Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 December 31

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From today's featured article

Eisenhower dollar, obverse

The Eisenhower dollar is a one-dollar coin issued from 1971 to 1978 by the United States Mint. Authorized by law on December 31, 1970, it was the first US dollar coin minted since 1935, the last year of the Peace dollar. Designed by Frank Gasparro, the coin's obverse depicts President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died in March 1969. Proposals in Congress to honor him on a coin led to a dispute over whether the new coin was to contain silver. In 1970, a compromise was reached to strike it in base metal for circulation, and in 40% silver as a collectible. Although the collector's pieces sold well, the new dollars failed to circulate, except in and around Nevada casinos, where they took the place of privately issued tokens. Coins from 1975 and 1976 bear a double date, 1776–1976, and a special reverse by Dennis R. Williams in honor of the Bicentennial. To replace the Eisenhower dollar with a smaller-sized piece, Congress authorized the Susan B. Anthony dollar, struck beginning in 1979, but that coin also failed to circulate. (Full article...)

Part of the United States Bicentennial coinage series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

Did you know...

December calendar page from a book of hours
December calendar page

In the news

Debbie Reynolds in 1987
Debbie Reynolds

On this day...

December 31: Hogmanay in Scotland

2008 Times Square Ball
2008 Times Square Ball
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Today's featured picture

St. Michael Vanquishing Satan

St. Michael Vanquishing Satan is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael which depicts the archangel Michael slaying Satan. Originally a panel painting at the behest of Pope Leo X, the work was transferred to canvas and now hangs in the Louvre.

Painting: Raphael

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