The United States Mint began issuing modern commemorative coins in 1982 after a long hiatus. One of the popular denominations for commemorative coins is the silver dollar size. The first modern silver dollar commemorative featured the Los Angeles Olympiad in 1983. In recent years, there have generally been one or two commemorative coins issued as silver dollars for each year. In 2006, this included coins for Benjamin Franklin and the Old San Francisco Mint. In 2007, there were coins for Jamestown and Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2008, the Bald Eagle was featured on a commemorative silver dollar. The varied nature of the designs make these an interesting assemblage.
Commemorative Silver Dollar Coin Specifications
| Dates: |
1983-present |
| Mints: |
Philadelphia |
|
Denver |
|
San Francisco |
| Composition: |
90% silver |
|
10% copper |
| Weight: |
26.73 grams |
|
0.86 ounces |
| Diameter: |
31.10 mm |
|
1.5 inches |
dollars commemorative
The third design for the nickel, was the Indian Head or Buffalo Nickel. This coin is popular with collectors as a uniquely American coin design. The obverse features a native American and the reverse features the American Bison, often called a buffalo. The coin specifications once again remained unchanged. Coins were stuck at all three mints, with coin struck at San Francisco generally having the lowest mintages. The Buffalo Nickel was struck in proof for only the first five years and last two years of production.
Buffalo Nickel Coin Specifications
| Dates: |
1913-1938 |
| Mints: |
Philadelphia |
|
Denver |
|
San Francisco |
| Composition: |
75% copper |
|
25% nickel |
| Weight: |
5.00 grams |
|
0.16 ounces |
| Diameter: |
21.21 mm |
|
0.84 inches |
nickels buffalo
The nickel denomination saw its second design with the Liberty Nickel, introduced in 1883. The coin had the same composition as the Shield Nickel fore it, with 75% copper and 25% nickel. The Liberty Nickel was minted only at the Philadelphia Mint until the last year of production when coins were also minted in Denver and San Francisco. These were the first coins of the denomination minted somewhere other than Philadelphia. The Liberty Nickel was well circulated, and has a few notable key date coins that are rare across all grades. Proof coins were minted in every year of issue.
Liberty Nickel Coin Specifications
| Dates: |
1883-1912 |
| Mints: |
Philadelphia |
|
Denver |
|
San Francisco |
| Composition: |
75% copper |
|
25% nickel |
| Weight: |
5.00 grams |
|
0.16 ounces |
| Diameter: |
21.21 mm |
|
0.84 inches |
nickels liberty
The Barber Dime was issued from 1892 to 1916, replacing the long running Seated Liberty Dime. The coin was designed by Charles E. Barber and features a rendition of Liberty facing left and wearing a Phygian cap. The reverse features an agricultural wreath bordering the denomination in the center. During the run of the Barber Dime series, coins were produced at the Philadelphia, Denver, New Orleans, and San Francisco Mints. The scarcest coin is the 1894-S, which reportedly only had 24 coins produced. The coins were struck in the 90% silver composition that had been used for the previous design.
Barber Dime Coin Specifications
| Dates: |
1892-1916 |
| Mints: |
Philadelphia |
|
Denver |
|
New Orleans |
|
San Francisco |
| Composition: |
90% silver |
|
10% copper |
| Weight: |
2.50 grams |
|
0.08 ounces |
| Diameter: |
17.91 mm |
|
0.71 inches |
dimes barber
The Kennedy Half Dollar was produced in 90% silver for its first year of release in 1964. The composition was switched to 40% silver and used from 1965 to 1970. The final composition was a copper nickel clad based composition, which had been used to produce the quarter and dime since 1965. The composition consists of an outer layer of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a core of pure copper. This yields a net composition of 91.67% coper and 8.33% nickel. Coins were struck for circulation by the Philadelphia and Denver Mints from 1971 to present.
Clad Kennedy Half Dollar Coin Specifications
| Dates: |
1971-present |
| Mints: |
Philadelphia |
|
Denver |
| Composition: |
91.67% copper |
|
8.33% nickel |
| Weight: |
11.34 grams |
|
0.36 ounces |
| Diameter: |
30.61 mm |
|
1.21 inches |
halves kennedy