When will Ikes time come?

[mtnstyne]

It would be interesting to see an analysis of business strikes.

 

52,874 Total Graded by NGC

 

6,150 MS64 (11.6%)

39,218 MS65 (74.1%)

5,644 MS66 (10.7%)

114 MS67 (0.2%)

 

I know you are just posting data and not making claims. So my comments are not directed at you.

 

With that said, for anyone looking at the data, I believe it is distorted and is an example of the caution that should be used with statistics as it might not show the complete story. I think the mentality that many have with Ike Dollars is a better explanation rather than the pieces necessarily being more common than predecessor coins at certain grade levels. Very few people will submit an Eisenhower Dollar grading less than MS65; however, a number of people have submitted Morgan and Peace Dollars grading less than MS65 for reasons that are still beyond me in many cases. This is true even with the super common dates. So it would make sense to me that the percentage of gem Ikes would be higher.

 

Wouldn't you think this applies to all the coins minted during the same period (1971-1978)?

[coinman_23885]

It would be interesting to see an analysis of business strikes.

 

52,874 Total Graded by NGC

 

6,150 MS64 (11.6%)

39,218 MS65 (74.1%)

5,644 MS66 (10.7%)

114 MS67 (0.2%)

 

I know you are just posting data and not making claims. So my comments are not directed at you.

 

With that said, for anyone looking at the data, I believe it is distorted and is an example of the caution that should be used with statistics as it might not show the complete story. I think the mentality that many have with Ike Dollars is a better explanation rather than the pieces necessarily being more common than predecessor coins at certain grade levels. Very few people will submit an Eisenhower Dollar grading less than MS65; however, a number of people have submitted Morgan and Peace Dollars grading less than MS65 for reasons that are still beyond me in many cases. This is true even with the super common dates. So it would make sense to me that the percentage of gem Ikes would be higher.

 

Wouldn't you think this applies to all the coins minted during the same period (1971-1978)?

 

I think it probably applies to most moderns. With that said, for similar reasons, I cannot guarantee that there aren't entire hoards of them raw in higher grades, but I wouldn't rule that out for Morgan Dollars. Remember, Morgan and Peace Dollars were readily accessible at face value even in the 1960s. I was waiting for someone to compare your Morgan data to the stuff you just posted.

[cladking]

 

High end business strike Ikes (MS66-68) are in my opinion more rare than MS66-68 Morgans.

 

I'd say that they are far scarcer.

 

They'd be downright rare in comparison except a higher percentage of Ikes were checked before they had a chance to degrade than the Morgans.

[cladking]

Canvas bags were routinely used for repackaging circulated coins. Do no assume that a canvas bag contains uncirculated coins.

 

PS: The Ike dollar's time will come Wednesday at 13:16 UT and end at 13:37 UT the same date.

 

Wow!

 

21 minutes of fame!!! Most of us will be lucky to get 5/ 7ths of that.

[jerseycat10]

It has a poorly executed, ugly design...

You can stop right there, far as I'm concerned. Same goes for the Sacs.

 

Not as bad as the SBA

 

Is the SBA coin ugly, or is it just an ugly woman on a coin?

[e1cnr]

 

Is the SBA coin ugly, or is it just an ugly woman on a coin?

 

so what do you think of this design->

 

[TonerGuy]

I like toned SBAs... but to me a little color can improve any coin.

[coinman_23885]

I like toned SBAs... but to me a little color can improve any coin.

 

+1

[coinman1794]

Ikes were poorly manufactured, and most do not qualify as gems--right out of the Mint. Their age has little baring on their condition. MS66 is scarce or rare, depending on the date, and the highest grading IKE is an MS67. Morgan dollars were made with a very high quality, and they are readily available in MS66. They can be found on the market, without too much searching, as high as MS68; and the highest grade is an MS69.

 

Why were Ikes poorly made, the size ? Surely, striking and coinage techniques improved alot over 80-90 years such that quality should not have been a problem, unless the Mint was just rushing them all out, save the Proofs.

 

The Copper Nickel clad coinage is much harder than the 90% silver used in the past. With large diameter coins (dollar,half) this meant applying more pressure to get full strikes. When you start punching at over 100 tons pressure, something gives, and it was very fast wear on the dies. The mint has no desire to have dies last less than 3000 strikes, when they prefer over 100K.

 

So yes, striking and coinage techniques improved over the last 90 years - but not as fast as the metallurgy making planchets that would wear very slow and last a long time. The 'hardness' of the coin has gotten too close to the 'hardness' of the die.

