I recently acquired a 1971-D "Friendly Eagle" Eisenhower dollar (Type 1 Reverse) graded PCGS MS66 from legendary collector Brian Vaile. What makes this coin particularly special is that it is a VEDS (Very Early Die State) specimen.
The most interesting diagnostic feature (IMO), which proves the VEDS condition, is the presence of the re-entry vehicle (REV) at about the 10 o'clock position of Earth. This unique feature is found on no other Ike dollars except the FEV. Being small and incused, it washed out fairly early in the die's life. Talk about a FIRST STRIKE! I have a FEV in MS65, and the REV is not present. It is even absent on one of Brian's other MS66 FEVs!
In our correspondence, Brian Vaile told me that out of approximately 350 FEV he's found since its discovery, only six have achieved the MS66 grade, with this one being one of the top 3 VEDS specimens. The origin of the FEV is pretty neat too. Below is an excerpt taken from the Ike Group page:
Denver was so eager to begin Ike production in July 1971 that it used eight older single chamber presses in the basement (at the time used for gold commerative production) for its first two or three weeks of 1971-D CB Ike production while the big twin-chamber Columbia presses were being readied upstairs. These first-struck Ikes, we believe, all had the FEV reverse. Our evidence? Several soft indicators and this important one: we have not found a single FEV with any signs of die-clash. The twin chamber Columbia presses had a high percentage of clashed dies but it's an operating characteristic of the older single chamber presses to have very few clashed dies.
Link to the FEV article published on the Ike Group website, which lists ALL the distinctive features:
It just so happens that I also purchased a VEDS 1971-D Type 2 Reverse Ike (PCGS MS65) from Brian as well. I created my own side-by-side comparison images from their respective TrueView images with black arrows pointing to the distinct features. You'll notice that the Earth is more round on the FEV as well.
I am over the moon to have this belong in my registry set. It's one of the few coins that will never be upgraded (thank goodness) as there are none in MS67, not that I could ever afford one in that grade anyway.
I forgot to mention that there are two PCGS MS66+ examples of the FEV, but that grade will still remain out of my reach financially. I'm OK with that, though.
Quote: That would have been worth the purchase just for the quality of the strike, and the early die state is a bonus.
- I just looked at this issue in CoinFacts. They have TrueView images for one MS66+ and 12 MS66 FEVs. The REV is completely absent in the MS66+ example. Of the 12 MS66 examples, there is a hint of the REV left over in 3 of them. A fully struck REV is only present on my coin (83064571). I find this astounding. So, the presence of the REV is not condition-dependent, as alluded to above, but die-state dependent. A VEDS FEV is a true rarity of this series.
Quote: is that really supposed to be the re-entry vehicle?
Actually, it's a rendering of the REV's contrail as depicted on a particular NASA medal. But it's just easier to refer to it as the REV. You know how we shorten things in numismatics.
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I have a FEV in MS65, and the REV is not present. It is even absent on one of Brian's other MS66 FEVs!
Posted 09/13/2017 10:19 am
- I just looked at this issue in CoinFacts. They have TrueView images for one MS66+ and 12 MS66 FEVs. The REV is completely absent in the MS66+ example. 
Of the 12 MS66 examples, there is a hint of the REV left over in 3 of them. A fully struck REV is only present on my coin (83064571). I find this astounding. So, the presence of the REV is not condition-dependent, as alluded to above, but die-state dependent. A VEDS FEV is a true rarity of this series.
