The coin depicts President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the obverse, and a stylized image honoring the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon mission on the reverse.

Although the 40% silver collector's pieces sold well, the new base-metal dollars failed to circulate to any significant degree, except in and around Nevada casinos, where they were preferred over privately issued tokens.

Given their modest cost and the short length of the series, complete sets of Eisenhower dollars are inexpensive to assemble and are gaining popularity with coin collectors.

The silver dollar had never been a popular coin, circulating little except in the West; it served as a means of monetizing metal and generally sat in bank vaults once struck.

[2] The law had been passed at the urging of the Senate Majority Leader, Mike Mansfield (Democrat–Montana), who represented a state that heavily used silver dollars.

On May 24, one day before a hastily called congressional hearing, Adams announced that the pieces were deemed trial strikes, never intended for circulation.

While some representatives spoke against the manner in which the legislation was to be considered, Iowa Congressman H. R. Gross objected to the base-metal composition of the proposed coin: "You would be doing the memory of President Eisenhower no favor to mint a dollar made perhaps of scrap metal.

Instrumental in the passage of the Senate amendment was a letter from Mamie Eisenhower, recalling that her husband had liked to give silver dollars as mementoes, and had gone to some effort to obtain coins struck in the year of his birth, 1890.

[14][15] Idaho Senator James McClure stated, "It is somehow beneath the dignity of a great president like General Eisenhower to withhold silver from the coin."

On October 29, 1969, Texas Representative Robert R. Casey introduced legislation to honor both Eisenhower and the recent Apollo 11 Moon landing.

[24] Gasparro wrote in 1991 that he had six weeks to complete the work beginning in mid-November 1970, that his extensive research into eagles over the years was a great help in creating the reverse, and that his sketches were adopted without change.

At Congress's insistence, the chief engraver created a design in commemoration of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, based on the mission patch conceived by astronaut Michael Collins and others.

Bowers deems the choice of the lunar landing "a stroke of genius," allowing the dollar, which would be little-used in commerce, to be a commemorative both of Eisenhower and of the Moon mission.

[24] Bowers deems the bust of Eisenhower "well modeled" by Gasparro, and notes that the fact that the eagle on the reverse holds only an olive branch, rather than arrows as well (token of war), "meant that the public would like the design.

A sponsoring organization would be designated in the authorizing legislation, and was permitted to buy up the issue at face value, selling it to the public at a premium, and pocketing the difference.

[60] Williams and the designers of the other denominations operated the presses to strike the first coins on August 12, 1974; a set of these prototypes was later given to the new president, Gerald Ford.

[61][62] Williams's design was liked by the public but attracted criticism from some numismatists as the Liberty Bell had been previously used on coinage (for example, on the Franklin half dollar).

Brooks called a halt in production to allow Gasparro to modify the dies; the most noticeable change is that the revised issue, or Type II as it came to be known, have narrower, sharper lettering on the reverse.

[72] One proof Bicentennial coin in silver clad and lacking a mint mark, similar to the dollar in the prototype set given to President Ford, is known.

The firm concluded in its report that the Eisenhower dollar was too large and heavy to circulate effectively, but if the diameter was reduced by about a third, and the weight by two-thirds, it might be used.

Gasparro prepared, for the circulating pieces, a design showing Liberty with flowing hair, similar to early American coins.

Ohio Representative Mary Rose Oakar also introduced legislation for a Susan B. Anthony dollar in October 1978; it proceeded rapidly through Congress and was signed by President Jimmy Carter.

It need not have worried; the public quickly rejected the new coin as too close in size and weight to the quarter dollar, and production for circulation ceased after 1980.

[82] Attempts were made to give the new smaller dollars out as change in postal transactions, and to force their use by U.S. military personnel in Europe; both failed.

[86] Collected by date and mint mark, no Eisenhower dollar is rare; as a result, the coins are relatively inexpensive and a complete set may be acquired without difficulty.

Although lower-grade silver coins can be melted, this is not practical for Eisenhower dollars due to the lack of precious metal content, and dealers often try to get any premium they can on face value.

According to numismatic writer Steve Reach, "as more people submit modern-era coins like Eisenhower dollars for third-party certification, the true rarity of many issues in top-grades is becoming clear.

[89] The Type II is from a single reverse die, used in March 1972, and erroneously placed in service at Philadelphia—it is identical to and should have been used for the silver proof strikes at San Francisco.

Wexler, Crawford, and Flynn report an even rarer 1776–1976-D dollar in silver, but state that none have been offered at auction or submitted to the major coin grading services.

It was the most technically challenging coin ever attempted  ... Researching the Eisenhower Dollar is vital for numismatic historians who want to understand what the post-silver era was like.