Coin Blog

Production figures for the latest release of the Presidential Dollar series have just been published by the United States Mint. The Martin Van Buren Presidential Dollar had 51,520,000 coins produced at the Philadelphia Mint and 50,960,000 coins produced at the Denver Mint.

The combined total of 102,480,000 marks a new low for the Presidential Dollar series. The next lowest mintage was for the John Quincy Adams coin at 115,260,000.

In total, the US Mint produced 464,480,000 Presidential Dollars for 2008. This compares to a total of  940,870,000. See the complete Presidential Dollar mintages.

Unfortunately, it looks like the slide in production will continue for 2009, especially with the line up of relatively lesser known presidents.

On November 13, 2008, the Martin Van Buren Presidential Dollar will be released. This will mark the final Presidential $1 Coin release of 2008 and the eighth release overall for the series.

The obverse design of the coin features a portrait of Van Buren designed by Joel Iskowitz and engraved by Phebe Hemphill. The reverse design of the coin features the rendition of the Statue of Liberty designed by Don Everhart which has been used for all coins of the series.

The obverse inscriptions include “Martin Van Buren,” “8th Presidency,” and the years of his presidential term “1837-1841.”

The official launch ceremony will take place on December 5, 2008 at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in Kinderhook, New York.

The US Mint will sell bags and rolls of the new dollar coin at a premium. However, if you ask around at local banks, you can probably obtain the coins at face value.

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

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.