Eisenhower Dollar Values: Clad Ikes and 40% Silver Collector Varieties

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The Eisenhower dollar at a glance

The Eisenhower dollar is a large one-dollar United States coin authorized by Congress in the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments and the Coinage Act of 1970, Public Law 91-607. The first coins were struck at the Denver Mint in early 1971 and released into circulation later that year. President Nixon presented the first piece struck to Mamie Eisenhower at a White House ceremony on July 27, 1971.

The obverse carries a left-facing profile of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II. The design is by Frank Gasparro, then Chief Engraver of the United States Mint.

The reverse adapts the Apollo 11 mission insignia designed by astronaut Michael Collins. An eagle clutches an olive branch and lands on the surface of the Moon, with the Earth visible in the distance and thirteen stars for the original states.

Congress replaced this reverse for the 1975 and 1976 issues with a Bicentennial design by Dennis R. Williams. Williams was a 21 year old art student when he won the open design competition. His reverse shows the Liberty Bell superimposed against the Moon. Gasparro slightly simplified the lunar surface detail and adjusted the lettering before the coins went into production.

Circulation striking ran from 1971 through 1978. There are no coins dated 1975 or 1976 alone: every dollar struck in those two years carries the dual date 1776-1976. The Eisenhower dollar was replaced by the smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar in 1979.

The two composition tracks: clad and 40 percent silver

Every Eisenhower dollar was struck in one of two compositions. The composition depends on the mint mark and on whether the coin was made for circulation or for a paid collector set. This is the single most useful fact for anyone sorting an inherited box or a bank-teller find.

The circulation issue is copper and nickel clad. The outer layers are 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel bonded to a pure copper core, which averages about 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel overall.

Every coin with no mint mark from Philadelphia and every coin with a D mint mark from Denver, dated 1971 through 1978, is this clad composition. These coins contain no silver at all. In circulated grades they are worth face value: one dollar each.

The 40 percent silver issue is separate. It was struck only at the San Francisco Mint and only for sale to collectors, either as a satin-finish uncirculated coin in the Blue Ike envelope or as a mirror-surfaced proof in the Brown Ike box.

The composition is a clad sandwich: an outer layer of 80 percent silver and 20 percent copper bonded to an inner core of 20.9 percent silver and 79.1 percent copper. The overall coin averages 40 percent silver and 60 percent copper by weight. Silver Ikes carry an S mint mark on the obverse below the truncation of the neck.

Not every S-mint-marked Ike is silver. San Francisco also struck proof coins in copper-nickel clad for the regular annual proof sets starting with the 1973-S issue. The metal content depends on which set the coin came from. The blue envelope means silver uncirculated. The brown box means silver proof. A plastic proof set lens with the other 1973 to 1978 denominations usually means the clad proof.

How to identify a silver Ike in 30 seconds

The fastest way to sort a pile of Ikes is the mint mark test followed by an edge check. The sequence below separates the clad from the silver without any special equipment.

1. Read the mint mark below Eisenhower's neck on the obverse. No mint mark means Philadelphia and clad. A D means Denver and clad. An S means San Francisco and requires more checking.
2. For any S-mint-marked coin, look at the packaging first if you have it. A blue paper envelope with pliofilm inside is the Blue Ike uncirculated 40 percent silver piece. A brown outer box with a gold eagle seal and a plastic capsule inside is the Brown Ike 40 percent silver proof.
3. If the coin is loose, weigh it. A silver Ike weighs 24.624 grams. A copper-nickel clad S-mint proof weighs 22.68 grams. A jewelry scale that reads to a tenth of a gram separates the two cleanly.
4. If a scale is not available, look at the edge of the coin. The clad Ike shows a clear brown or reddish stripe running down the center of the reeded edge. The silver Ike shows a solid silvery band with at most a very faint warm hint, because the core is silver-bearing rather than pure copper.
5. Check the date and reverse next. A 1776-1976 dual-date coin is a Bicentennial. Look at the block letters of ONE DOLLAR on the reverse to sort Type I from Type II. A 1972 Philadelphia coin with the moon-and-Earth reverse needs the Earth variety check described further down.

Verified physical specifications

The table below lists the measured specifications for each composition. Any coin sold as an Eisenhower dollar that fails these numbers is a counterfeit, a novelty souvenir piece, a damaged planchet, or a coin from a different series.

