Not every coin produced by the United States Mint is embraced by the public or does its job for a consequential period of time. Some start out promising and then drop off, while others are spectacular failures from the outset.
This is not to say that any of these coins are not interesting or unwanted, as they all have avid collector bases. In some cases, they can be both rare and expensive.
What we mean by “failed” is that a coin’s design, production, and demand as currency just were not there to justify its existence. As often happens with government, they are reluctant to “pull the plug” on obvious mistakes and unnecessary denominations and series.
Here is CoinWeek’s list of Ten U.S. Coin “Failures”.
1. The $3 Gold Piece
When Congress authorized the Three-Dollar Gold piece in 1853, the logic was questionable from the start. Many believed the denomination would simplify buying sheets of three-cent postage stamps. But when the postal rate dropped to two cents in 1883, that rationale evaporated.
Although the coin debuted with a robust mintage in 1854, annual production soon plunged. Its size—only slightly larger than the long-established quarter eagle—offered no clear advantage, and the public simply didn’t need it. By 1889, the Mint quietly retired the denomination. Today, the coin remains interesting mainly for its oddity and rarity in later dates.
2. The Eisenhower Dollar
The Eisenhower Dollar (1971–1978) honored both President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Apollo 11 mission. It was also the last large circulating dollar coin struck in base metal.
Despite enormous demand during its launch—over 280 million coins minted in the first two years—the Ike Dollar quickly stalled. The coin was large, heavy, and inconvenient for daily use, and most vending machines couldn’t accept it. Collectors disliked the stiff Mint premiums attached to the 40% silver versions, which helped fund the short-lived Eisenhower College.
By the mid-1970s, Treasury reports showed that most Ike Dollars were sitting idle in vaults. The denomination was replaced soon after by the smaller Susan B. Anthony Dollar.
3. The 20-Cent Piece
The 20-cent piece, struck from 1875 to 1878, existed largely thanks to Nevada Senator John P. Jones and the enormous silver output of the Comstock Lode. The Mint already produced Trade Dollars for export, so another silver denomination wasn’t truly needed.
The biggest problem, however, was confusion. With a nearly identical obverse to the quarter and a similar reverse, the public constantly mixed the two up. And in the eastern states—where small coins already circulated freely—the denomination solved no genuine monetary need. Production ended rapidly, and only Proofs were made during the final two years.
4. The Flying Eagle Cent
The Flying Eagle Cent (1856–1858) didn’t fail due to public disinterest. Instead, it collapsed under its own technical challenges.
When copper prices made the large cent too costly, the Mint shifted to a smaller copper-nickel coin. The Flying Eagle design worked well in patterns, but in mass production the hard alloy and high-relief devices caused striking problems. Dies cracked frequently, and many coins emerged weakly struck.
After just two circulating years, the Mint replaced the design with the Indian Head Cent. A few years later, the copper-nickel alloy itself was abandoned.
5. The $4 Stella
In the late 1870s, Congress explored creating a U.S. gold coin compatible with Europe’s Latin Monetary Union. Representative John A. Kasson championed a $4 coin—the Stella—designed to match the value of a French 20-franc piece.
Unfortunately, the plan never worked. A Stella contained slightly more gold than its European counterpart, preventing a true 1:1 exchange rate.
Meanwhile, Dr. William Hubbell’s proposed “goloid” alloy sparked skepticism at the Mint.
Only 465 Proof Stellas were struck for presentation purposes in 1879 and 1880. Without public support, the idea faded. While the coin later gained notoriety through rumors of being worn in Washington social circles, its real legacy is as a short-lived experiment in international currency.
6. The Presidential Dollar Series
Launched in 2007, the Presidential $1 Coin Program aimed to revitalize the dollar coin and spark historical interest. Congress approved four designs per year featuring U.S. presidents in order of service.
Although the Mint produced nearly a billion coins during the first year alone, the series quickly stalled. Americans preferred paper currency, and the rising stockpile of uncirculated Presidential Dollars eventually exceeded $1.4 billion.
The program also faced controversy when thousands of coins left the Mint without edge lettering, omitting the date, mintmark, and national mottos. By 2011, the coins were pulled from circulation and struck only for collectors.
