Hi, I Canadian collector here, but I got myself here a 1977D Liberty dollar with an image of Ike on the obverse. Looks like I paid 2 bucks for it some time ago. I have just recently put it into a 2 x 2 and I am now wondering why the U.S would put Eisenhauer (sic) on a coin. Ive seen all your great presidents on your coins, including JFK for obvious reasons, but why Ike? Did he accomplish something important enough that warrants a picture on your coin? I do know he was a senior officer (General?) in your armed forces,,that I recall, but anything else? Thanks
Ike was a popular war hero, a man of integrity, presided over a period of prosperity, and warned the country about the possibility of the government being taken over by what he called the "military-industrial complex." He turned out to be correct. Some people think he was the last good president the nation had. Everyone since then has been a disappointment in major ways, or cut short in the case of Kennedy. My intent is not to be political, but to explain how he got into the coinage.
I agree. He was a very popular war hero. (Commander of all Allied forces in Europe. That includes all Canadian troops fighting the Nazis.)
The Ike Dollars commemorate Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died in 1969, and the Apollo 11 moon landing of the same year. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War, and later, 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. The reverse of the coin is a copy of the Apollo 11 insignia.
I should have added that Eisenhower was the man most responsible for the creation of the Interstate Highway system which was modeled on the German Autobahns. Created in the middle of the Cold War, the highway system was primarily a system to be used to evacuate major cities in the event of an attack and to facilitate the movement of military troops and equipment to where they might be needed. With 40 years hindsight this has had the negative affect of pretty much destroying the passenger rail system. Eisenhower also championed the cause of desegregation as in Brown v Board of Education which found the concept of "Separate but Equal" to be unconstitutional, and he signed the first Civil Rights acts into law. Finally, he promoted the "Eisenhower Doctrine" which set forth the principle that military force could be used to stop the spread of Communism in foreign countries.
Thank you everyone for your comments. Its nice to see that everyone was in agreement with his accomplisments, and you have really answered alot of my questions Ya know, that kills me about WW2 history. It really seems that Patton, McCarther, Bradley, Rosevelt and Truman seem to upstage everyone else. I think I will wikipedia Dwight and read up on him some more. BTW, I love the coin..nice and large, and a great image.
Yes, I wish they would bring back a silver dollar-sized dollar, even if it wasn't silver. The dinky little dollars just don't cut it.
Lets see first one phrase D-Day he was one of the few who created it and he also led it, on June 5th he wrote two letters home, one saying that it was the most successful invasion and the other saying it was the worst obviously you know the one that was sent home, he was our 34th president, he started the Interstate System which was modeled after the Autobahn, greatly improving our road system and creating a vital part of our country, he created the Eisenhower Doctrine basically furthering our role in Foreign and International affairs bringing us to one of the International protectors from the USSR "communism". He also supported the Supreme Court Decision on Brown vs. Board of Ed and helped integrate our schools, he was also responsible for the military presence and escort for the African American students with the Little Rock Nine Institute. Eisenhower does have merit to be on one of our coins he helped shape the purpose and look of our nation I have a question for you even though you are your own country why do you still put the British ruler on your coins we were ruled by Britain but we do not put Queen Elizabeth 2 on our coins