Melt-value calculator (use By weight for Ikes)

The calculator below computes the raw metal value of silver and gold coins at a spot price you enter. The Eisenhower dollar is not in the coin preset menu, so select By weight, enter 24.624 grams, choose custom fineness, and enter 0.400. The result is the melt floor for one 40 percent silver Ike at the spot price you typed.

Melt-floor math on a 40 percent silver Ike

The 1776-1976 Bicentennial Type I and Type II reverses

Because production of the Bicentennial reverse ran for two calendar years and used dies from more than one production run, the coin exists with two distinct lettering styles on the reverse. Collectors call them Type I and Type II. The difference is subtle but consistent enough that a certified example is graded and holdered with the type noted on the label.

Type I has thick blocky letters in the phrase ONE DOLLAR on the reverse, with wide serifs and heavier line weight overall. According to standard reference works, Type I was struck in 1975. The 1776-1976 Type I from Philadelphia was included only in mint sets and is one of the more sought-after Bicentennial Ikes in high grades.

Type II has thinner, more refined letters in the same phrase, with narrower serifs and a lighter overall line weight. Type II was struck in both 1975 and 1976 across the Denver and San Francisco mints. Most Bicentennial Ikes a modern owner will encounter are Type II from Denver or from the standard annual proof set.

The silver-clad Bicentennial coins were sold as part of a three-coin Bicentennial silver set that also included the silver Bicentennial quarter and half dollar. A silver 1776-1976-S Ike from that set weighs 24.624 grams and carries the same 0.316 troy ounces of silver as the earlier Blue and Brown Ikes.

The 1972 Philadelphia Type I, II and III Earth varieties

The 1972 Philadelphia issue is the other well-documented reverse-variety Ike. All three types share the eagle and Moon design, but the appearance of the small Earth above the eagle differs. Numismatic references label them Type I, Type II and Type III based on the visible shape and continent outline of the Earth.

Type I is the most common 1972 Philadelphia Eisenhower. Type III uses the die style that was carried forward into 1973 and later years. Type II is the scarce variety and is the reason to look at any 1972 Philadelphia coin with a bit of care. In circulated grades a 1972 Type II is not dramatic, but in top uncirculated grades it commands strong premiums over the common 1972 Type I of the same technical grade.

The visible difference between the three Earths is small enough that a beginner should compare a suspected 1972 Type II against a published reference photo before acting. An independent third-party grading service will label the type on the holder and set the market value for the certified coin.

The peg leg variety and other die notes

Some 1971-S proof Ikes and a few 1971-S uncirculated pieces show the serifs at the foot of the letter R in LIBERTY missing. The tail of the R runs straight down instead of ending in a small horizontal foot. Collectors call this the peg leg variety.

The serifs are missing on all 1972-S coins, both uncirculated and proof. The Mint later obtained better die steel, the serifs returned on the remaining non-Bicentennial issues, and the shortened leg of the R stayed. The Type II Bicentennial reverse has the serifs; the Type I lacks them on the reverse lettering.

Beyond the peg leg, the Ike series has a small number of well-documented die varieties tracked by specialist collectors. Doubled dies, minor repunched mint marks, and known die states for the Bicentennial and 1972 Type II are the most actively traded. These are minor money in circulated grades and can be real money in certified mint state or proof.

The Eisenhower strike-quality problem

The Eisenhower dollar was the largest circulating United States coin of its era, and striking such a large piece of tough copper-nickel clad metal was hard on the Mint's dies. Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro used the Janvier reducing lathe repeatedly to lower the relief and extend die life for the circulation strikes and the uncirculated silver-clad coins.

The practical consequence for a modern owner is that many Ikes are poorly struck. Details on the eagle's feathers, the lunar surface behind the eagle, and the high points of Eisenhower's hair and cheekbone can be soft or partially missing. This is not damage. It is the strike itself, which is why a sharp Ike from 1971 or 1972 with full feather detail can carry a real premium in mint state.

The proof coins struck at San Francisco kept a higher relief throughout the series. Deep-mirror fields with sharp Cameo or Deep Cameo contrast between the frosted devices and the mirrored background separate the strongest proofs from the bulk of the population. Both major grading services track the Cameo and Deep Cameo designations on their labels.

What drives collectible value above face or melt

Most Eisenhower dollars a reader will encounter are common in absolute terms. A handful of factors move a specific coin above the melt or face floor. The list below is what a serious buyer or an established grading service is actually looking at.

