If you want to learn more about Presidential Commemorative Coins, you are in the right place.
My son and I started collecting these coins recently because we wanted a father-son activity to do together. We’ve been having so much fun I decided to create this blog so I could share everything we are learning.
This post covers our favorite presidential coin program, the monetary value of the coins, and where to purchase them.
The Presidential Commemorative $1 Dollar Coin Program
These are some of our favorite coins because they are legal tender. That’s right, you can walk into any store in America and spend them just like you’d spend a paper dollar.
However, I wouldn’t recommend it because they’re generally worth more than a buck. A quick search on ebay and you will find the George Washington dollar sells for about double the face value.
The official coin program began in 2007 and ended in 2016. A total of 4 coins were minted each year. One coin for three months before moving on to the next president in order which they served.
To be eligible, each president must have been deceased 2 years prior to the time of minting.
All 39 coins from the program are listed below:
2007:
- George Washington | February 15, 2007 | Minted 340,360,000
- John Adams | May 17, 2007 | Minted 224,560,000
- Thomas Jefferson | August 16, 2007 | Minted 203,610,000
- James Madison | November 15, 2007 | Minted 172,340,000
2008:
- James Monroe | February 14, 2008 | Minted 124,490,000
- John Quincy Adams | May 15, 2008 | Minted 115,260,000
- Andrew Jackson | August 14, 2008 | Minted 122,250,000
- Martin Van Buren | November 13, 2008 | Minted 102,480,000
2009:
- William Henry Harrison | February 19, 2009 | Minted 98,420,000
- John Tyler | May 21, 2009 | Minted 87,080,000
- James K. Polk | August 20, 2009 | Minted 88,340,000
- Zachary Taylor | November 19, 2009 | Minted 78,260,000
2010:
- Millard Fillmore | February 18, 2010 | Minted 74,480,000
- Franklin Pierce | May 20, 2010 | Minted 76,580,000
- James Buchanan | August 19, 2010 | Minted 73,360,000
- Abraham Lincoln | November 18, 2010 | Minted 97,020,000
2011:
- Andrew Johnson | February 17, 2011 | Minted 72,660,000
- Ulysses S. Grant | May 19, 2011 | Minted 76,020,000
- Rutherford B. Hayes | August 18, 2011 | Minted 74,480,000
- James A. Garfield | November 17, 2011 | Minted 74,200,000
2012:
- Chester A. Arthur | February 5, 2012 | Minted 10,080,000
- Grover Cleveland | May 25, 2012 | Minted 9,520,000
- Benjamin Harrison | August 16, 2012 | Minted 9,840,001
- Grover Cleveland | November 15, 2012 | Minted 14,600,001
2013:
- William McKinley | February 19, 2013 | Minted 8,125,100
- Theodore Roosevelt | April 11, 2013 | Minted 9,230,700
- William Howard Taft | July 9, 2013 | 8,120,000
- Woodrow Wilson | October 17, 2013 | 7,980,000
2014:
- Warren G. Harding | February 6, 2014 | Minted 9,940,000
- Calvin Coolidge | April 10, 2014 | Minted 8,260,000
- Herbert Hoover | June 19, 2014 | Minted 8,260,000
- Franklin D. Roosevelt | August 28, 2014 | Minted 8,680,000
2015:
- Harry S. Truman | February 5, 2015 | Minted 8,400,000
- Dwight D. Eisenhower | April 13, 2015 | Minted 8,545,998
- John F. Kennedy | June 18, 2015 | Minted 11,340,000
- Lyndon B. Johnson | August 18, 2015 | Minted 12,040,000
2016:
- Richard Nixon | February 3, 2016 | Minted 10,000,000
- Gerald Ford | March 8, 2016 | Minted 10,500,000
- Ronald Reagan | July 5, 2016 | Minted 13,020,000
As you can see, there are millions of $1 presidential commemorative coins in circulation. The standard issued coins are not worth much but they are fun to collect.
So Which Coins Are Worth The Most?
The most valuable coins are the ones with minting errors! It’s estimated that over 50,000 George Washington coins were released without an edge inscription.
The first coin discovered without the inscription sold on ebay for $600. Others have sold for around $30 and $65.
There’s also several John Adams coin with errors. The most valuable John Adams coin was stamped 7 times and sold at auction for over $3,000!
What About Presidential Commemorative Coins For Living Presidents?
Since Ronald Reagan was the last coin of the Presidential Commemorative Dollar Coin program, we were a little bummed because we also wanted coins for all the living presidents too.
These coins can be found from some of the popular companies like Franklin Mint or the US mint, but they usually cost more than we want to spend.
We have been purchasing cheap presidential commemorative coins from Amazon to keep the hobby going.
We hope you enjoyed this article and feel free to share it!
– Jack Williams
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