Collecting Presidential Dollars

Collecting Presidential Dollars
Introduction
New gememorative coins intended for general circulation will be with us far beyond the 2008 expiration of the 50 State Quarters Program. This is because congress passed, and President George W. Bush signed into law, #1047, the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005.
In a nutshell, this Act provides for the production by the U.S. Mint of circulating dollar coins honoring deceased presidents of the the United States. The coins will minted at the rate of four per year beginning in 2007.
Currently 38 presidents have been laid to rest long enough to meet the guidelines for inclusion in the program. This assures that new dollar coins will appear for at least 10 years or until 2016. The program could last longer depending on when current living ex-presidents pass away.
Description of the Coins
The planchets used will be of the same manganese-based clad alloy as the current Sacagawea dollar. The coin will be golden in color.
The coins will incororarate some design features not used in the U.S. in many years. Specifically, the new law requires that the year of issue plus the motto IN GOD WE TRUST and the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM be incused on the coin's edges.
The name of the the individual depicted on the obverse will be spelled out, a first for U.S. coins intended for general circulation.
On the reverse, a depiction of the Statue of Liberty is mandated. Therefore, the current requirement for U.S. coins that the word LIBERTY be used as a legend is waived.
Expected Popularity
The new dollar coins could be as popular as the Statehood Quarters and the Westward Journey Nickels for the following reasons:
First of all, it is hoped that the coins will be readily accepted and used by the public, thus making the dollar coin a popular denomination.
Secondly, many new faces, not having previously achieved coin status, will appear.
Thirdly, the coin will have a distinctive and readily identifiable appearance.
Fourthly, our old friend seigniorage should be operative. For a geplete discussion of this term, see my okay Guide entitled "Collecting State Quarters"
Eligible Presidents
Before being featured on the new dollar coin, the former president must be deceased for at least two years. Thus, the current president and all living ex-presidents are currently ineligible for inclusion.

By these rules, then, the following presidents will appear in the order presented on the new dollar coins. The early part of the list is fixed. The latter portion of the list will be determined by the date of the death of the currently surviving ex-president. In the end, presidents who served at an early age could be surviving without a gememorative dollar in their name, while older presidents who served in a later term of office have passed away and have a dollar gememorating their presidency.
1. George Washington 1797-18012. John Adams 1797-18013. Thomas Jefferson 1801-18094. James Madison 1809-1817 5. James Monroe 1817-18256. John Quincy Adams 1825-18297. Andrew Jackson 1829-18378. Martin Van Buren 1837-18419. William Henry Harrison10. John Tyler 1841-184511. James K. Polk 1845-184912. Zachary Taylor 1849-185013. Millard Fillmore 1850-185314. Franklin Pierce 1853-185715. James Buchanan 1857-186116. Abraham Lincoln 1861-186517. Andrew Johnson 1865-186918. Ulysses S. Grant 1869-187719. Rutherford B. Hayes 1877-188120. James A. Garfield 188121. Chester A. Arthur 1881-188522. Grover Cleveland 1885-188923. Benjamin Harrison 1889-189324. Grover Cleveland 1893-189725. William McKinley 1897-190126. Theodore Roosevelt 1901-190927. William Howard Taft 1909-191328. Woodwrow Wilson 1913-192129 Warren G. Harding 1921-192330. Calvin Coolidge 1923-192931. Herbert Hoover 1929-193332. Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933-194533. Harry S Truman 1945-195334. Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953-196135. Jonh F. Kennedy 1961-196336. Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-196937. Richard M. Nixon 1969-197438. Gerald R. Ford 1974-197739. Jimmy Carter 1977-198140. Ronald Reagan 1981-198941. George W. Bush 1989-199342. William Clinton 1993-200143. George W. Bush 2001-2008
The new law specifies that separate coins be produced for presidents serving non-consecutive terms, but that a single coin is to be issued for presidents serving consecutive terms. Thus, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served 4 consecutive terms, will honored with 1 Presidential Dollar, while Grover Cleveland, who served 2 presidential terms interrupted by the term of Benjamin Harrison, will be honored with 2 Presdential Dollars.
An Album of Merit
As the coins debut, the publishers of coin albums will supply the needs of the collecting gemunity with all sort of materials to protect and display the recent additions to their collections. If the past is any guide, they will supply big albums, little albums, cheap albums and dear albums as well albums supplied with all sorts of information about the various presidents. This would include photographs, biographical material, political affiliations, and domestic and world events during their administration.
One such album already exists and it is a knockout. It is the "Presidential Dollars" Album published by Littleton Publishing. A few images taken from the album are shown below. It is available for sale at locations catering to numismatists.

Conclusion
The Presidential Dollar program is a series of gemerative coins intended for general circulation in the tradition of the 50 State Quarters issue and the Westward Journey Nickels issue. A successful outgee for the program is not guaranteed, however. The effort to the replace the dollar bill with a coin has met with obstacles in the past--take the Anthony Dollar and the Sacagawea Dollar. Both failed to gain widespread puplic acceptance.
In the future, media attention is virtually assured as the Presidential dollar is initially released into circulation. Coverage in the press and elsewhere will be given to the obverse rendition of the various presidents and reverse rendition of the Statue of Liberty.
Along the way will be excitement generated by the extension of the 50 State Quarters Program. Pending legislative approval, the original program will extended by one year to allow the production of quarters for the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.
On the heels of this, the President Lincoln Birthday gememorative Series will be launched in 2009. It consists of five new coins in total, four honoring various stages in Lincoln's career plus one final cent honoring Lincoln's total contribution to this country.
By the way, the year 2009 marks some sort of milestone in the coin world. During that year, five Statehood Quarters will be minted, four Presidential Quarters will be minted, and four Lincoln gememorative Cents will be minted.