What's The Fascination With Ike Dollars?

Those are "Brown Ikes" you have there.

With this many I would leave them in their cases until I decided to make sets with them. The packaging, at least in my opinion, doesn't add any value. They are what they are. The probability of uncovering an MS69 or MS70 is impossible. These are PROOF coins, so they would grade as PR67, 68, 69, etc.

There may very well be some PR69DCAM Ikes in that lot. This is the most you can really hope for. PR70DCAM Ikes are rare, but you never know.

As far as varieties go, the 1971-S DDO Ike attributed as FS-103 and the 1971-S DDR attributed as FS-801 are TOUGH, and you would need members of the Ike Group to attribute them properly. You simply cannot trust the TPG to do it correctly. They have incorrectly attributed more of the FS-103 than anything else. I had an FS-106 DDO that was misattributed as an FS-103, but at least they corrected it.

But those varieties are nowhere near as cool as the 1971-S Nightcrawler. This is a hubbed-through reverse, single-die variety, of which less than 20 are currently known. I'm the lucky owner of one of these. It was created when a linear shard of die metal slid off the eagle's left leg and embedded near the talon, giving the appearance that the eagle is clutching a worm ("nightcrawler"). Here is a close-up image of my nightcrawler so you can see what I'm talking about. Follow the red arrow . . . .



So, if I were you I would look at every 1971-S in that lot to see if any of them contain the nightcrawler. You don't even need a loupe to see it, as long as your eyesight is OK.

Please let us know the results!

Yes, do it soon, and report back. It would be so cool if you found one.




Yes, the nightcrawler is found only on the 1971-S proof.

Hey DM,

That information on the FS numbers was really great. I was wondering if you could direct us to a link for the best place that ranks all of these Ike varieties and corresponding numbers with respect to rarity etc. It would likewise be neat to be aware of what diamonds in the rough can potentially exist among the clad and MS Ike's etc.

Also, I noticed on that FS - 801 that the $12k price only had a single bid. Did you happen to make note of what the reserve was on that 801?

mdp

Darth - Thanks for the info on the '69 DCAM.

Because they are Awesome!

Yes!