1971

The 1971 launched the program with 47,799,000 pieces from Philadelphia, the first U.S. dollar coin since the 1935 Peace Dollar concluded its run. The Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 authorized the new design, and the Mint chose to honor President Eisenhower, who had died in 1969, with a coin of the same 38.1 mm diameter and reeded edge as the Morgan and Peace dollars he had grown up with. Frank Gasparro, Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint, designed both sides: an Eisenhower portrait on the obverse, and on the reverse a stylized eagle landing on the moon, adapted from the Apollo 11 mission patch designed by astronaut Michael Collins. The composition was copper-nickel clad, 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel over a pure copper core, the same alloy used for the dime, quarter, and half dollar since 1965.

Strike quality on the 1971-P is workmanlike rather than sharp. The high relief on Eisenhower's portrait wears quickly on coins struck from later die states, and the moon's surface texture on the reverse shows softness on the great majority of examples. Most surviving coins grade MS63 to MS65 from broken bags and Mint Set releases, and PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations thin sharply at MS66. The 1971-P is genuinely scarce in MS67 and above, where the heavy 22.68-gram planchet's tendency to acquire bag marks during shipment produces a real condition rarity. No major doubled-die or repunched-mintmark varieties are documented for the issue.

This is a regular common date in raw form and inexpensive certified in MS65 or MS66, but the gap to MS67 is the place where collector demand actually shows up. The 1971-P is the entry point for the series and the right place to start a date set. For the broader story of how the Eisenhower dollar was authorized, designed, and ultimately failed in commerce, see the Eisenhower Dollar series history.