Bicentennial Dollar
Apr 12, 2017 The 1976 Liberty silver dollar commemorates the bicentennial year of the United States. The design and date were changed only for this year and returned to the original Eisenhower design in 1977. Get the best deals on Bicentennial Half Dollar when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items Browse your favorite brands affordable prices.
Kevin R. writes: I have what appears to be a Bicentennial Liberty Gold coin. However the Lady Liberty is facing right with 13 stars around her head. On the reverse it says United States Of America around the top, in the center an Eagle with olive Branches in left claw and what appears to be arrows in the right. Below that it says BICENTENNIAL then on the bottom 1776-1976. I have never found any mention of it anywhere also on the coin’s rim or side it is completely smooth no ridges. It also seems to have some weight to it…Coin Doc, can you help me I’m going crazy trying to find it even mentioned anywhere.
You have one of the “orphaned” Bicentennial Mint Medals. These are hardly ever mentioned in coin publications and seemed to have been ignored by medal collectors. There are two, both in .900 fine gold, one larger than a five dollar gold coin (little over a third of a troy ounce) and one larger than a $10 gold coin (about two thirds of a troy ounce). They were issued in a blue box from the Philadelphia Mint.
I haven’t seen one of these in a while but I remember that no one wanted to pay more than gold value for them. Many were melted in the “gold rush days” of the 1980’s. Someday they will be “discovered” and the few remaining pieces will become valuable. In the meantime, see the CoinSite Precious Metals Page for current gold prices.
1976 was the 200th anniversary of American independence. To help celebrate the event, the backs of three circulating coins were given a special design. This was the first time in American history that any circulating coin came out with new designs for a special occasion that were made for only a short period of time. In this case, these designs were made in 1975 and 1976, though none shows a 1975 date; all say “1776–1976.” These unique coins are shown and described below.
Bicentennial Dollar Coin No Mint Mark
Quarter Dollar
In 1976, the quarter dollar had already used a portrait of George Washington on the front since 1932, the 200th anniversary of Washington’s birth.
The new bicentennial design on the back was made up of a colonial drummer and a victory torch surrounded by thirteen stars.
Bicentennial Dollar Value
Half Dollar
President John F. Kennedy first appeared on the half dollar in 1964, the year after his assassination.
The bicentennial design on the back features Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which was the state house of Pennsylvania at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed there.
Dollar
Bicentennial Dollar Coins Value
The one-dollar coin of 1976 kept the portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower on the front that first appeared there in 1971.
On the back, an image of the Liberty Bell and the moon suggest a link between the past and the future. (The first American astronauts had landed on the moon in 1969.)
Teachers
Check out the Bicentennial quarter lesson plans created as part of the 50 State Quarters Program (“lesson 6” for each grade group).