The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005

The United States is honoring our Nation’s presidents by issuing $1 circulating coins featuring their images in the order that they served, beginning with Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison in 2007. The United States Mint will mint and issue four Presidential $1 Coins per year, and each will have a reverse design featuring a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty. The composition of the new Presidential $1 Coins will be identical to that of the Golden Dollar featuring Sacagawea.

The Presidential $1 Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) seeks to revitalize the design of United States coins and return circulating coinage to its position as an object of aesthetic beauty in its own right. Accordingly, the new Presidential $1 coins will feature larger, more dramatic artwork, as well as edge-incused inscriptions of the year of minting or issuance, "E Pluribus Unum," "In God We Trust" and the mint mark.

Removal of Barriers: Obligations of Certain Agencies, Businesses and Transit Systems

In addition to authorizing these new coins, the Presidential $1 Coin Act specifies measures to ensure that an adequate supply of $1 coins is available for commerce and collectors. It requires Federal agencies and instrumentalities (including certain nonappropriated fund instrumentalities), entities that operate any business on Federal property, the United States Postal Service, and certain transit systems to be fully capable of accepting and dispensing $1 coins and to display signs and notices of this capability. Follow this link for details on institutions covered by this provision, as well as additional information on compliance.

Outreach Activities

Public Law 109-145 also requires the Director of the United States Mint to work closely with consumer groups, media outlets, and schools to increase public awareness about the inauguration of the Presidential $1 Coin Program and the availability of the $1 coin. For more information on $1 coin outreach activities and programs, please go to our outreach page.

Click the following link to receive regular updates electronically about the Presidential $1 Coin Program.

Other Components of the Act

In addition to its recognition of the Presidents on $1 coins, the United States is honoring the First Spouses through the issuance of uncirculated and proof one-half ounce 24-karat gold $10 coins emblematic of the spouse of each President during that President’s term of service. The United States Mint will issue these coins under the same yearly release schedule as their corresponding Presidential $1 coins. These 24-karat gold coins generally will have an obverse image of the First Spouse and a reverse image symbolic of that particular First Spouse’s life and work. The United States Mint will also strike bronze medals that bear the likenesses of these coins. The law calls for alternative designs to ensure program continuity through periods in which the President served without a spouse. The Act also calls for the production and release of 24-karat American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins as well as a redesign of the one-cent coin in 2009 to commemorate the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

May 15, 2007
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