 

The planchets were tumbled and the deep dents this caused often show after striking. Many coins are also struck through heavy grease that causes pockmarked surfaces.

[coinman1794]

In summation, I would argue that "Ikes time" is already here. The conditional rarities sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars in todays market. As some have suggested, the possibility exists that many more could be graded in the coming years. IF that is the case, prices are sure to fall on the high grades. More coins also means more collector base and a steadier market cycle. The coins simply are not available in high grade right now, and prices can be volatile.

 

There have been falling prices over the past 8 years on MS66 coins, as many more have been graded. Only a small number of MS67s have appeared, in comparison, and their prices remain high, currently.

 

First, to reply to your prior comment on my prior post, there are two measures of popularity. The one which matters the most to the most collectors is the price and the second is the number of collectors which impacts availability. Unless the OP tells me otherwise, I presume their question was on the price because except for the specialization I described previously, there is never going to be an issue of the coins being available to be bought.

 

Second, on this post I am quoting, I don't see how Ikes differ from any other series. Using this definition, every series has "arrived" because every one of them are collected as "conditional rarities". There isn't anything significant about this fact that I can see.

 

Ikes I presume are more popular than most modern series (I believe all but the cent) and maybe a few classics such as the and 3CN but that is all.

 

I place them lower on the preference scale than maybe others perceive them because there is a difference between "popularity" as measured by the number of collectors and an actual preference. As I attempted to describe in a prior thread, simply because a series is more widely collected than another one doesn't mean it is actually preferred. In my prior posts I used the example of Morgan versus early dollars. Morgans are more "popular" because the coins are cheaper and available but there is no doubt in my mind that early US dollars are actually preferred by a lopsided proportion.

 

The most objective measure of collector preferences occurs when someone buys one coin over all others in the same price range. Using this completely logical standard, I can conclude that Ike collectors who buy the more expensive specimens prefer them. The lopsided proportion of all others presumably still like them but primarily do so out of budget constraints and will buy something else by a lopsided proportion given the opportunity.

 

To comment on subsequent posts on the grade distribution, I took a look at the PCGS census today. Outside of the 1971-P and 1972-P, none of these are really even "grade scarce". Most of the date/MM combinations have census counts in the hundreds even in MS-66. Extrapolating these numbers using the logic I described in that other thread, its almost certainly likely that most of these coins are an R-1 on the Judd scale (over 1250 and probably by a huge margin in this instance) in MS-66 and even these scarcer issues are likely in the R-3 range (251-500) or an R-2 (501-1250) in MS-65, depending upon the coin. These numbers are higher than all but the most common classics (common date Morgans, Peace $, WLH, silver Washington quarters).

 

I'm not sure what the other thread is, or what logic we are using, but as someone else said in this thread, the coins submitted to the grading services were cherry-picked as gems, and cannot be used to extrapolate what percentage of these coins are gems.

[coinman1794]

High end business strike Ikes (MS66-68) are in my opinion more rare than MS66-68 Morgans.

 

 

There have not been any business strike Ikes graded MS68

[coinman_23885]

High end business strike Ikes (MS66-68) are in my opinion more rare than MS66-68 Morgans.

 

 

There have not been any business strike Ikes graded MS68

 

Exactly. Zero is less than the number of MS68 Morgan Dollars.

 

Also, he might be including the 40% coins which are business strike quality coins although the pieces were never intended for circulation.

[World Colonial]

I'm not sure what the other thread is, or what logic we are using, but as someone else said in this thread, the coins submitted to the grading services were cherry-picked as gems, and cannot be used to extrapolate what percentage of these coins are gems.

 

I am aware of "positive selection bias". I considered that in both this other thread explicitly and implicitly in the "guesstimates" I provided right here earlier.

 

Knowledgeable collectors "cherrypick" the best specimens as you state, doesn't account for everyone else which includes both "amateurs" and non-collectors who own a lot of these coins. not to mention the huge quantities of coins just sitting around in vaults as 19Lyds stated..

 

I also acknowledge there will be future attrition in the sense that an Ike (or any other coin) which is MS-66 (as an example only) today may become an MS-65 or lower grade later. However, given the original stupendous mintages and despite the poor original strike quality which I agree with, I don't think the numbers I provided are excessive either. This is especially so when considering the disproportionately low prices for most date/MM combinations even in MS-66 which makes submitting most of them pointless economically. Except for registry sets, even many knowledgeable collectors won't submit most of these coins.

