This page contains basic facts about the Presidential Dollar coin program.
Here you will find the who, what, when, where, and how of the Presidential
Dollars.
In compliance with the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, the
U.S. Mint is commemorating the service of former Presidents with a series of
circulating one dollar coins.
Patterned after the Mint's
50 State Quarters Program, the new dollar coins
present changing designs to portray an image of each president in the order that
they served.
A stated purpose of the coins is to educate and inspire interest in United
States history and its heritage.
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Top: Front side example
Middle: Reverse common to
new dollars.
Bottom: Side inscription views.
United States Mint images |
The first Presidential dollar coin, honoring
President George Washington, was released to the public on February 15, 2007. The other presidents to have their coins issued in 2007 are John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, and James Madison.
Four Presidential dollar coins will come out every year through at least
2016. The
release schedule is based on the order the Presidents held the
office.
Each President will be seen only on a single dollar coin, no
matter how many consecutive terms they served. The lone exception is
Grover Cleveland, who held two non-consecutive presidential terms.
He will appear on two coins.
The reverse side of the Presidential Dollar coins will feature the Statue of Liberty.
The Act mandates that
the coin designs are bold and dramatic, with traditional inscriptions inscribed
on the edge, to make room for larger images. The inscriptions that are
incused on the edge are "E Pluribus Unum", "In God We Trust", and the year and
mintmark ("In God We Trust" is moving to front or back in 2009).
The coins are the exact same color and size as the Sacagawea Golden Dollars, and
have an identical rim and tactile characteristics to help the visually impaired.
The new dollar coins have the same electromagnetic "signature" as do the Sacagawea
and Susan B. Anthony dollar coins, indicating that any vending machine currently
accepting dollar coins should have no problem with the new coins.
The Presidential dollar coins will first ship to financial institutions, such as banks, credit unions, and
thrifts. Retailers and consumers can obtain circulating coins at these
locations.
The Presidential $1 Coin Act requires all Federal
government agencies, the U.S. military, the U.S. Postal Service, any federally funded transit systems,
and any business operating on Federal government property, to be ready to fully
accept and dispense the new dollar coins by the first day of January, 2008.
For a six-week period during each Presidential Dollar coin release cycle, financial
institutions can obtain unmixed quantities of the latest design to distribute to
customers.
The coins will be included in the U.S. Mint's annual coin
sets. New packaging concepts were developed to display the edge lettering.
The nation is also honoring presidential spouses. The
First Spouse Program
will run concurrently with the Presidential Dollar Program. First Spouse
coins contain one-half ounce of gold and carry a face value of ten dollars. |
