Ultimately, both of Gasparro's original submissions were rejected in favor of a portrait of the suffragist who led the fight that eventually won women the right to vote. Many collectors lobbied against the Anthony proposal in favor of a more traditional, allegorical portrait. Meanwhile, a contingent in Congress was leaning toward placing feminist Susan B. Gasparro's proposed reverse design featured an eagle flying over a mountain, 13 stars and the sun's rays. He prepared sketches and models for an obverse featuring Liberty with flowing hair and pole and Phrygian cap behind her head, similar to the portrait on the Liberty Cap half cent and cent of 1793. When discussion of a smaller-sized dollar coin came about, Gasparro hoped he would get the opportunity to create a classic design. Mint's chief engraver when the Anthony dollar was authorized. The new dollar was recommended to be 26.54 millimeters in diameter (a quarter dollar is 24.3 millimeters), weigh 8 grams, be 2.03 millimeters thick, and have a distinctive security edge so it could be distinguished from slugs and other coins.įrank Gasparro was the U.S. The RTI recommended that cent production be halted by 1980, the dollar coin be downsized and the half dollar be eliminated.Īt the same time, the Treasury released a study titled ' A New Small Dollar Coin – Technical Considerations.' That study recommended the new dollar be the same composition as the quarter dollar – 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel bonded to a copper core, and that it be round. coinage system requirements through 1990. The year-long study, conducted by Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina, focused on U.S.

It's amazing that a coin that incurred so much scorn could still be such a trendsetter in its own way.Ī serious discussion of a smaller-sized dollar coin began after a September 1976 study was released by the U.S.

The 'firsts' are only accorded the Anthony dollar, issued to honor Susan B. First circulating coin to bear a noncircular rim device.įirst circulating dollar coin to bear the 'P' Mint mark and only the second denomination to bear the 'P' Mint mark.įirst dollar coin struck strictly in a nonprecious metal alloy. The first circulating coin to depict an actual woman instead of an allegorical representation. Scorned Anthony dollars now popular with some collectors

1981 susan b anthony dollar coin value