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The 200th anniversary of the United States was celebrated in 1976 in gala fashion. Parades of tall ships sailed the waters of New York Harbor, grand fireworks showered the skies of Boston and Chicago, celebratory processions marched through Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and hometown parades cheered throughout every other corner of the land. The United States Mint also honored the nation’s Bicentennial by striking quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins with 1776-1976 dual dating on their obverses and patriotic commemorative designs on the reverses.
The 1776-1976 Bicentennial Dollar is the result of a multiyear effort by the American Revolutionary Bicentennial Commission Coins and Medals Advisory Committee, which recommended the United States Mint strike circulating commemorative coins honoring the 200th anniversary of the United States. Such an initiative had to be approved by Congress and coordinated with the United States Treasury and United States Mint – all entities that initially weren’t too keen on the idea.
Eventually, U.S. Mint Director Mary Brooks grew to believe a Bicentennial coin program was a worthwhile cause and persuaded Treasury Secretary George Shultz to support Bicentennial coin legislation on Capitol Hill. Over most of 1973, Congress hammered out a bill calling for a 1776-1976 dual-dating feature on the obverse of the quarter, half dollar, and dollar, and the reverses of the three coins to each carry a special commemorative design. The bill was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on October 18, 1973, and a nationwide design competition generated nearly 900 designs submitted by the public.
Dennis R. Williams was one of the lucky three whose designs were selected for the three 1776-1976 Bicentennial coins. The 22-year-old’s motif of the Liberty Bell superimposed on the Moon was destined for the reverse of the dollar. The 1776-1976 Bicentennial Dollar began production in February 1975, with copper-nickel clad strikes for circulation and some proofs, while a 40% silver version was made in uncirculated and proof format for collectors.
Before long, striking issues on the copper-nickel dollar led the U.S. Mint to make minor modifications to the reverse; the most notable of these was making the lettering more slender and sharper. This compelled the numismatic community to denote two types for the copper-nickel clad Bicentennial Dollars, with those carrying the original, bolder letters known as “Type I” and the latter pieces with the refined lettering categorized as “Type II.”
When considered by date, the 1976 Bicentennial Dollars are collectively the most numerous of the Ike Dollar series, which ran from 1971 through 1978. The Philadelphia and Denver Mints struck more than 220 million clad examples for circulation and 7 million clad proofs were emitted from San Francisco. The 40% silver numismatic issues also saw robust output, with more than 4.9 million being struck in uncirculated format and nearly 4 million as proofs. While the coin remains widely available as we march into the Semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary, of the United States, the 1776-1976 Bicentennial Dollar is still popular with collectors. The last of the large-size circulating dollar series enjoys increasing interest as more and more collectors pursue PCGS Registry Sets of Eisenhower Dollars and find joy in collecting this modern coin.