7. The Susan B. Anthony Dollar
Introduced in 1979, the Susan B. Anthony Dollar was designed as a practical replacement for the bulky Eisenhower Dollar and marked the first appearance of a real woman on a circulating U.S. coin.
However, the coin’s size proved fatal. At only 2.2 mm wider than a quarter, it looked and felt too similar, leading to constant confusion.
Vending machine companies spent heavily to update equipment, yet the public still preferred dollar bills.
After weak demand, circulation strikes ended in 1981. The Mint briefly revived the coin in 1999 to meet a temporary shortage of dollar coins, but the denomination never found public acceptance.
8. The Two-Cent Piece
Created during the Civil War to alleviate a widespread coin shortage, the Two-Cent Piece debuted in 1864 and became the first U.S. coin to feature IN GOD WE TRUST.
Although early production was strong, demand collapsed after the war. Previously hoarded coins returned to circulation, and the introduction of the nickel in 1866 further reduced the denomination’s usefulness. By 1873, Congress formally ended the series.
9. The Three-Cent Silver (Trime)
Authorized in 1851, the tiny silver trime served two purposes: replacing worn Spanish silver still circulating in the U.S. and complementing the new three-cent postal rate.
Because its silver content was intentionally below face value, the trime circulated freely without being hoarded—a rarity for the era. Yet during the Civil War, even these coins disappeared from circulation. When silver prices surged afterward, Congress approved the copper-nickel Three-Cent Nickel in 1865.
The trime limped along for several years, with mintages dropping below 5,000 pieces annually after 1867. It was finally abolished in 1873.
10. The 1995–1996 Olympic Commemorative Series
The modern commemorative coin program nearly collapsed under the weight of the 1995–1996 Atlanta Olympic issues. Featuring 16 designs in both Proof and Uncirculated versions, the series ballooned into a 32-coin lineup.
Collectors felt overwhelmed. Many designs looked formulaic, and sales fell far short of expectations. Although the program was intended to raise funds for U.S. Olympic teams, the sheer volume discouraged buyers.
Mint Director Philip Diehl later pushed for major reforms, shifting commemorative efforts toward more focused—and far more popular—programs like the 50 State Quarters.
What Do You Think Belongs on This List?
Collectors love to debate the Mint’s missteps. Which coins would you add—or remove—from this list? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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A few semi-random thoughts:
The failure of the small dollar coin had multiple causes.
>> The Mint inexplicably failed to listen to experts like Frank Gasparro who warned officials that the SBA dollar was too similar in design and color to the quarter.
>> Reportedly they also rejected using multisided planchets as too difficult, even though other countries had been doing so for many years.
>> They additionally ignored (or forgot) the sad story of the double-dime a century earlier and blundered ahead.
>> Congress weakly acceded to lobbyists from the paper industry. Legislators both refused to end production of the dollar note and wouldn’t even consider increased printing of $2 bills – steps that in one form or another every other major country had taken when replacing their base-denomination note with a coin.
The failure of the SBA coin effectively poisoned the well for ANY future dollar coins, even with new designs and colors. By contrast Canada learned from our stumbles when it introduced its brass-colored dollar: while it’s the same size as its US counterparts, it’s struck on 12-sided planchets, AND more importantly it was followed by a relatively quick withdrawal of the $1 note. In addition Canadians don’t generally share our country’s allergy to a $2 denomination, a cultural difference that blunted the very real objection to “getting a pocketful of dollar coins” when making change.
Finally, the “last gasp” of SBA production in 1999 came about because the coin HAD found a use in transit systems and some vending machines in the days before card-based payments were common. Stockpiles had fallen low enough to complicate life for a number of larger transit providers, including the city where I worked at the time. In effect, the Mint spent that year striking bus and subway tokens.
Good article, just one correction to make. The author states that production of the Susan B. dollars began in 1978 but that’s incorrect. 1978 was the final year of the Ike dollars. The Susan B. Anthony dollars weren’t coined until the following year in 1979.
Actualy Susan B. Anthony (SBA) dollar production began in late 1978, with the first coins struck in Philadelphia in December 1978, followed by Denver and San Francisco in early 1979, before its official public release on July 2, 1979. So yes the launch happened in 1979 but production started in 1978, Sp we are both correct, I guess. But a very fair point you bring up.
