Presidential Dollar Coin

A new presidential dollar coin began appearing in circulation on February 15, 2007. The leadoff coin carried the likeness of George Washington, the first United States President.

The dollars are being produced because of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, which obliges the Mint to strike the dollar coins to commemorate the service of former U.S. Presidents, in the order in which they held the nation's highest office.

The presidential dollar coin did not circulate as readily as its proponents envisioned when the Coin Act of 2005 was passed. In December 2011, the Secretary of the Treasury ordered the United States Mint to suspend minting and issuing of the presidential dollar coin for general circulation purposes.

Any future demand for circulating dollars will be fulfilled through the Federal Reserve Bank's sitting inventory of presidential coins minted prior to 2012. The Mint will continue to produce presidential dollar coins for inclusion in products sold to the public that contain presidential dollar coins.

Four presidential dollar coins will continue to be released every year until the conclusion of the program. The 2013 dollar coins commemorate the presidencies of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.

A ground view looking up at the Statue of Liberty appears on the reverse side of all presidential dollar coins.  United States Mint image.

The front side of each coin depicts the image of a former President, his years served in office, and the IN GOD WE TRUST motto.  The reverse shows a view of the Statue of Liberty that is common to all presidential dollar coins, along with inscriptions "The United States of America" and "$1."

The presidential coin set is modeled after the popular 50 State Quarter Program created by Congress in 1997. That program has attracted many new individuals to the coin collecting hobby, while renewing interest in our nation's history and the contribution of each state.

What's more, Uncle Sam has enjoyed a profit of $0.20 or so for every quarter released into circulation, reflecting the difference between the cost of producing the coin and its face value in commerce, bringing in more than $4 billion extra dollars to the Treasury due to the public demand for State Quarters.

A study commissioned by the Mint showed that about half of all Americans are interested in collecting the presidential dollar coins.  In a manner similar to the State Quarters, a fully circulating dollar coin would net perhaps as much as $500 million for the government annually, because for each presidential dollar coin distributed to the public, somewhere between $0.85 and $0.90 profit returns to the Treasury. [Update: Expectations raised by the study proved to be unfounded, as the presidential dollar coin failed to circulate as hoped].

The table below lists all U.S. presidents in chronological order of service, and the year their presidential dollar coin will be issued. According to the new law, a president must be deceased a minimum of two years before being honored on a presidential dollar coin.

The issuance dates for the first 38 presidential dollar coins are certain, carrying us until the year 2016. How many new presidential coins are minted beyond that is dependent on the number of living former presidents who die prior to 2014. Jimmy Carter and George H. W. both turn 90 that year. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both born in 1946, would be 68 in 2014, so the odds are good they won't qualify for their presidential coins by then. And what of the 2008 winner, Barack Obama, and the person elected president in 2016? New legislation will probably be written to address this touchy issue.