THE 1971-1972 HIGH RELIEF REVERSE DESIGN VARIETY “SHADOW IKE” and THE TWO 1972 TYPE 2 IKES
PART 3a
In Part 1 we presented Herbert Hick’s remarkable story of his March 1972 Type B Eisenhower Dollar (now called the Type 2, “the King of Ikes”) and the interesting 1972-S BS Silver “Shadow Ike”. Both share a small incuse crescent hugging the Earth at 10:30.
In Part 2, we reviewed hubs and dies to lay a foundation for our conclusion that the high relief Shadow Ike reverse design was probably the Original Reverse Design Variety used on all the 1971 and 1972 high relief Ikes: the 71-S and 72-S SP Ikes, the 72-S SB IKES, and the 1972(P) Type 2.
In Part 3, the up-tempo finale of this triptych, the authors will present:
1. a pictorial presentation of the three 1972 Philadelphia Ikes so you will never forget their appearance,
2. the contrail image at the south end of the Shadow image and a corresponding image on the remarkable 1971-D Friendly Eagle Variety (FEV, RDV-006), as well as and a bit more delightful Gasparro mischief!
3. Observations leading to our conclusion that there was a second 1972 Type 2 production run in August ‘72 and try to figure out if both runs were accidental or purposeful.
1. A REVIEW OF THE THREE 1972 (P) IKES
All three have the same obverse, a continuation of the 1971 Type 1 low relief obverse design but each has a different reverse:
– Herb’s 1972 Low Relief “Type A” Reverse Ike, now called “Type 1” (hereafter “T-1”), is a continuation of the initial 1971 low relief reverse design used in all 1971 Ikes except the high relief 1971-S Proof and the 1971-D “Friendly Eagle Variety” (low relief). The T-1 was produced at both the Philadelphia and Denver mints from July 1971 through early August 1972 (Figure 1a).
Figure 1a, T1 EARTH AND ISLANDS
– Herb’s 1972 High Relief “Type B” Reverse, now called “Type 2” (hereafter “T-2”), is the “variant” Herb found among1972 (P) Ikes in the Boston area beginning in March of 1972: it is a “mule” of sorts, a combination of the original low relief 1971-1972 obverse and the high relief 1971-S “Proof” reverse (except Herb’s MarchT-2 has the incuse crescent). There are no known Denver T-2’s (Figure 1b).
Figure 1b, T2 EARTH AND ISLANDS
– Herb’s 1972 High Relief “Type C” Reverse, now called “Type 3 (hereafter “T-3”), has a new (“modified”) high relief reverse design which was continued through 1978 except for the two Bicentennial reverses (Type 4 and Type 5 Reverse Designs): the 1972 T-3 was produced only at the Philadelphia Mint, from mid-August into early November. According to Mint authorities, the T-3 was the first Ike whose reverse die was made from the new more resilient steel (believe it if you want to) (Figure 1c).
Figure 1c, T3 EARTH AND ISLANDS
As you surmised from these six pictures, the easiest visual marker for these three reverse designs are their different Earths:
- The low relief T-1 has a slightly flattened Earth at 10:30 o’clock and the islands off Florida are three in-relief bumps Southeast off its tip.
- The high relief T-2 has a round Earth and the islands are incuse lines off Florida’s Southeast: also note Florida points further south.
- The high relief T-3 also has a round Earth but the islands are back to three in-relief bumps, this time centered under Florida.
Some of us are visual. For us, there is an easy way to “see” these three different reverses which helps keep them in mind (Figure 2): all you need are the first three BS Silver Ikes”:
– the T-1 (Low Relief) reverse is carried on the 1971-S BS Silver reverse;
– the T-2 (High Relief) reverse is carried on the 1972-S BS Silver reverse;
– the T-3 (High Relief) reverse is carried on the 1973-S BS Silver reverse.
Then, remember that the High Relief T-2 Reverse Design also appears on the 1971-S Proof, the 1972-S Proof and the 1972 (P) T-2 and you are on your way to Ike expertise.
Figure 2, T-1 BS 1971-S T-2 BS 1972-S (SI) T-3 BS 1973-S
2. LIFT-OFF AND RE-ENTRY VEHICLEs PLUS A PLANTED FLAG, WONDERFUL EXAMPLES OF GASPARRO’S LOVE OF DETAILS
Let’s revisit the photographs of the 1972-2 SB IKE Shadow Image presented in SECTION I:
You may have noticed the interesting image at the far southern end of the Shadow? Look closely. Remind you of anything? How about this image?
This is the classic NASA “Contrail” image displayed by any vehicle travelling rapidly in the outer atmosphere.
The IKE GROUP presents for your consideration this suggestion: the contrail image seen at the far south of the Shadow image represents the lift-off vehicle and the “Shadow” represents the exhaust plume.
OK, OK, sounds far-fetched. But please examine this image:
1971-D FRIENDLY EAGLE VARIETY (FEV, RDV-006) EARTH
Notice anything at exactly the same location as the contrail on the Shadow Ike high-relief reverse?
Another contrail image!, this time pointing North. The IKE GROUP suggests this bit of Gasparro creativity is his portrayal of the Alollo 11 Re-entry Vehicle.
From our extensive research of Gasparro’s Ike designs and from the excruciating coin design details he labored over and argued for (he threatened to resign if all the minute details on his design of the Lincoln cent Memorial Reverse ….
(Continued in IIIb)