The United States Mint just announced the design selections for the 2014 Presidential Dollars, which will feature the 29th to 32nd presidents of the United States: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Back in 2007, the presidential dollar program began with a directive from Congress to the U.S. Mint to release four presidential dollar coins each year for general circulation. Coins bearing the images of the first four presidents — George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison — were released that first year.
Over the next four years, these dollar coins were minted in large numbers, but the American public never took to them. A huge surplus of unused dollar coins led to the discontinuation of the program in 2011. The dollar coins would still be issued, according to then Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, but the mint would produce them in much small quantities for collectors only. Folks like us who love coins.
The revised presidential dollar program remains popular with collectors who snap up each new release with the goal of amassing a complete set of these commemorative coins. The mint typically makes available circulation-quality examples of new releases in 25-coin rolls, 100-coin bags, 250-coin boxes, and 500-coin boxes.
The design selection process has some specific rules. In April 2013, the U.S. Mint provided a list of several candidates for each of the 2014 presidential dollars to the Commission of Fine Arts and Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. The two groups reviewed the candidates and provided an official recommendation. Then Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew selected the ultimate winner of the competition. This year’s honored sculptors include Michael Gaudioso (for the Harding dollar), Phebe Hemphill (Coolidge and Hoover), and Joseph F. Menna (Roosevelt).
Each of the new presidential dollars features a portrait of the president and the motto “In God We Trust” on the obverse, as well as inscriptions detailing the order of their presidency and the dates of the term. The reverse of each coin shows an image of the Statue of Liberty and the inscription “United States of America,” as well as the denomination “$1.” In addition, the year of minting, the mint mark and the words “E Pluribus Unum” are inscribed along the edge of the coin. The new coins will be released in February, May, August and November of 2014.
Want to learn more about the fun and exciting world of coin collecting? Stop by Liberty Coin & Currency in Portland and Vancouver to talk with some passionate numismatists who love to talk about coins and their history.
Liberty Coin & Currency specializes in gold buying and dealing in rare coins. We are a family-owned business that was first established over 16 years ago and is now located in Vancouver and Portland. We also buy and sell gold, silver, diamonds, currency and jewelry. Visit us first for a free evaluation.
