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Replies: 22 / Views: 5,252 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
650 Posts |
I just looked through my stash of Ike dollars and I also have a 1973-D (probably collected decades ago from pocket change). So, I looked at Wikipedia: "With ample supplies of Eisenhower dollars, the Federal Reserve had no need to order any in 1973, and none were struck for circulation.[50] The 1973 and 1973-D were the first Eisenhower dollars struck for inclusion in mint sets, and were, in theory, only available that way. Many 1973 and 1973-D are known in circulated condition, leading to speculation that the 230,798 pieces which were reported melted after the Mint failed to sell as many mint sets as anticipated, were in fact released into circulation.[51]" 50. The New York Times September 2, 1973. 51. Bowers 1993, pp. 2877, 2880.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
650 Posts |
I looked up that Bowers reference. It's a silver dollar encyclopedia. "Mint Sets only: As with the Philadelphia issue of this year, the 1973-D copper-nickel Eisenhower dollar was minted for inclusion in this year's mint sets, but riot for general Circulation. Two million were struck, but 230,742 were unsold and were said to have been melted. However, some observers, Thomas K. DeLorey among them, suggest that many coins may have been placed into Circulation. Mint set sale price: $6.00 (set contained one each of all business strike issues, cent through dollar)."
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Pillar of the Community
1325 Posts |
Quote: *1,769,258 of each sold only in sets and not released for circulation. Unissued coins destroyed at mint. 2 million were made. That "*" is the number sold and released in sets by the mint. The rest (2000000 minus 1769258) were destroyed. 2,000,000 paired sets made 1,769,258 paired sets sold <--(these are the ones found in circulation from opened mint sets) unsold were destroyed
Edited by shadz 10/11/2015 01:46 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
650 Posts |
Yes, the official position of the US Mint is the coins were destroyed, but if you read that Bowers reference it states that Thomas K. DeLorey (who for a long time was director of the American Numismatic Association Certification Service) and others think some of those "supposedly destroyed coins" got into circulation somehow. As I stated in my earlier posts, I have a 1973-D that was obtained directly from circulation by yours truly. Just yesterday I found a 1973 plain at a coin show. Admittedly, that coin could have came from a split up mint set since it came from a coin dealer and it grades BU (no evidence it was in circulation). My point is these babies are around if you look hard enough and long enough.
Edited by batboy 10/11/2015 10:31 am
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Pillar of the Community
1325 Posts |
Yes, they are around, but the nonsense you are saying is not proven because theae 1973 Ikes in circulation. Its been 40+ years since these were issued, and not heavily used in all areas (Vegas loved them), its no surprise IF you find one now it is in good shape.
Some dumb lawyer, burglar, etc gets the coin from the deceased former coin collector, the thing has to be valued, and since it has a face value, why mess with foolishness just count it a $1, open the bag/wrap its in and spend it! Any not found in a cash register and taken home by a manager, cashier, or customer end up; you guessed it at the bank. MOST stores don't have a place for any $1 coin, half dollar or $2 bill in their registers so they send it all to the bank.
Your mistake is think, and agreeing with the book you read, that is must be the unsold ones that are not in their mint packaging. That's just foolish when there is proof otherwise. People have opened the sets to fill albums on this very site!
The ONLY way you could prove that books nonsense and speculation is to somehow gather all 1973 ikes in one place, sort them by mint, and count each one visually. That isn't going to happen while I'm alive. I'm not sending mine to some unknown part to return a bunch of crap coins. Not to mention it could only be proven by destroying other peoples sets, as you would have to open the 4+ year old mailing envelopes that some people likes to keep their mint sets in. You know that brown paper bubble wrap thing that says it came from the mint.
Since the book cannot prove anything, it is basically just lying, and repeating it to someone else is also just lying. We don't know anything about any of the unsold coins. We know people have opened the mailer they came in, and the sets they were part of like evry other coin.
People do NOT collect the same way and there is not now nor there ever be a law saying you have to collect coins in any way. Anyone could break ANY coin from a mint set and spend it should they need to, and that has happened. So its best not to spread a wild rumor based on someone's uneducated guess, no matter who it is, that there is no proof to support.
my 5 pairs of 1973 Ikes all came from the bank with a lot of 21 other Ikes that was in the tellers drawers and all placed into one of the little cash envelopes. All coins loose, and until I looked at them a second or 3rd time I never even noticed the 1973s or gave them a thought about how they got there, because PEOPLE DO OPEN ALL TYPES OF MINT SETS.
So until you or this Bower person gathers each and every 1973 Ike in one place for visual inspection, again this will happen only over my dead body!; or the Mint states that the 200+ k were released, there is no proof either way!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
650 Posts |
Well, I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I will admit, there was a bit of speculation to that reference. Certainly mint sets do get opened, I've done it a couple of times myself, although my coins went directly into albums.
Setting all that aside, I'm curious to find out how many people here on the forum have stumbled across 1973 Ikes in circulation. Post what you found. They must be fairly rare to find them in the wild... regardless how they got there.
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Moderator
 United States
189370 Posts |
They were certainly minted only for the mint sets. This is a fact. They were never intended to circulate.
I am confident all of those found in circulation made it there the same way every other proof or NIFC makes it there, they were broken out and spent by thieves, ignorant heirs, or desperate collectors.
It is certainly possible that some of those claimed destroyed were accidentally released into circulation, but the evidence for this is slim.
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Replies: 22 / Views: 5,252 |
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