In the middle of 1999 came the curious news that the Susan B. Anthony dollar would again be struck for circulation, after a lapse of nearly 20 years. Perhaps the most ridiculed coin ever issued by the mints of the United States, the huge inventory of “Agony” dollars, as they were frequently called by collectors, had gradually been whittled down by the Treasury until it was announced that the government would be forced to mint more to meet demand.
Despite the Treasury announcement, there existed no real public demand for this coin in 1999. Many of them were forced into circulation through post offices and rapid-area transit systems. Those who attended the Portland American Numismatic Association convention, for example, in August 1998 well remember riding the MAX railway and getting change in Anthony dollars at the ticket vending machines.
It is of course the official rationale that these coins were needed to fill in the gap until the new Sacagawea dollars were issued to the public early in the year 2000. Because there are many new collectors that started in the hobby after 1981, it is worth reviewing the history of this coinage.
As many collectors and commentators have noted, the Anthony dollar is best described as a classic case of how not to design and market a new coin. The old adage about the government
