US Gold Dollar Coins
The United States has minted both gold dollars and golden-colored dollars dating back to the 1800’s. The most. current US gold dollar coins are the presidential dollars.
US Gold Dollar Coins
The Presidential dollar coins, which began release this year, are gold colored. It is interesting to look at the history of US gold dollar coins. The first US gold coins were forged by a private jeweler, Bechtler, right after the Gold Rush began. By 1840, he had turned over $2.2 million worth of prospector gold into gold coins, mostly gold dollars. This was legal at the time. The US Mint got involved in this venture in 1849 with the Liberty Head gold dollar. The Indian Head dollar followed next. The small head design was minted from 1854-1856 and the large head design was minted from 1856-1889.
The next “gold” US Dollar Coin came over 100 years later – the gold colored Sacagawea dollar coin. First minted in 2000, the coin is meant to depict the Shoshone woman, Sacagawea, who accompanied Lewis and Clark. This coin is still in circulation.
Starting in 2007, the US Mint began to roll out its presidential series of gold colored dollar coins. Comparable to the popular state quarters program, the US Mint hopes to generate interest in the dollar coins by changing the face every three months. The first coin to roll out, in February of 2007, was the George Washington Dollar coin.
The golden colored coin is thicker and larger than a quarter. The size, weight, and metal composition of the new Presidential $1 Coin will be identical to that of the Sacagawea Golden Dollar. The coins feature a large image of the Statue of Liberty. Following in the tradition of the recently updated currency, the images used on the coins are bold and larger than in previous years. Instead of the inscriptions such as “E Pluribus Unum” and “In God We Trust” appearing on the face of the coin, these inscriptions will be found on the edges of the coin.
It is planned that the Presidential US gold dollar coin program will run until 2016. Presidents must have been dead for 2 years in order to be featured on a coin and they will not be produced out of order. In 2007, coins featuring Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison will be released. This will be followed by Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Jackson and Van Buren in 2008. 2009 will see coins with Harrison, Tyler, Polk and Taylor. In 2010, the faces of Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln will grace the dollar coins. In 2011 it will be Johnson, Grant, Hayes and Garfield and in 2012, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison and Cleveland. McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson will appear in 2013 and Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and FDR will appear in 2014. 2015 will see Truman, Eisenhower, JFK and Johnson. Rounding out the group will be Nixon and Ford in 2016. If President Carter has been deceased for two years by the time 2016 arrives, both the Carter coin and the Reagan coin will be released that year as well.
