| Basic facts on the presidential
dollar coin program: |
| 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. Every presidential dollar design is
being produced as regular business strikes and in proof. |
| 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. |
| The first Presidential dollar coin, honoring
President George Washington, was released to the public on February 15, 2007. The presidents to have their coins issued in 2009 are
William Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, and Zachary Taylor. |
| 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"
was moved to front in 2009 due to public demand). |
| 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. |
