The Sacajawea "Golden" Dollar

First issued in the year 2000, the "Golden Dollar" has a striking appearance, due to its unusual color for regularly-circulating coins (reflecting its composition of 77% copper, 12% zinc, 7% manganese and 4% nickel). The size (26.5 mm) and composition were dictated by the United states Dollar Coin Act of 1997. The design on the obverse (showing the famous Shoshone guide Sacajawea and her infant son Jean Baptiste) was conceived by artist Glenna Goodacre; the reverse shows an eagle in flight, designed by mint engraver Thomas Rogers, Sr.

Like the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, the Sacajawea Dollars are so new that very high-quality, uncirculated specimens can be obtained at very little cost (but don't confuse the "golden appearance" of the circulating dollars with true 22-karat gold specimens struck at the West Point mint, which cost significantly more). Moreover, the issue date of the Sacajawea Dollar could be chosen to correspond to the year the student completes her or his dissertation.

The "Liberty Walking" Silver Eagle

First issued in 1996, the Silver Eagle has a face value of one dollar, but is composed of 1 troy ounce of 99.9% pure silver, making its bullion value significantly greater than a dollar. Much larger than the Sacajawea Dollar, the Silver Eagle is more than 40 mm across. The obverse of this beautiful coin depicts the famous "Liberty Walking" image that first graced US Half-Dollars from 1916-1947; designed by Adolph A. Weinman, it depicts Liberty draped in the American flag, holding an olive branch of peace and walking toward the rising sun. The large size of the silver eagle, compared with the half dollar, makes the image all the more striking. This coin truely must be seen to be appreciated.

Like the Anthony and Sacajawea Dollars, Silver Eagles are so new that very high-quality, Brilliant Uncirculated specimens can be obtained at very little cost ($6-$8; proofs are a bit more). Moreover, the issue date of the Silver Eagle could be chosen to correspond to the year the student completes his or her dissertation; this coin makes an excellent choice as Ph.D. dollar.

The Susan B. Anthony Dollar

The Susan B. Anthony Dollar was a refreshing design choice (designed by chief engraver Frank Gasparro to celebrate the life of the women's rights pioneer), breaking the domination of coin faces with dead presidents (although this only occurred once with Silver Dollars, the previous Eisenhower Dollar). The reverse of the coin continued the use of the "eagle on the moon" motif that debuted with the eisenhower dollar. However the coin was never popular, and was only issued in 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1999. The dollar is small in size (26.5 mm across in contrast with the previous standard of 38.1 mm), which led many to confuse it with the quarter dollar, despite its unusual multi-sided design. Soon, Anthony Dollars could be chosen to signify the birth year of the Ph.D. recipient.

Perfect, Mint-State coins can be purchased for $2 - $5.

The Eisenhower Dollar

Also designed by chief engraver Frank Gasparro and issued from 1971 - 1978, the Eisenhower Dollar portrayed the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the obverse and and eagle standing on the moon (of all places) on the reverse, celebrating the success of the space program at the time of the coin's design. The reverse bore a special design in 1976 (a depiction of the Liberty Bell superimposed over the moon, designed by Dennis R. Williams) to celebrate this country's bicentenial. Eisenhower Dollars could be chosen to represent the birth year of Ph.D. recipients, although (let's face it), the coins are not as visually strking as Peace Dollars or Morgan Dollars. In addition, Eisenhower Dollars are not really made of silver; they consist of a 75% nickel / 25% copper clad cast over a pure copper core.

Perfect, Mint-State coins can be purchased for $2 - $5, so its not a large investment. Let's move on to the more interesting choices.

