1972 Type 2

The 1972 Type 2 is the scarce middle reverse variety of the year and the most-collected die variation of the entire Eisenhower series outside the Bicentennial transition. The combined 1972 Philadelphia output across all three reverse types was 75,890,000 dollars; the Type 2 share is the smallest of the three because the variant was caught mid-production and replaced with the corrected Type 3 within weeks. The Type 2 reverse Earth shows higher relief than the Type 1 with sharper continental outlines, but the proportions of the landmasses are inconsistent with both the Type 1 and the Type 3 corrected design; Florida and the Caribbean read as oddly oversized against the rest of the globe.

Authentication of a Type 2 claim turns on two diagnostics. First, the southern coastline of Florida on a genuine Type 2 ends with a sharp peninsula tip pointing into the Caribbean, where the Type 1 shows no Florida at all and the Type 3 carries a more rounded, anatomically correct peninsula. Second, the islands above South America on the Type 2 cluster together in a tight, raised group at higher relief than either the Type 1 (flat) or the Type 3 (separated and properly proportioned). PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC both list the variety in their slabs, and for any meaningful spend the certified route is the only safe route given that counterfeits and over-graded raw Type 1 coins turn up regularly. Most certified examples grade MS63 to MS65; MS66 and above is condition-scarce.

The 1972 Type 2 is a popular series Variety pickup that trades at a strong multiple of the Type 1 and Type 3 across all Mint State grades. Pricing has held steady across the past two decades. For the design-change context and the broader story of the series, see the Eisenhower Dollar series history.