After purchasing an 1893-S Morgan for my collection, it is time for a brief break to pursue a newfound love.

Greetings everyone, with a little encouragement from E4norbi, I have found a new appreciation and love for the Eisenhower Dollar. It?s not that I got up one morning to discover I liked the Eisenhower Dollar, but rather it?s something that has developed over time. In other words, it is a culmination of events along the way ending with E4norbi?s latest post to propel me over the top.

These events started for me when I was a boy, as much of my collecting today has its roots in my childhood. I first started collecting coins around the time the Eisenhower Dollar was first minted. Because I loved the Morgan Dollar, it was only natural for me to be excited about a new circulating dollar coin, especially after the dollar?s long absence from circulation. Since I was young and naive, I remember buying an Eisenhower Dollar that had been gold-plated. Today, I would never consider buying anything like that. However, at the time I thought the coin was really cool.

When I was young, everything about space exploration mesmerized me. I remember exactly where I was when I first heard the announcement on July 20, 1969 that ?The Eagle has landed?. Further endearing me to the Eisenhower Dollar is its reverse featuring the mission patch of Apollo 11 (however, this does not translate to the SBA Dollar because I favored a classic design on the smaller dollar).

Now fast forward 35 years or so, and I?m writing the owner comments for the Ike?s in my type sets, while enjoying every minute of it. Add to this, the many interesting numismatic twists in this series and I?m hooked. Therefore, I have started a complete set of circulation issue Eisenhower Dollars. With some of the proceeds from my ?Phase 1? sale, I purchased a NGC MS-68, 1972-S silver Eisenhower Dollar as the first new coin of my registry set.

Much of the Eisenhower Dollar?s design relates to manned space flight. For it was President Dwight D Eisenhower, who on July 29, 1958 signed legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Furthermore, the original design concept for the Apollo 11 mission patch featured on the reverse of the Eisenhower Dollar came from Apollo 11 astronaut, Michael Collins.

Sadly, now 42 years later to the day that Neil Armstrong and Edwin ?Buzz? Aldrin walked on the moon, the space shuttle Atlantis landed for the last time at Kennedy Space Flight Center. This landing officially ends the 30-year-old space shuttle program and effectively places on indefinite hold any future manned space exploration. Therefore, as a tribute to NASA and manned space flight, I offer this photo collage based on the original charter of NASA symbolized by an olive branch carried by an Eagle representing America.

Gary