trying to get them sorted. 1. The Red Book says that the lettering on the reverse was "modified early in 1975 to produce a more attractive design." It shows Var. 1 with bold lettering like my picture on the left, and Var. 2 with more delicate lettering, like my picture on the right. Since the bi-centennials were minted through 1976, that would imply that the Var. 2 is far more common than Var. 1. Is that the way it actually is? 2. That Red Book comment also implies that 1971-74 Ikes would have Var. 1 reverses, and 1977-78s would have Var. 2 reverses. But of about a dozen pre-1976 coins I have, not one has the wide/flat lettering of a Var. 1. What gives? 3. What idot at Krause reported the change to "thinner letters", and then designated the thin letters Type I and the thick letters Type II? (I know, Krause is not the most reliable authority on US coinage, but still . . .) 4. Am I reading the Red Book correctly that the Cu-Ni clad coins come in both varieties, the silver clad circluation issues are all Var. 1, and the silver clad proofs are all Var. 2? (If this post doesn't prove how little I know about US coinage, I don't know what would. )
Varieties for Different Reasons OK let's see if I can explain this well. In 1971 the dies produced weak strike (low relief) variety 1. So during 1972, dies where modified twice giving the variety 2 and 3. So after 1972 the modified high relief variety 3 was used. Thus giving 1972 three different varieties for that year. The bicentennial (1976) variety deals with the reverse lettering. Again a relief issue but not really the same issue as in 1972. There was a ratio of about 25:1, 4:1, and 2:1 variety 2 versus variety 1 for the 1976 mintages. Therefore the fact that you have only variety 2 is not surprising. The proof would have high relief because of the way the mint strikes them, at least twice, eventhough the low relief dies of 1971 where used. After looking back in the Redbook, it appears that the varieties 1,2,3 for the 1972 year where relating to the Phila. mint only. Note that the 1972 variety 2 is the high dollar variety to collect. Good luck, I hope I haven't confused you even more. I plan to put together a Ike set, but I'm not going to try and get all varieties just year/mint.