Condition is the largest lever. A circulated common-date Ike trades at face value or, for silver-clad coins, at or near melt. A sharp original uncirculated coin certified by an independent grader trades for multiples of that floor. A superb-gem-grade example at MS-66 or higher can command significant premiums for even a common date because the strike-quality problem thinned out the high-grade population.

Date, mint mark and variety scarcity carry weight. The 1972 Philadelphia Type II, the 1776-1976 Philadelphia Type I in high grades, and clean examples of the peg leg 1971-S proofs are the recognized premium pieces. Well-struck examples of any 1971 or 1972 date benefit from the strike-quality problem that thinned out sharply-struck survivors.

Original mint packaging matters for the collector Ikes. An intact Blue Ike envelope with the pliofilm capsule and the original Mint documentation supports a premium above the raw coin. A Brown Ike box with its gold eagle seal intact and the proof capsule undisturbed supports a further premium, especially for a coin that grades Cameo or Deep Cameo.

Authenticity and originality are the final gate. A cleaned coin, a chemically altered piece, or a coin outside its original holder will always trade at a discount to an original example. Independent third-party grading is standard for any coin priced meaningfully above the common-date melt or face floor.

When cameo and deep cameo proofs are worth grading

Grading has a fee. For a common circulated Ike or a common Brown Ike proof that grades mid-range, the fee often exceeds the retail value uplift certification would provide. For certain proofs, however, the numbers change and grading is standard practice.

A silver Brown Ike proof from 1971 to 1974 with strong frost on Eisenhower's portrait and on the eagle, and deep mirrored fields, is a candidate for certification with the Cameo or Deep Cameo designation. A Cameo Ike proof trades above a plain proof of the same year. A Deep Cameo trades above the Cameo. The label difference is visible from across the room in an auction lot and it sets the market price.

A 1972 Philadelphia coin that a specialist believes may be the Type II Earth variety is another candidate for certification. The label decides the market: a certified 1972 Type II in a high mint-state grade is a different coin from an uncertified raw piece someone thinks is a Type II.

A 1971-S peg leg proof, a suspected variety attribution on a Bicentennial issue, or any Ike a reader plans to consign to a mainstream numismatic auction all benefit from certification. Verbal appraisals do not carry the same weight as a graded holder from an established independent service.

The cleaned-coin trap

Cleaning is the most common condition problem across the entire Ike series. A wiped, dipped, or polished Ike almost always shows fine hairline scratches under angled light, an unnatural uniform brightness across the surface, or a chemical color shift on the copper-bearing core showing through the silver-clad layers. Independent grading services assign a details grade to any coin they view as cleaned. A details grade typically cuts value against an original coin of the same technical rank.

A well-meant relative who wiped grandfather's Ike collection with a soft cloth to make the coins look nicer has almost always cost the collection real money. The advice is the same for any old coin: do not clean it. A page dedicated to that specific mistake lives on this site under why you should never clean old coins.

Counterfeits and altered Ikes to watch for

Eisenhower dollars are less faked than Morgan silver dollars or key-date Lincoln cents. The series is common, most dates are inexpensive, and the physical size and weight are hard to reproduce well without professional casting equipment. That said, a few problem patterns exist and any buyer paying above melt or face should know them.

Chinese cast counterfeit Ikes have appeared, aimed at the collector market rather than at general circulation. These pieces often show soft detail, a seam along the edge, an incorrect reeding count, or a weight outside the 22.68 gram clad or 24.624 gram silver specification. A calibrated jewelry scale is the fastest first check, and edge inspection under a loupe finds most cast fakes.

Altered coins are the second pattern. A 1972 Philadelphia Ike with a tooled or filed Earth is not a 1972 Type II. Any 1972 Type II sold outside a certified holder should be treated with skepticism, and the variety attribution should come from an established independent grading service before purchase.

Cleaned coins, polished coins, and coins outside their original Brown Ike or Blue Ike packaging sold as if they were still in original condition are the most common form of misrepresentation. These are not counterfeits in the strict sense, but the price gap between an original certified coin and a mishandled raw coin is large enough that the buyer bears the cost of the miscall.

What your Ike is probably not

Eisenhower dollar FAQ

By the Harry’s Coins Editorial team. Last reviewed August 2026.