1981-D Susan B Anthony Dollar
The 1981 Susan B. Anthony Dollars are generally considered to be the key dates of the short series, since they have the lowest circulation strike mintages. The coins were actually only produced for collectors this year and not released into general circulation. This was due to the predominantly negative response of the public to the new small sized dollar coin. Because of the similar size, weight, and color to the quarter, the coins were often confused in circulation. Many vendors eventually did not accept the coins.
All facilities of the US Mint produced Anthony Dollars for the year including Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. The mintages ranged from 3,000,000 to 3,492,000. The coins could be obtained in the annual United States Mint Set or in Souvenir Sets issued by each Mint.
Two varieties exist for the 1981-S Proof Susan B. Anthony Dollar. The “S” mint mark on the Type 1 variety is clear and rounded, while the Type 2 variety has a mint mark that is clear and flat with rounder serifs. The Type 2 is the scarcer variety with an estimated mintage of 330,000.
For many years, the 1981 Susan B Anthony Dollar was considered to be the final issue of a very short coin series. After a gap of 18 years, one final year of production took place in 1999.