 

Taking all of this into account, I don't see how you or anyone else can consider my estimates (for the PCGS census since it is apparently stricter than NGC) of hundreds in MS-65 for the scarcer issues and multiple thousands in MS-66 for the more common clads so unlikely, though there is a large error potential in all estimates given the numerous factors which apply.

 

The bottom line in all of this is that Ikes are common or incredibly common compared to most US classics even in these elite grades; except compared to those that are the most common such as the examples I listed. And though they are scarcer than these coins, the classics I am referring to are more popular by a lopsided proportion,

 

Some here think this popularity gap will close. I believe it will - minimally in most instances. I don't believe very many collectors find these coins particularly appealing now and I don't believe they will later either, basically for the same reasons the perception of other series hasn't changed in the 40 years I have been a collector.

[GoldFinger1969]

Good food for thought, World Colonial..... (thumbs u

[cladking]

I tried to be stealthy in acquiring high grade moderns until 1986. I feared that people would see me working and everyone would appreciate how rare they are and there would be boundless competition just like all the classics I had abandoned in high grades because the price would soar. In those days there were other problems with collecting high grade classics such as needing to buy expensive rolls just to check for Gems but I could go through dealers' mint sets at very low cost and most of the Gems were here. In the process I could track down Gems in circulation to the bank they came from and get them at face value though this required even more work and effort than mint sets.

 

The average bag of Morgans has 20 or 30 nice Gems in it in grades up to MS-68. The average bag of Ikes has perhasps one Gem in it. The Morgans sat in bank vaults until 1962 and were then hoarded by the public. The Ikes were issued to circulation at a time no one cared about quality and no one cared about Ikes. No one cared about any moderns in those days.

 

I didn't care about Ikes. My working theory in those days was that one of the big reasons people hated clads was that most were so ugly and they were percieved to be very common. At that time this was actually all true for the Ikes. Indeed, I ignored Ikes because I had never seen a Gem. Despite looking at large numbers of mint sets there were no Gems. Part of this was a self fullfilling prophesy since I rarely looked at an Ike in a set since I thought there were no Gems. It wasn't until 1979 that I saw my very first Gem Ike. After this I scoured the sets and other sources and found there was at least a very low incidence of Gems for every date. It was easy to see how I missed the fact that coins like the '76-P type I Ike only appears about once every 600 sets or so in Gem. Most of this date went into mint sets and finding rolls would be tough even if they had all been saved and they were not. The few not from mint sets look even worse than the mint set coins anyway. Try finding a nice MS-63. It's far more difficult than you'd think.

 

There are still Gem Morgans that haven't been graded because they aren't for sale but anyone expecting vast numbers of Gem Ikes just waiting for higher prices before grading is going to have a very long wait. There weren't manyt out there 40 years ago and there are even fewer today. Since there weren't many out there it was very difficult to assemble even small accumulations.

 

I know from experience that there was almost no one out there before 1980. Even by the end of the '80's the number of people searching for Gems and other moderns was simply tiny. Today it might seem like demand is widespread but nothing could be further from the truth. Much of the high prices are caused by relatively few collectors many of whom have registry sets. If there were many collectors the 76 type I would be selling for at least twenty or thirty dollars in MS-63 rather than $5. Nice 1971's would be selling for much more and Gem 1973 Ikes would be very tough to acquire. If even 5% of Morgan collectors added Ikes this market would be stood on its head as far as pricing goes. People just don't realize that the "trouble with Ike" is a lack of demand rather than large supply and it probably is true that low quality of the coins plays at least a small role in why the coins aren't more widely collected. Of course the main reasons are that they are despised as being clad and that they are percieved as being exceedingly common.

 

If there's anytthing that will kill the desire to collect something it's the perception that it's common.

[coinman_23885]

The average bag of Morgans has 20 or 30 nice Gems in it in grades up to MS-68. The average bag of Ikes has perhasps one Gem in it.

 

I can appreciate that gem Ikes are less common than people think, but I think your numbers are off.

[cladking]

 

I can appreciate that gem Ikes are less common than people think, but I think your numbers are off.

 

Quite possibly.

 

I have much more experience with Morgan bags and rolls than Ike bags and rolls. Of course Gems "bunch up" a lot in distribution and then a few bags are mishandled meaning there will be no Gems at all. Since they bunch up you might open one Morgan bag and find 100 Gems and then not find any in the next three.