I love the article and learned a lot I did not know before.
Good choices. I’ll add the ginormous amount of commemoratives old and new. I mean… did we really have to celebrate the Cincinnati Music Center? York County, Maine? Lynchburg, Virginia (which featured a living person on the obverse–a no-no)? Did we need to honor B.T. Washington for SIX straight years, then put him on a coin with G. Washington Carver for another four? How ’bout the Capitol Visitors Center and the Botanic Garden? I could go on. Finally, let’s look to the future. Instead of returning the quarter to normalcy, we’re getting children’s sports on the reverse for four years. Yippee.
I wish the $3 gold coin would have taken off. Also, there are some commeratives that would have made nice coins. At times, our currency is pretty dull compared to many of the european countries.
The Flying Eagle cent piece is beautiful. I would like to see it as a quarter.
Ha! Love it.
The “odd balls” are a great part of my collection. Noncollectors aren’t so impressed by sets, a little by condition (beautiful coins) and just shocked by expensive coins. The oddballs always bring a reaction and questions. Let’s me talk about their history (without boring them, I hope ).
I would definitely love to add a twenty cent coin to my collection!
I spend dollar coins (SBA, presidential, Sacagawea) whenever I can. Most people have never seen them before.
I agree with JD, with so many commemoratives being issued it has become a gimmick. While many coins are spectacular to look at, they are still a utilitarian means of trade and a lot of money is wasted coming up with new designs that pander to specific interest groups instead of using what we have that serves their basic function very well.
I like Ike’s, especially with some interesting toning. They also had no business being are large as they were being clad. The entire coinage system should have been overhauled when the switch to clad occurred. Maybe coins would have continued to circulate.
Informative article. It’ll be interesting to see how the proposed trump dollar will fare.
Two comments: 1. It may have been a flop but I will take a Stella any day. 2. You should add the Nickel 3 cent coin to the flop list.
What a fun article, thoroughly enjoyed it in the comments as well.
Hate the Ike dollar. Love the SBA; too bad the Mint f’d up the plan and roll-out.
As long as paper $1 notes persist, dollar coins will flail.
Love Ike’s. Great for tipping at the coffee shop. Grandkids like them. Wish I could still find them to use.
Very interesting failures and different reasons.
I agree with Cynthia (above) that the Flying Eagle is a beautiful design and should be brought back on another sized coin. Perhaps as commemorative or bullion coin.
Thanks for the interesting article. fun facts are always welcomed.
Thank you for such an informative article! With the sunsetting of the one cent coin, I am left wondering why the one dollar bill hasn’t been dropped on favor of the one dollar coin, which has a much longer life expectancy?
Wonderful article! I still have a drawer full of rolled presidential dollars. They make great tips and spark conversations.
Very interesting article that contains some of my favorite coins. As a child of the 70s, I was enamored by the big IKE dollars. I guess that is the reason I collect dollar coins today.
I found this article informative. For one thing, I didn’t know that the US had a $3 coin once upon a time.
So many coins that I never knew existed. This is a really great site for information on coins.
Shouldn’t the Sacagawea dollar be on the list and why did it fail given the color difference from the quarter? Just the same preference for paper cited as the reason for the presidential dollars failire I suppose.
I’ve never seen some of these before
Very informative!
Didn’t know about some of the denominations no longer used. Interesting to read about the rational on some of them.
Interesting to see some of the ideas tried.
Flops make for rare coins, so great for collectors.
I wish I had a few of some of the older flopped out coins
I was glad to see the Susan B. Anthony dollar on the list. I was in the Marines when the coin was issued. It wasn’t uncommon for one Marine to cash checks for other Marines who couldn’t get to the bank during work hours. Plus, we could get away with cashing checks for others back then.
We ran across the SBA after payday, and many of us wondered why our money was short.
It wasn’t. The change included SBAs, which many of us thought were quarters. We decided that no one cashing checks would accept SBAs in the future. Much too confusing for the uninitiated.
I have the 2 and 3 cents and flying eagle cent, and 20 cent piece. Great part of my collection. I love history of these coins. Great article thank you.
A very interesting article.
Great article.
This is some really cool unusual history!