The Peace Dollar

Designed by Anthony de Francesci and issued in 1921 - 1928, 1934 and 1935, the Peace Dollar is visually stunning, with a depiction of Lady Liberty on the Obverse (which was the standard practice for all coins until the Lincoln cent debuted in 1909, and it was all downhill since then as other denominations fell into the same pattern) and a majestic, seated eagle on the reverse. The Peace Dollar gets its name from the unusual use of the word "Peace" at the bottom of the reverse of the coin, which is visible in the photo on the left. Peace Dollars are also composed of 90% silver, which later "silver" dollars are not. In addition to their intrinsic beauty, Peace Dollars could be chosen if their issue year corrresponded to a seminal event in the Ph.D. recipients field of study.

Peace dollars in Extremely Fine condition (e.g., slight wear at wing tips of the eagle and hairlines over Liberty's brow) can be purchased for $10 - $20, depending on the year, or about the price of a half-way decent bottle of champagne (and the Ph.D. Dollar lasts longer).

The Libery Head "Morgan" Dollar

This Liberty Head Dollar was degined by George T. Morgan, and is commonly called a "Morgan" Silver Dollar. The Dollar was issued from 1878 (authorized by the Bland-Addison Act) until 1904, when bullion supplies were exhausted. A few more were minted (with a few refinements) in 1921, the year the Peace Dollar was debuted. The Morgan Silver Dollars are also composed of 90% silver, weighing in at 412 and a half grains of silver, are quite beautiful (the Webmaster's coin of choice for a Ph.D. Dollar, second only to the Silver Eagle), and could be chosen if their issue year corrresponded to a seminal event in the Ph.D. recipients field of study.

Morgan Dollars in Extremely Fine condition (slight wear on breast of eagle on Liberty's hair), can be purchased for $10 - $20, although those with rarer mint marks (especially Carson City) will be more costly. Buyer beware, though; true Silver Dollars tarnish with age, and many have been "whizzed" to polish them to a brilliant finish. This brilliance won't last as the coin begins to tarnish, and the polishing process can erase fine details.

The Trade Dollar

The Trade Dollar was designed by William Barber (who went on to design all the major circulating coinage used at the turn of the twentieth century), and were issued from 1873-1885 before they were discontiued. They were mintedprimary for trade use in the Orient, explaining why they were minted at the same time as Morgan Dollars), and were never circulated widely in the United States. Trade Dolalrs are relative unattractive (in this writer's opinion), and higher-quality specimens (suitable for passing to your hard-working graduate student) are more expensive to obtain. Trade Dollars could be an interesting choice for graduating students of Asian citizenship, since they reflect the openess of early Asian/American diplomacy.

Trade Dollars are significantly more expensive than Morgan or Peace Dollars; specimens in Fine condition (noticible wear, but words and mottoes still legible) cost $80 - $200, and those in Extremely Fine condition (slight wear only) cost $150 - $500, depending on year and mint mark.

The Liberty Seated Dollar

The "Liberty Seated" Dollar, designed by Christian Gobrecht, was the last Silver Dollar to carry the same design on its obverse as coins of other denominations (like half-dollars, quarter-dollars, dimes, half-dimes, etc.), which was common practice in the ninteenth century that was abandoned in the twentieth century. These coins were minted from 1840 - 1873, meaning some issue dates for these Dollars are more than 150 years old. Although not as attractive as Morgan or Peace Dollars, Liberty Seated Dollars could have special impact if the date were well chosen (e.g., the 1859 Dollar could be selected to correspond to the date of publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species", although this one will set you back $200 - $500, depending on condition).

Liberty Seated Dollars in Very Fine condition (strong lettering but showing wear) will cost $250 - $800; Extremely Fine condition coins cost about 50% more. As with Trade Dollars, we're into serious money now.

The Draped Bust Dollar

Designed by Robert Scot and issued from 1795 until 1804, the Draped Bust Dollar depicted Lady Liberty on the obverse and a shield/eagle design on the reverse. Unless there is a really significant event to signify with this particular coin, the Draped Bust Dollar is probably not a good choice because high-quality specimens are pretty costly, running about $500-$600 for Fine codition coins and $1200 - $1500 for Extremely Fine condition specimens. There is likely to be one amazingly good thesis behind one of these...