1979 SBA My First Close Date!

Not bad. They are known as near date.
John1

Nice find Newvbie

Up until the mid-1980s this coin was totally ignored. I put this coin on the map in the 1980s when I started advertising it every week/month in my 1/4 to full page ads in Coin World, Numismatic News and COINage Magazine.

I sold thousands of BU examples mostly in the $25 range until the supply started to run dry. Seemed like every time I started to run short somebody would call and tell me they went through their bag(s) and found 200, 300 and once - 800 pieces. I paid $5 each for them and my profit was about $10 per coin after advertising costs.

I remember after a couple years of offering them for sale like this Ken Bressett added them into the Red Book. The first year they listed the "Far Date" as the scarce one. I saw Ken at an ANA show and told him what the mistake was and he said they'd fix it in the next edition - and fixed it was!

I hate the design on this coin but the Near Date leave me with fond memories of being a part of being what got the coin recognized by a broader collecting public.

Koinpro, I love the story and thanks to you we know what the true oddity is. Thank you!