Susan B. Anthony Dollar
Obverse Design: Susan B. Anthony
Designer: Frank Gasparro
Design Year: 1979
Reverse Design: Apollo 11 Mission Insignia
Designer: Frank Gasparro
Design Year: 1979 (re-sizing of 1971 design for Eisenhower dollar)
Production Years: 1979-1981, 1999
Mintmarks: P (Philadelphia), D (Denver), S (San Francisco)
Mintmark Location: On obverse, just left of her collar.
Diameter: 26.5mm
Thickness: 2.0mm
Edge: Reeded
Composition: 91.66% Copper, 8.33% Nickel
Mass: 8.1g
Notes: The Susan B. Anthony dollar was originally intended to be hendecagonal (11-sided), but this was changed to round with an 11 sided rim bordering the edges on both sides due to protests from vending machine manufacturers that expensive re-tooling of machines would be required to accommodate an irregularly shaped coin. Like other dollar coins, the Susan B. Anthony dollar never circulated well and after a large production run in 1979 only a minimal number were produced in 1980. None were produced for circulation in 1981 when all production went into Mint sets for sale to collectors. Many of these sets have been broken up, and finding 1981 dollars in circulation is rather common. In the 80’s and 90’s, increasing numbers of vending machines began giving change in dollar coins, increasing the demand. The Treasury had millions of Susan B. Anthony dollars in its vaults, but these were slowly depleted. By 1998, the Treasury’s stocks were nearly gone, but it was determined that production of the Sacagawea dollar couldn’t begin until 2000 and the Mint lacked legal authority to change the design of the dollar coin. To bridge the gap, the Susan B. Anthony dollar was re-struck in 1999, the longest hiatus for the same design of a circulating coin in US history (one year longer than for the Morgan Silver Dollar).
Near Date (Left) vs. Normal Date (Righ)
There are several varieties of Susan B. Anthony dollar that can be collected. The 1979-P “Near Date” or “Wide Rim” variety is somewhat scarce.
Proof Mintmark Comparison
In the proof set, 1979 and 1981 each have two types of mintmark (imaginatively named “Type I” and “Type II”) which can be collected, with Type II being the rarer in both cases.
Susan B. Anthony Mintages
| Issue | Total Mintage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1979-P | 360,222,000 | 1979P "Near Date" can be desirable |
| 1979-D | 288,015,744 | |
| 1979-S | 109,576,000 | Type 1 mint mark blobby, type 2 more distinct, rarer |
| 1980-P | 27,610,000 | |
| 1980-D | 41,628,708 | |
| 1980-S | 20,422,000 | |
| 1981-P | 3,000,000 | 1981 only produced for Mint sets, but may be circulating |
| 1981-D | 3,250,000 | |
| 1981-S | 3,492,000 | 1981S has type 1 and 2 mintmarks, type 2 rarer |
| 1999-P | 35,892,000 | |
| 1999-D | 11,776,000 |
