The featured article on Wikipedia is United States Bicentennial coinage. The article states that there were 12 prototypes released to the public in 1974 including two coins featuring sailing ships, two featuring Independence Hall, three were space related, and one featuring the Liberty Bell superimposed on an atomic symbol. It also states that a few prototype sets were given to Gerald Ford and some other high ranking government officials. These coins were silver (it doesn't say if they were 40% or 90%) and lacked a mint mark. The rest of the prototypes were reportedly melted, which is a tragedy. My questions are are there any pictures of the 12 prototypes and are the Ford set and the other sets that were given to the government officials known to the numismatic community to still exist? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bicentennial_coinage
Tom Delorey wrote an interesting account of the 3-coin 40% silver Bicentennial Set which included the mystery surrounding the 1976 "No S" Proof Bicentennial Ike Dollar, and this account was included in the book (page 190), "The Authoritative Reference on Eisenhower Dollars" 2nd Edition by Wexler/Crawford/Flynn. Chris
Went to Wikipedia first today to look something up and felt so proud to see the featured article was about the Bicentennial Coinage. So cool! Some of the information in the article was really mindblowing. Especially the proposal by an Oregon senator to introduce a circulating $25 gold piece, which Mary Brooks pointed out would need to be 2/3 pure gold to avoid hoarding, instead of traditional coin gold.
Why couldn't they have made it a $50 gold piece? Besides, even if it were a $25 piece I doubt very many would have made it into circulation.
These were just design proposals not prototypes. Pictures of them wee published in Coin World back then so they do exist if you can track down the right issues. The silver prototypes were 40% silver and wereof the approved design. They were struck in proof and had no mintmarks. There were at least two full sets made. One was used for display and later destroyed. The other was given to President Ford and supposedly went to his Presidential Library. But last I knew the library has no idea where the set is. I believe three of the prototype dollars are known today, two of the having been recovered from circulation! Also oddly enough or them is a type II dollar! It is strange because the prototype sets were made in 1974 or early 75, long before the type II coins made.
