Coin Blog

Yesterday, the US Mint released the design images for next year’s Presidential Dollar coin releases. The 2009 coins will feature William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor. Compared to prior releases, these are some relatively lesser known presidents.  The first president to be honored, William Henry Harrison, actually only served 32 days in office before his death in 1841.

Below are the designs for the 2009 Presidential Dollars in the order of release:

William Henry Harrison Presidential Dollar

John Tyler Presidential Dollar

James K. Polk Presidential Dollar

Zachary Taylor Presidential Dollar

Today the United States Mint unveiled the designs for the eagerly anticipated 2009 Lincoln Cent.

Next year, Abraham Lincoln’s Bicentennial will be celebrated with four different reverse designs for the penny that has borne his images for the past 100 years. The first new coin will enter circulation on February 12, 2009.

Each design is meant to represent a different period of Lincoln’s life.

2009 Lincoln Cent Design - Birth and Early Childhood in Kentucky

2009 Lincoln Cent Design -  Formative Years in Indiana

2009 Lincoln Cent Design - Professional Life in Illinois

2009 Lincoln Cent Design - Presidency in Washington, D.C.

What are Presidential Oath Dollars?

It’s a question a lot of people seem to want to figure out lately. Earlier this month, the Home Shopping Network offered a small number of these coins for $79.95. They reportedly sold out in 30 minutes creating a lot of excitement. This post will summarize some of the information available on the coins.

The coins were produced by the Denver Mint. An aluminum ring was placed around a regular Presidential Dollar. The ring has an inscription of the Presidential Oath, “Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States.” The coins were supposedly limited to only 1,000 per President and were produced for the first six Presidential Dollars.

Online reports state that the coins were originally available at the Denver Mint Gift Shop. They were not available from the US Mint’s Online Catalog or at the Philadelphia Mint.

The Home Shopping Network sold coins which had been encapsulated and graded by ANACS. The coin was also put in a special custom oak presentation box.

While the quick sell out at HSN clearly shows some initial popularity for the coins, in the longer term the prospects are not as clear. The coins are basically regular Presidential Dollars encased with an aluminum ring. The fact that they were produced by the Denver Mint and only in a limited quantity adds an interesting aspect, but I suspect the novelty of the idea may soon wear off. These coins may go the way of Colorized State Quarters.

Learn more about Presidential Dollars.

Following the immense success of the 50 State Quarters program, there has been a proposal for another long series of quarters with rotating reverse designs. This program will likely be known as the National Park Quarter Program.

The bill which would authorize the program was first introduced in the House of Representatives on June 4, 2008. Another version of the bill was recently introduced in the Senate.

If the bill becomes law, quarters with reverse designs to honor the National Parks of the United States, the District of Columbia, and US Territories would be issued at a rate of 5 designs per year for a duration of 11 years. The program may optionally be extended for another cycle, creating the potential for 22 years of National Park Quarters.

The first National Park Quarters would be issued starting in 2010 after the conclusion of the 50 State Quarters program and the additional year for quarters honoring D.C. and the U.S. Territories.

Part of Blog Catalog.

As readers of this blog will know, there is an ongoing shortage of 2008 Silver Eagle bullion coins.  Early in the year the US Mint actually temporarily suspended sales of the coins to authorized Purchasers.  Following the suspension, the Mint started a policy of rationing the 2008 Silver Eagles to dealers at quantities below market demand.

This caused a bit of outcry, including a widely discussed Wall Street Journal article on the topic.  Also open letters to the US Mint Director and US Secretary of the Treasury from concerned organizations and individuals.

Last week, more problems came to light which will cause the current rationing of Silver Eagles to get even tighter.

The US Mint sent a memorandum to authorized purchasers informing them that the Mint’s supplier of silver blanks used in producing Silver Eagles would be reducing their shipments by more than half.  The Mint further indicated that they would stop using silver blanks for other purposes such as collectible coins.  This is clearly becoming a very serious issue impacting precious metals investors and coin collectors.