1981 Susan B Anthony Dollar

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez

Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to thank the woman who brought you into this world with a numismatic gift or two. And aside from sharing your love of the hobby with your mom – or any other woman who has had a profound impact upon your life and upbringing – giving this special lady gifts of coins to help recognize Mother’s Day might just spark her interests in taking up the hobby herself, if she hasn’t already, of course!

But what types of coins do you give on Mother’s Day? What’s appropriate? Worry not! Your numismatic gift-giving guide for Mother’s Day is right below…

 

#1 – A Proof Set from the Year of Your Birth

One reason your mom is celebrating Mother’s Day is because YOU were born! So why not commemorate the year you helped make your mother a mother by giving her a proof set from the year of your birth?

Proof sets made since the late 1950s are generally inexpensive. If, however, you were born before the mid ’50s and you simply can’t afford to buy one of those earlier proof sets, or if the United States Mint wasn’t making proof sets when you were born (such as during the period 1943-1949), you might consider giving your mom a privately assembled year set containing circulated or uncirculated coins from your year of birth.

 

#2 – Susan B. Anthony Dollar

Women in America may not have the rights they have today if not for suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony, who became the first non-mythological female to appear on a regularly circulating United States coin. The Susan B. Anthony dollar was struck from 1979 through 1981, and once more in 1999.

The gift of a Susan B. Anthony dollar might range from giving simply one Susan B. Anthony dollar in uncirculated or proof to perhaps an entire set from a single year (such as a United States Mint Susan B. Anthony dollar souvenir set). Or, if you were born in 1979, 1980, or 1981, you might consider giving a proof set, which covers the previous gift idea and also provides your mom with an example of a Susan B. Anthony dollar.

 

#3 – Eunice Shriver Kennedy/Special Olympics Commemorative Dollar

One of America’s most famous moms from one of America’s most important families is none other than Eunice Shriver Kennedy, who hailed from the Kennedy “clan” and herself mothered five children. Among the many things Eunice Shriver Kennedy did over her life (1921-2009) was help found the Special Olympics.

Her work with the Special Olympics was commemorated on the 1995 Special Olympics commemorative silver dollar. The launch of this coin also made Kennedy the first living female depicted on a United States coin.

#4 – American Silver Eagle

One of America’s most beautiful coin designs is the Walking Liberty motif that was created by Adolph A. Weinman for the half dollar in 1916 and in 1986 was adapted for use on the American Silver Eagle. The Walking Liberty design has now been employed for use longer on the American Silver Eagle than it was originally used on the half dollar, which carried that design for 31 years, until 1947.

Remind your mom how beautiful she is by gifting her one of the nation’s most beautiful modern coins – the American Silver Eagle. Containing one full troy ounce of silver, a silver eagle is the perfect gift for telling your mother “I love you!”

 

#5 – Woodrow Wilson Presidential $1 Coin

What? Yes, actually giving your mom a 2013 Woodrow Wilson dollar is quite appropriate for Mother’s Day. After all, it was President Wilson who in 1914 first issued a proclamation making Mother’s Day a national holiday!

You might consider giving an uncirculated or proof Woodrow Wilson dollar. But perhaps even better still is springing for the two-piece set from the United States Mint that includes both an uncirculated Woodrow Wilson dollar and a gorgeous bronze First Spouse medal bearing the likeness of First Lady Edith Wilson.