Bill Jones' Basic Type set
$1 EISENHOWER BICENTENNIAL (1976 )

Owner Comments:

In October 1973 the United States Treasury Department announced that it would hold a contest redesign the quarter, half dollar and dollar to celebrate the Bicentennial era. The winner of the contest for the Dollar coin was Dennis T. Williams. Williams’ design featured the Liberty Bell superimposed over the moon. Although the Liberty Bell was hanging in the bell tower on the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed, it did not achieve its icon status until the Civil War. At that time abolitionists used the old bell, which had long since been cracked and rendered useless, as a symbol for their cause. The signature large crack was actually an area that workmen drilled out of the bell’s surface in a vain attempt to restore its tone. The moon was included in the design to celebrate the July 20, 1969 moon landing, which America’s most recent achievement at that time. The late 1960s and early to mid 1970s were a disconcerting time in America’s history. The Vietnam War, the Watergate Scandal, social unrest, lines at gas stations and a continuing period of economic “stagflation” (Inflation and a recession at the same time) had wrecked many American’s confidence. The moon landing was still a source of pride for many Americans during a time of continuing self doubt. The obverse of the coin was the standard portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1975 and ‘76, the coins carried the duel dates, 1776 – 1976. In 1977 the Treasury resumed the standard date and reverse. This would be the last of the silver clad Eisenhower dollars. The series, which began in 1971 came to an end in 1977 when the mint only offered these coins in the copper-nickel clad format as a part of the standard Proof sets.