1971-D Eisenhower Dollars Were Struck First The Act also carried an important provision that authorized the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell 2.8 million Carson City Morgan dollars from the vaults of the United States Treasury.

These coins would be produced at the San Francisco Mint and sold directly by the United States Mint. The Act also allowed for the production of numismatic versions struck from a 40% silver composition to be sold at a significant premium over face value to collectors. Nixon on December 31, 1970, the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 authorized the production of the Cu-Ni clad Eisenhower dollar for circulation. In the five years since the composition change, silver coins all but disappeared from circulation and the silver-clad Kennedy half dollars saw very limited use. 900 fine to a 40% silver-clad composition. The Coinage Act of 1965 called for the removal of silver from America’s dimes and quarters and reduced the silver content of half dollars from.

However, Congress had no interest in continuing to produce circulating coins in silver. Mint Director Mary Brooks initially lobbied for the coin to be struck in silver, continuing with tradition. Eisenhower, Congressional openness to reintroducing a circulating dollar coin to honor the former president took root. Treasury stockpiles of the coins dwindled in the 1960s, which left the gaming industry with a bit of a dilemma. However, as demand for these silver dollars increased, the supply began to dwindle. Nowhere did American silver dollars flow more freely than at the gambling cities of Reno and Las Vegas, where silver dollars were the currency of choice for casino slot machines. While large silver dollar coins saw little practical circulation in America’s more populated regions, the coins did see use in the American West, where the durability of metal over paper gave coins a clear advantage.

1972 ike dollar value