 

This same thing happens with Ikes of course. A '77 bag was opened a few years back that had some 30 Gems in it but I've openedd '74 bags that didn't have a single coin nice enough to call MS-60. They were Unc and they were a fright because of poor strikes, bad dies, and they had probably had wire rims (finning) knocked down in a device like a cement mixer. Most original rolls I've opened never had a single coin that was "Gem" even on a single parameter. Finding coins that are well struck from good dies and with minimal marking is very tough with Ikes.

 

My own experience is that they don't come in rolls and come only in sets. The population numbers seem to reflect this belief but I have it on good authority that Ikes do come Gem in bags and rolls. I've simply never seen one.

[cladking]

There weren't many out there 40 years ago and there are even fewer today. Since there weren't many out there it was very difficult to assemble even small accumulations.

 

 

This is another thing that I think people don't appreciate; It was expensive not only to find clads but to save them. The dollar was worth a lot more money in those days and tying up your money in clad coins was considered a fool's passtime as the value of the coins eroded every year and bank accounts paid 19% interest. I often went through my accumulation and trimmed down the total value by culling out the lowest grades. Ikes were especially prone to be cut since they were so large and costly to keep in SDB's and contained such high face value. A few of these culled coins would probably grade MS-65 (low end) today. These would be very common dates like '77 or '78-D. I doubt if I still have 100 Ikes I saved from those days.

 

Part of the difficulty in talking about this is that I grade moderns somewhat differently than the services. To me there are five or six parameters of condition for a coin; strike, die condition, strike pressure, alignment, marking, and surface condition. "Marking" includes all flaws including retained planchet marks. "Surface condition" is the "smoothness" and characteristics of the die. To be a true "Gem" the coin needs to have all of these parameters in the top 90th %ile or so on both side and no corrosion (toning is acceptable iff attractive). Such coins would be pretty scarce except that when the manufacturing process goes right it usually affects all the parameters. This is what they are aiming for, afterall.

 

No matter how you define "Gem" they are pretty elusive in Ikes. No matter how you define Gem there will be a lot of overlap in the sets of specimens that are Gem. Morgans were made to a higher standard in days when things were more closely controlled and scrutinized. Silver is a softer metal that is more easily coined. Of course it more easily acquires marking as well.

[19Lyds]

There weren't many out there 40 years ago and there are even fewer today. Since there weren't many out there it was very difficult to assemble even small accumulations.

 

 

This is another thing that I think people don't appreciate; It was expensive not only to find clads but to save them. The dollar was worth a lot more money in those days and tying up your money in clad coins was considered a fool's passtime as the value of the coins eroded every year and bank accounts paid 19% interest. I often went through my accumulation and trimmed down the total value by culling out the lowest grades. Ikes were especially prone to be cut since they were so large and costly to keep in SDB's and contained such high face value. A few of these culled coins would probably grade MS-65 (low end) today. These would be very common dates like '77 or '78-D. I doubt if I still have 100 Ikes I saved from those days.

 

Part of the difficulty in talking about this is that I grade moderns somewhat differently than the services. To me there are five or six parameters of condition for a coin; strike, die condition, strike pressure, alignment, marking, and surface condition. "Marking" includes all flaws including retained planchet marks. "Surface condition" is the "smoothness" and characteristics of the die. To be a true "Gem" the coin needs to have all of these parameters in the top 90th %ile or so on both side and no corrosion (toning is acceptable iff attractive). Such coins would be pretty scarce except that when the manufacturing process goes right it usually affects all the parameters. This is what they are aiming for, afterall.

 

No matter how you define "Gem" they are pretty elusive in Ikes. No matter how you define Gem there will be a lot of overlap in the sets of specimens that are Gem. Morgans were made to a higher standard in days when things were more closely controlled and scrutinized. Silver is a softer metal that is more easily coined. Of course it more easily acquires marking as well.

I did collect IKE's when they cam out and for me, it was tough! A dollar was good for a couple of gallons of gas.

Milk was 49 cents a gallon

Beer was $1.25 a six pack and a $20 roll of IKE's was one third of my take home pay. As such, rolls were just put of the question.

[World Colonial]

No matter how you define "Gem" they are pretty elusive in Ikes. No matter how you define Gem there will be a lot of overlap in the sets of specimens that are Gem. Morgans were made to a higher standard in days when things were more closely controlled and scrutinized. Silver is a softer metal that is more easily coined. Of course it more easily acquires marking as well.

 

The estimates I provided for potential MS-66 for the more common date/MM combinations (primarily excluding the 1971-P and 1972-P) are in the vicinity of one in 20,000 or 30,000. If they are directionally accurate, this makes them "elusive" when looking In circulation as you did or others do.

