Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005

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The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-145; 119 Stat. 2664) is an Act of Congress that directs the United States Mint to produce US$1 coins with engravings of the United States Presidents on the obverse.

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Legislative History

Senate Bill 1047 was introduced in the United States Senate on May 17, 2005 by Senator John Sununu with over 70 cosponsors. It was reported favorably out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs without amendment on July 29, 2005. The Senate passed it with a technical amendment (S.AMDT.26760), by Unanimous Consent on November 18, 2005. The House of Representatives passed it (291-113) on December 13, 2005 (A similar bill, H.R. 902, had previously passed in the House, but it was the Senate bill that was passed by both chambers.) The engrossed bill was presented to President Bush on December 15, 2005 and he signed it into law on December 22, 2005.

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The program

The program will begin in January 1, 2007, and will be akin to the State Quarter program in that it won't end until every subject is honored. The program will feature four presidents per year on the obverse, featuring one for three months before moving on to the next president in chronological order. Once begun, it will likely be called the Presidential Dollar Coin Program.

The reverse of the coins will bear the Statue of Liberty, the inscription "$1" and the inscription "United States of America". In addition, inscribed along the edge, will be the inscription of the year of minting or issuance of the coin and the legends "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust." "Liberty" will be absent from the coin altogether. The decision was made that the Statue of Liberty was enough to send the message, and that the legend would be absent from the edge.

This marks the first time since the St. Gaudens Double Eagle that the United States has issued a coin with edge lettering for circulation. An edge lettered coin is mostly rare in the world today outside the Eurozone. Edge lettered coins date back to the 1790's.

The Act had been introduced because of the failure of the Sacagawea $1 coin to gain wide-spread circulation in the United States. The Act sympathized with the need of the nation's private sector for a $1 coin, and expected that the appeal of changing the design would increase the public demand for new coins (as the public generally responded well to the State Quarter program). The program would also educate the public about the history of the nation's presidents. Should the coin not catch on with the general public, the Mint is hoping that collectors will be as interested in the dollars as they were with the State Quarters, which generated about $4.6 billion in seigniorage between January 1999 and April 2005, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office.

Unlike the State Quarter program and the Westward Journey nickel series, which suspended the issuance of the current design during those programs, the Act directs the Mint to continue to issue Sacagawea dollar coins during the Presidential series. At least 1/3 of the dollar coins issued in each year of the program must be Sacagawea dollars; furthermore, the Sacagawea design is required to continue after the program ends. These requirements were added at the behest of the North Dakota congressional delegation to ensure that Sacagawea, whom North Dakotans consider to be one of their own, ultimately remains on the dollar coin.

Previous versions of the Act called for removing from circulation dollar coins issued prior to the Sacagawea dollar, most notably the Susan B. Anthony dollar, but the version of the Act that actually became law merely directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study the matter and report back to Congress.

Even though it would take about 11 full years to honor all the presidents (George W. Bush is the 43rd President and the Act allows for a coin for each of Grover Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms), the series may not run that long. The Act provides that no former president will be depicted on a coin within two years of his death, and the series will end when all the then-eligible presidents have been honored.

Dollar coins will be issued bearing the likenesses of presidents, as follows:

* If these presidents or former presidents are still alive, they will not be honored on the $1 coin. No former president will be depicted on a coin within two years of his death. The timing of the honoring of currently-living presidents could vary, depending on which of them are still alive when the time comes.

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Other provisions

The Act also has three other provisions, for:

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References

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