Sunday, March 8, 2009

Did You Know There is a New Dollar Coin for 2007

New $1 coin is being introduced as a result of the Presidential Coin Act of 2005, which requires the United States Mint to mint the dollar coins commemorating the service of former United States Presidents in the order in which they served. In 2007, the United States Mint will begin production of this dollar coin for circulation. Set to be released around President’s day 2007, will be a new dollar coin with George Washington. Also in 2007, we will see a dollar coin with the next three presidents which were John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. This release schedule is similar to the State Quarter program. About once a quarter, we will see a new design. Like the State Quarter program, the reverse of the coin will stay the same. The reverse of the dollar coin will feature the Statue of Liberty, the slogan “The United States of America” and a one and dollar sign to signify its value of 1 dollar.

The new coins will be the same size as the existing Sacagawea dollar coin and will be the same gold color. It will be made of a copper-zinc-manganese-nickel clad copper alloy. The surface of the coin will be treated a little differently to slow the tarnishing process which was a big criticism of the Sacagawea dollar coin. The Sacagawea coin color was changed in an attempt to answer criticisms of the Susan B Anthony Dollar which people confused with a quarter.

Unlike past coins, the obverse will not bear the familiar “In God We Trust” or the date of the coin. Instead, the issue year, mint mark and motto will appear in the edge of the coin. Edge lettering has not been tried on an American coin since 1933. With the lettering now on the edge or side of the coin, the portrait on the obverse will be a little larger than normal.

The new coins are expected to be popular with collectors. The State Quarter program introduced a whole new generation to coin collecting and brought non-active collectors back into collecting.

By law, only those presidents who have been dead for two or more years can appear on a coin. This makes it likely that Bill Clinton and George W Bush will not appear on the coin as they will likely still be alive when there turn comes about. Ronald Reagan, who some people have been pushing for to replace Roosevelt on the dime, will now show up on a coin, assume Ford and Carter die two years before their turn. Presidents who you would never think would ever appear on a coin will now get that chance.

An interesting fact is that Grover Cleveland will show up twice as he served two terms but they were not consecutive. Additionally, George Washington will appear on the new dollar coin, the quarter and dollar bill all at the same time. When Thomas Jefferson has his turn, he will appear on the dollar, but also the current nickel and the two dollar bill. Yes, the two dollar bill is still being produced.

Below is the timeframe for the release of the new dollar coins.

Year President Years Served

2007

1 George Washington 1789-1797

2 John Adams 1797-1801

3 Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809

4 James Madison 1809-1817

2008

5 James Monroe 1817-1825

6 John Quincy Adams 1825-1829

7 Andrew Jackson 1829-1837

8 Martin Van Buren 1837-1841

2009

9 William Henry Harrison 1841

10 John Tyler 1841-1845

11 James K. Polk 1845-1849

12 Zachary Taylor 1849-1850

2010

13 Millard Fillmore 1850-1853

14 Franklin Pierce 1853-1857

15 James Buchanan 1857-1861

16 Abraham Lincoln 1861-1865

2011

17 Andrew Johnson 1865-1869

18 Ulysses S. Grant 1869-1877

19 Rutherford B. Hayes 1877-1881

20 James A. Garfield 1893-1897

2012

21 Chester A. Arthur 1881-1885

22 Grover Cleveland 1885-1889

23 Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893

24 Grover Cleveland 1893-1897

2013

25 William McKinley 1897-1901

26 Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909

27 William H. Taft 1909-1913

28 Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921

2014

29 Warren Harding 1921-1923

30 Calvin Coolidge 1923-1929

31 Herbert Hoover 1929-1933

32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933-1945

2015

33 Harry S Truman 1945-1953

34 Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-1961

35 John F. Kennedy 1961-1963

36 Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-1969

2016

37 Richard M. Nixon 1969-1974