Wide Rim Anthonys In Cw

Wide Rim Anthonys
Scarcity controversy occupies many years
posted 5/2/06
By Eric von Klinger
Coin World Staff
 

Years after discovery of two different rim widths on 1979-P Anthony dollars, controversies continued about the varieties.

The original 11-sided "security rim" was intended to distinguish the new-sized coin by its wider segments, as opposed to the even peripheral rims on all other U.S. coins. Making the entire dollar coin 11-sided had been discussed, but planners opted for the smoother roll that a round coin could achieve in a vending machine coin chute. By being given 11 sides within the circle of the coin, the rim grew thinner at each corner of the inner design, widened, then thinned to another point at the next corner.

Sometime during the first year of production, even wider rim segments were chosen for part of the Philadelphia Mint output. Thus we have the Wide Rim subtype, also called "near date," on which the rim extends inward farther, away from the edge, and the Narrow Rim subtype, also called "far date," on which the rim stays close to the edge and farther from the date. The distance between the date and the bust of Anthony stays the same.

WIDE RIM 1979-P Anthony dollar shows the distance of the date and stars from the border.

First report

Anthony dollars were first released to circulation July 2, 1979. It was not until May 1980 that the different rim widths were first reported on 1979-P Anthony dollars,
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