The Eagle has Landed

As promised, today's coin is one of only 2 US coins I am aware of that depict the moon. The funny thing is, I know I looked at this coin hundreds of times before I ever noticed. It is the Susan B Anthony dollar coin.



The front of the coin is pretty familiar, featuring Ms. Anthony's protrait. She was the first non fictional woman to appear on a US coin for circulation. (All previous women on US coins were various depictions of lady liberty.) Her claim to fame is helping women get the right to vote, so it is a pity her coin is not more appreciated.

Its size and color make it easy to confuse it with a quarter. Originally it was going to have 11 sides, similar to some Canadian coins, but vending machine manufacturers complained loudly enough that it was given a rounded edge like all other US coins. Nowadays the most likely place to encounter it in circulation is in change from a post office stamp vending machine. Which really isnt helping its reputation! When I put in a $20 to buy a 43 cent stamp and get a fat stack of 19 susan b anthony's as change, I just have to smile. I recently discovered that they had to do a special run of Susan B's in 1999 just to meet the post office's demand. That resulted in a rather long gap between runs: 1979,1980,1981 and 1999.


But lets get to the whole reason I wanted to post this coin in the first place. On the back of the coin, there is an eagle LANDING ON THE MOON! Right there in the foreground you can see all the craters, and in the upper left there is the Earth. Come to think of it, this may be the only US coin depicting the earth. A rather literal interpretation of "The Eagle has Landed" wouldn't you agree? I am quite sure this was inspired by the NASA and the space program landing on the moon, so perhaps it is a little childish to point out that there is no air on the moon. That eagle couln't possibly be flying. Or even breathing for that matter. But hey, it is a symbolic eagle so I guess it doesn't need a space suit.

So there you have it, the leader of Women's Sufferage paired up with a super-eagle landing on the moon. Tomorrow, coinsdaily will make its first foray outside of the US.