Circulation Strike Presidential Dollars- Ugh.

I do not buy mint sets, since I prefer my circulation coins to come from circulation; but I do get proof sets.

I do agree that this in one series that really benefits from being issued as a proof. So far my proofs have not turned.

I think both of you are much too kind in your description.

I only like them as proofs. BU Color is fine, but I think the portraits are poorly done. The reverse looks like it should be on a NY subway token. Also don't like the edge lettering.

I find the paper dollar ridiculous & cumbersome. (Come on, would people have gone for a paper quarter in the '70s? because that is what our dollar is worth today!) And nobody except me will accept a 38 mm 22.5 g dollar coin. So they have to be made smaller for convenience â€" most especially, to pass through vending machine coin acceptors, so that those awful bill rejectors can be dispensed with.

But the execution of the modern dollar series has been mishandled from the very beginning. The Canadian $1, of similar size & colour (when new), is very well accepted, & would undoubtedly continue to circulate extensively even if the paper dollar were revived. Since the Mint wasn't trying to match the electrical properties of an existing circulation silver coin, back in 1979, they could have made the SBA out of pretty much anything. For example, aluminum-bronze-clad cupronickel, which would have had a distinctive colour & electromagnetic signature. And there was no reason not to make them polygonal, instead of that pseudo-polygonal edge treatment.

But the new $1s had to match the SBAs in EM signature, hence the awful choice of composition (no other country in the world uses manganese in its coinage!), as well as go through the banking system seamlessly (counting machines, paper rolls, &c), so polygonal was out too. Very disappointing. I got a couple of rolls of Sacagaweas when they first came out, for pocket money, & was amazed at the way they turned colour while still in the roll.

The Presidentials I just have to call badly executed. The portraits are, by & large, unattractive & lifelessly modeled. Moreover, if we consider the effigy of a President to be the "representation of Liberty" described in the 1792 Coinage Act, then the Statue of Liberty on the reverse gives us the same design on both sides! How difficult would it be to use, say, a heraldic eagle from the coinage of the time of the President depicted? The Sacagawea, for all my beefs with it, is well done, but not these.

Of course, it doesn't help that I consider all these "series" excessively gimmicky. Changing the design four times a year doesn't give the impression of solidity & lasting value which we used to attempt to create by keeping the same designs for many years. But I spend them anyway!

Only if they killed the dollar bill. The pres dollars certainly have their downfalls like looking horrible when circulated, but in fairness to them no matter what they do with a dollar coin it will fail as long as the bill remains.




I hate admitting it but I'm really not a fan of the reverse. Something about the color of the coin and how they cut the statue off like youre looking up at her makes me think of the New York New York casino in Vegas. Whenever I see it I imagine the skyline and roller coaster behind her.

Just going to note that the Statue of Liberty fills that role, not the president (the act only specifies that Liberty need be present on one side, and the Presidential dollar Coin Act of 2005 supersedes the Coinage Act of 1792 on the point of including the word Liberty).

Uh, no. No way, not ever.


I like this.

But Liberty has to be Liberty, no real person can embody that (real people who model for the image of Liberty do not count).

I don't mind these coins in proof sets.

I'm not a fan of the portraits, Lincoln's-ugh. They probably could have done a better job.

I also do not like the reverses, I wish they had taken one important fact or something important these presidents did/or associated with and placed it on the reverse, something like the First Spouse coins. At least the coins would have an educational value.

I'm still excited to see what they do with the presidents starting with FDR though.

As for the circulating pres dollars, I get an Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set around XMAS and I'm done.

I really don't see any real value in presidential coins going forward unless in pristine condition and even then, the demand will probably not be there, just look at how long the $1 Coin Covers at the mint have been available for!!!