It feels like a quarter. It smells like a quarter. It’s about the same size as a quarter. It’s the same color as a quarter. You even got it in change as a quarter. But it’s not a quarter, and upon closer inspection, it doesn’t look like one.

So what is it?

If it’s got eleven sides and a woman on the front, it’s a dollar. Yep, this is the Susan B. Anthony one dollar coin, often called "Carter’s quarter". In the late 1970’s, Americans complained that the Eisenhower dollar (1971-1978) was too big, lunky, and heavy for a non-silver coin. So the mint started making the SBA’s in 1979. It’s only slightly larger than a quarter, and it’s the same color. In order to avoid confusion, the coin was given a woman’s profile, had the profile face to the right, had eleven "sides" inside the rim, and was minted in high relief.

Even so, people didn’t really want to take the time to distinguish the coins, and it was easily confused with the quarter. Thus, it lived a short initial circulation production of two years, 1979 and 1980. 1981 SBA’s were made for collector’s sets only. Then, in 1999, the infamous coin returned to circulation for one last time because the new dollar wasn’t ready yet.

Since the introduction of the golden dollar, SBA’s have become mare sparse, but are still findable. A whole circulation set includes 1979-P, D, & S, 1980-P, D, & S, and 1999-P & D. So check your quarters- you may have unwittingly gained seventy-five cents!

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