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1979-S
| Weight | 8.1 g |
| Diameter | 26.5 mm |
| Mint | San Francisco |
| Strike | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 109,576,000 Combined mintage for all 1979-S varieties |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Alignment | ↑↓ Coin |
| Composition | Copper-Nickel Clad (75% Cu, 25% Ni bonded to pure Cu core) |
| Melt value | — |
| Designer | Frank Gasparro |
| Collector's Key ID | CK-4846 |
Collection
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No additional varieties recorded for this strike.
External references
The 1979-S is the only San Francisco-mint Susan B. Anthony dollar struck for general circulation, with 109,576,000 pieces from the launch year. Most modern San Francisco dollar production had been confined to proof issues since 1968, and the choice to push circulation strikes through the Western mint reflected the Treasury's attempt to spread inaugural-year output across all three facilities while inventories built up at the Federal Reserve. After 1980 San Francisco shifted back to proof-only Susan B. Anthony work and never struck another business strike for the series. Frank Gasparro's portrait of Susan B. Anthony pairs with his Apollo-11-derived eagle reverse, scaled down from the Eisenhower dollar he had designed eight years earlier.
Strike quality on the 1979-S runs slightly softer than Denver and Philadelphia work for the same year. The eagle's claws and the lunar surface come up cleanly, but Anthony's hair and the eleven-sided inner border can read soft on coins struck from later die states. Most surviving examples grade MS64 to MS66 from broken-bag releases, and PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations thin at MS67. The 1979-S Type 1 Filled S and Type 2 Clear S mintmark distinction that separates the year's proofs is a proof-only phenomenon. The two punches were applied to dies that produced San Francisco proof coins and do not carry over to circulation strikes, where the mintmark style is consistent across the run.
This is a regular common date that completes the trio of inaugural-year mints. Its only meaningful collecting hook is its singular status as the lone S-mint Susan B. Anthony business strike. Raw examples trade near face value, and certified MS66 coins remain inexpensive enough that the date is rarely the constraining factor in finishing a date set. For the policy backdrop and the design history that produced the failed size, see the Susan B. Anthony Dollar series history.
Reference data only — not an appraisal.
| Grade | Description | Low | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| G-4 | Good (G) | $1 | $1 |
| VG-8 | Very Good (VG) | $1 | $1 |
| F-12 | Fine (F) | $1 | $1 |
| VF-20 | Very Fine (VF) | $1 | $1 |
| EF-40 | Extremely Fine (EF) | $1 | $1 |
| AU-50 | About Uncirculated (AU) | $1 | $1 |
| MS-60 | Uncirculated (MS) | — | — |
| MS-63 | Choice Uncirculated (MS) | $6 | $6.50 |
How much is a 1979-S Susan B. Anthony Dollar worth?
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Is the 1979-S Susan B. Anthony Dollar a key date?
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