This ground-breaking mini dollar coin was intended to save the
U.S. Mint production costs over the big Eisenhower dollar. But the
nation’s first small dollar series didn’t gain wide public acceptance
in commerce when it was issued from 1979-1981. The principal
reason was that the coin closely resembled the quarter in color
and size. And U.S. dollar bills were not phased out when the SBA
dollar was introduced. In 1999 these additional coins were minted
to meet the needs of vending machines. |