Are Presidential Dollars Over?

Are you smoking something now? Just kidding...

I don't think it changing the reverse would make any difference. One side of the coin already changes, and it isn't going to catch on as a coin unless the dollar bill goes away.

Few things that may hold collectors back:

1) can't find them in circulation (back to the dollar bill). On top of that, the banks don't get every president.

2) if you did find them in circulation, odds are they would look horrible. The plating goes downhill *fast*.

3) if you were to buy an album now, the pages would probably not be correct...as the presidents at the end of the series have not been determined yet. Yes, and update page would be available later, but more hassle.

4) do you collect both Philly and Denver? The mint marks aren't visible in an album, so there is a "hmmmm" factor there.


I'm putting a little effort into putting together a set. Why? Just because.

That's my two Presidential dollars on the issue.

Actually, "my" bank has gotten each and every "D" mint Presidential dollar roll that has come out. I assume for their customers, and because all banks can request them.
They do NOT do this, however, for the Native Dollars.

I'll collect the dollars because it is something to do for 10 years. But I'm not paying more than $2 for each one and have up to this point paid anywhere from $0.99 to $1.71. That is worth it to me for my collecting interests. I assume they will be worth $1 in 50 years assuming we haven't had a currency conversion. However, my guess is that dollar will buy about $0.25 worth at today's prices

The one dollar note will eventually go away. It might not be a popular decision, but it will happen when Congress realizes the money they can save (and by save, I mean redirect to some other lost cause).

I can almost guarantee that the legislation will be buried in some other piece if legislation so that it happens with little public debate.

These "stockpiles" are a good thing. The more they grow, the better; because one argument is that there are not enough coins to replace all of the existing dollar notes. The coins are not "rotting away" in these vaults. Even if it means waiting twenty years, they will still "spend the same" (although maybe they will buy less than it would now).

As for my collector take, I am putting my proofs in a date only Dansco. If and when the start circulating normally, I might finish my now abandoned circulation set.

Supposedly they circulate OK in other countries that use US currency...like Ecuador.

I am filling a dansco album of circulated speciments...I kind of like them, but not enough to pay over face value. Something kind of neat about the history lesson in having one of every prez.

I buy a roll every now and again at the bank and spend any I don't need. I rather like the dollar coin, if I use it in a vending machine I don't have to worry if it's wrinkled or whatnot. Also there's something about spending 1 coin I've already looked at and getting several others back which I haven't.

I find it interesting to spend them... half of the cashiers don't blink an eye, the remainder are split between "what the heck is that?" "Wow that's cool I've never seen one of those before" and "ugh, why do they have to spend that? I don't have a spot in my drawer for that."

The other day I made a purchase for $1.30-something, gave a dollar and a half dollar, caused quite a stir with the cashier hollering to her coworker as I was leaving "hey, look what this guy just gave me!"

Just a reminder: If you order from the Mint, order from the $1 direct link. You get 250 dollars for $250 and the Mint pays shipping.

Look, here's the problem, the way I see it:

First, our currency these days is too concrete. Not abstract enough. Presidents and monuments. Boring. Our currency of the past used to have so much more spirit to it. What happened to all that meaning and aesthetic beauty? The Presidential dollars are symbolic of this -- many featuring Presidents that were against ever having themselves on coins, because it struck them as too much like something the monarchies of the world would do.

Second, a good dollar coin would bring back precious metal, even in a small amount. Why not just do a dollar coin in copper coated in a gram's worth of silver? That's about a buck, and the coins would be worth something then. Just a coating would be fine. Something to make money feel like real money again. Then you gain the portability of a smaller coin, too.

For example, imagine a dollar coin the size of a nickel with a silver cladding. I'd carry that in a second. Instead, we get these bloated coins with crappy metal in them. Smaller is better and will adequately compete with the convenience of the dollar.

If everyone out there in Government is listening, I propose the obverse of the first coin to feature Lady Liberty standing astride a mountain, and the reverse an American Eagle flying into the sunlight, hinting at a Phoenix rising from the old.