 

Still doesn't mean these coins are hard to buy which disproportionately, they are not and that is what matters to most collectors. I can go out and buy practically every single one of these coins at any time in MS-66 which is good enough for most collectors. Yesterday, eBay listed 172 PCGS MS-66 though I did not count how many silver. Even excluding these coins, that is lot to choose from, far more than any actually scarce coin.

 

Its also apparent from the registry that what I am telling you is how most collectors think. The PCGS Registry lists around 1000 circulation strike sets. Of these about 350 are "basic". Of these, less than 20 consisted exclusively of MS-66 or better specimens and those I looked, this was not just without the 71-P or 72-P. There are currently also 200 type sets which I interpret as including this coin but I did not look at the quality of the specimens.

 

This registry data tells me three things. First, some of these collectors can't afford to buy much else. Second, they don't care nearly as much about quality differences as you or else they would buy higher grade coins which presumably many can do. Third, they are also buying other coins that they like at least as much if not more. But in any event, the lack of better specimens isn't an obstacle to upgrading their sets.

 

To go back to the Morgan dollar comparison, it is apples and oranges. The only similarity between these two coins is that they are US coins and their size.

 

The 1881-S Morgan has a combined census count of about 470,000. Aside from set collectors of which there are many, presumably this is a common type set coin and at least tens of thousands are held in dealer and "investment" broker inventory or owned by "investors". I suspect some "investors" own this date in grades up to MS-66 by the hundreds or even thousands because it is silver. A disproportionate percentage of the demand for common dates like this isn't for collecting purposes at all, maybe most of it.

No Ike is ever going to be bought in large quantity as the Morgan dollar is today. The demand for Ikes isn't really that low as the registry set data indicate. Collectors just aren't willing to pay more and given the potential (likely in my opinion), supply even in a grade like MS-66, nothing unusual about it.

[cladking]

 

The 1881-S Morgan has a combined census count of about 470,000.

 

Really! That high?

 

It would be tough scraping together that many of the '76 Ikes (minted in '75) in all grades put together. It could be done but not easily since many are kicking around in sock drawers and FED storage. It would require virtually the entire extant number of '75 mint sets be sent in and these are dispersed far and wide as well.

 

To each his own.

[World Colonial]

 

The 1881-S Morgan has a combined census count of about 470,000.

 

Really! That high?

 

It would be tough scraping together that many of the '76 Ikes (minted in '75) in all grades put together. It could be done but not easily since many are kicking around in sock drawers and FED storage. It would require virtually the entire extant number of '75 mint sets be sent in and these are dispersed far and wide as well.

 

To each his own.

 

I understand what you are saying but the point I was making in the second part of my post is that the demand for the Morgan dollar is an aberration as it is (price wise) for the series you and I have discussed in the past, such as the Buffalo nickel, WLH, Lincoln cent and many other 20th century classics. No other coins anywhere in the world are collected in such numbers at some of these prices when the coins are so common.

 

These are the series you have used as a basis of comparison in the past and though the OP apparently did not realize it, they did as well. I don't believe there is any reason whatsoever to expect the Ike to become as popular, whether in number of collectors or in the price level, as these other series.

 

As the registry data I used makes clear, Ikes are actually a lot more popular than most apparently believe; popular measured by the number of collectors who are actively pursuing sets and specimens in better quality. The prices are lower than many of these classic series but then, I suspect that the supply differences aren't as great as even you believe in many instances.

 

I believe most Ikes actually have 1250+ at least if not a lot more that will eventually end up in an MS-66 holder. I used PCGS because I presume that it is somewhat preferred going by the census counts but the limited review I performed doesn't indicate the percentage of MS-66 is disproportionately different between the two services. Someone who is more knowledgeable can comment if they care to do so.

 

In my brief review of the census for this thread, I don't see that the counts for most post 1933 classics is larger than Ikes, A relatively large number yes, but nowhere near most of them. I use 1933 as the cut-off from the Coin Week article written by Greg Reynolds (aka "Analyst" on the PCGS Forum).

 

I presume that you believe these coins exist in vastly larger number and I don't explicitly disagree that they do not. Many were saved in rolls in large numbers, especially quarters and halves. However, it doesn't show up in the census (in MS-66) as it doesn't for Ikes and presumably because the prices don't justify it.

 

Using this entirely common sense approach, I don't see that Ikes are really that underpriced compared to most of these coins even though they are universally considered to be a lot less popular.

 

The Ike has "arrived", it just isn't at the prices its advocates want and going by this standard, I don't believe it ever will either.

[Crruisercharlie]

Are you kidding?? Ikes are the ugliest coin ever made! Sba 's are BEAUTIFUL compared to them.

[jom]

Are you kidding?? Ikes are the ugliest coin ever made! Sba 's are BEAUTIFUL compared to them.

 

Although, I tend to agree with this a coin's beauty IS subjective.

 

As to Ikes: I put together a raw set when I got back into collecting about 22 years ago and you see trends in what were the difficult dates. It wasn't hard to notice that 71P, 72P and 76P Type 1 were clearly the coins that were hard to find "nice". I'm not being strict (64 vs 65 vs 66 etc) just an overall observance. I not speaking about varieties either like the 72 dated coins.

 

Most Ike's were not made very well and are not very collectable once you go down the MS grading scale, IMO.

 

jom

[19Lyds]

Are you kidding?? Ikes are the ugliest coin ever made! Sba 's are BEAUTIFUL compared to them.

 

Nah!

 

 

Here's an ugly one:

 

 

And this one, it'll give you nightmares!

 

 

 

[cladking]

Are you kidding?? Ikes are the ugliest coin ever made! Sba 's are BEAUTIFUL compared to them.

 

Although, I tend to agree with this a coin's beauty IS subjective.

 

 

Indeed!

 

I think the Ike reverse is among the best looking of all US coins; even among all world coins of the last couple centuries. The obverse is only "handsome" at best but the artist didn't have a lot to work with considering the subject. As "busy" as the legends and mottos are they blend in as well as possible with the bust and eagle.

 

These make a really beautiful set in Gem but not so beautiful in MS-60 or chBU.

[e1cnr]

A beautiful one one eBay I have been watching ->

 

[19Lyds]

Ya'll should have seen the ones that Shane had at the NGC luncheon today - these were absolutely gorgeous, naturally toned, monster proofs. Still a big ugly coin - but the metal disc was more of a serving platter for the nice color on these.

 

It was really funny though, someone asked the exact same question to Mark Salzberg, wondering what his opinion was on Ikes. He made it very clear that he was not a fan of them at all, and had no idea why anyone would be. It was actually pretty funny, and he was ripping pretty hard on the Ike guys.

From what I understand. this is what occurred.

 

He was asked: "What do you think about Ike Dollars?"

His reply: "I'm glad you asked that!" was Mark's reply. "Let me answer that with an example for you. The other night a proof Jefferson nickel, a 1975 I think, in one of our competitor's slabs, sold for more money than a 1794 dime! Think about that for a minute.....a 1975 nickel that a few years down the road will be probably be worth just that....a nickel. THAT'S what I think about Ike Dollars!"

 

Huh? Was he possibly referring to the 1975 No S Dime? After all, he was comparing it to a dime.

 

Hey wait, there weren't any "dimes" in 1794. Half Dimes perhaps but no dimes.

 

All in all, I thought the response was childish and certainly not up to par with the "chairman" of a company whose only job is to "grade" coins. Presumably, the "Chairman" wouold have a knowledge of ALL collectible coins and not simply "diss" one particular design out of a lack of knowledge about the coin.

 

Perhaps he want's folks to stop submitting Eisenhower Dollars for grading at NGC? What's next? Stop submitting "Proof Nickels"? Lincoln Cents? Anything minted after 1938?

 

How about NGC, instead, stop buying into this Early Release Label Game? Or maybe the FIRST DAY OF ISSUE and LONG BEACH RELEASE labels for the Marshall's Service coins? Or the other baloney labels that NGC uses to bolster its bulk submitter business?

 

What an intellectually arrogant response.

 

 

[MarkVIIIMarc]

That sure is a neat Eisenhower dollar up there.

 

I hqve changed my mind to really liking Ikes. Due to their age and the way my family apparently gave me a few dozen back in the 70's and 80's I don't think of them as rare.

 

Maybe there is a stigma on them as a "failed coin" since they never were that popular.

 

Either way beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Think of the heated debates over on the xxx forums when in reality either gal would do for me especially if they showed the least bit of interest in skating around the park, my Mustang or my coins!

[cladking]

 

Maybe there is a stigma on them as a "failed coin" since they never were that popular.

 

 

It's not that they are a failed coin. The problem has always been exactly the same

thing; they were made after 1964 when silver was removed from the coinage. Even

worse Ikes were made in cu/ ni clad so they will always be hated by some.

 

The Ike was as successful as a large dollar could have been in that era.