The circulating dollar coin would be redesigned with portraits of American presidents and a new .9999 gold $10 bullion coin honoring First Spouses would be launched in 2006 if legislation introduced by Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., is approved by Congress.
The legislation, which was introduced March 9, seeks to "revitalize the design of United States coinage and return circulating coinage to its position as not only a necessary means of exchange in commerce but as representation of aesthetic beauty."
If the legislation is approved by Congress and signed into law by the president, four circulating commemorative dollar coins would be issued each year, beginning Jan. 1, 2006. The first coins would depict George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
No coin issued in the Presidential dollar series would bear the image of a sitting president. The legislation is less clear whether a living ex-president could be depicted. The ages of a majority of the living ex-presidents and the length of time it would take to issue coins honoring all of the deceased presidents could mean the possibility that a living ex-president might be depicted on a coin might not be a major issue.
Only one coin design would be issued per order of service for any president "no matter how many consecutive terms of office the president served." If a president served two or more nonconsecutive terms of service, a coin would be issued for each nonconsecutive term. (Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.)
The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2004 calls for the temporary abandonment of the portrait of Sacagawea on the obverse of the dollar coin and replacing it with rim-to-rim portraits of American presidents. In addition to the presidential portrait, the obverse would contain the name of the president, the dates of the term of office and a number indicating the order of the term of service. Once the 12-year program is completed the dollar coin design would revert back to Sacagawea.
The dollar coin's reverse design would bear a "likeness of the Statue of Liberty extending to the rim of the coin and large enough to provide a dramatic representation of Liberty while not being large enough to create the impression of a two-headed coin." The reverse would also bear the value of the coin expressed in Arabic numerals along with the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Proposed program at a glance
- Beginning 2006, temporarily replaces current images on the dollar coin with images of the country's presidents on the obverse and of the Statue of Liberty on the reverse.
- Would be issued at the rate of four presidents a year, in order of service, until all but a sitting president have been honored.
- Obverse will carry a likeness of the president, years of service and the number of the term of presidency.
- Reverse carries an image of the Statue of Liberty, large enough to be dramatic but not so large as to make a "two-headed" coin.
- Issue date, Mint marks and important mottoes to be lettered on the edge of the coin to allow larger and more dramatic artwork on coin.
- One coin per term; however, if non-sequential terms by same person, separate coins will be issued.
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The legislation states the use of the likeness of the Statue of Liberty "adequately conveys the concept of Liberty" so no inscription of the word Liberty would be used on the obverse, reverse or edge.
Castle's legislation also calls for moving many of the mottos, emblems, year date and Mint mark to the edge of each coin to allow for the larger, rim-to-rim portraits. The legislation notes "placing inscriptions on the edge of coins, known as edge-incusing, is a hallmark of modern coinage and is common in large-volume production of coinage elsewhere in the world."
According to the legislation, two current examples of coins bearing edge-lettering are the 2.7 billion x2 coins in circulation and coins of the People's Republic of China.
The larger artwork on the coins would be "reminiscent of the so-called 'Golden Age of Coinage' in the United States, at the beginning of the 20th century, initiated by President Theodore Roosevelt, with the assistance of noted sculptors and medallic artists James Earle Fraser and Augustus Saint-Gaudens."
First Spouses coins
Also beginning in 2006, and running concurrent with the Presidential dollar series, would be a series of .9999 gold $10 bullion First Spouse coins. The bullion coins would have the same diameter as the dollar coin and bear a likeness of the First Spouse, an inscription of the years of service and a number indicting the order in which his or her spouse served as president."
The reverse of the First Spouse bullion coins would bear images emblematic of the life and work of the first spouse depicted along with the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The bullion coins would also bear edge-lettering of the year of issuance and other inscriptions mandated by law.
In the case of a president who served without a spouse, the design on the obverse of the coin would depict an image of Liberty as represented on a U.S. coin issued during the term of that president. The reverse design would be representative of themes of the president in office at the time.
The exception will be in the case of President Chester Alan Arthur, whose wife died after he was elected but before he took office. The obverse of that coin would feature the name and likeness of Alice Paul. The legislation describes Paul as a "leading strategist in the suffrage movement, who was instrumental in gaining women the right to vote upon the adoption of the 19th amendment and thus participate in the election of future presidents, and who was born on Jan. 11, 1885," during Arthur's term of service. The reverse design of this coin would be representative of the suffrage movement.
No First Spouse bullion coins would be issued once the dollar coin design reverts to Sacagawea.
The Treasury secretary would select the designs for both the Presidential dollar series and the First Spouse bullion coins after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
Education is among the goals of the legislation.
In the bill, Castle notes that "many people cannot name all of the presidents, and fewer can name the spouses, nor can many people accurately place the president in the proper time period of American history."
The legislation also specifies that the coins "should not be introduced with an expensive taxpayer-funded public relations campaign, including the use of the taxpayer-funded United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund."
Instead, the legislation directs the director of the U.S. Mint to "work with consumer groups, media outlets and schools to ensure an adequate amount of news coverage about the start of the coin program so consumers will know of the availability of the coins."
The legislation also mandates the Mint director "work closely with merchants who will use the coins, vending machine and other coin acceptor manufacturers, vending machine operators, transit officials, and municipal parking officials," as well as the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to "ensure adequate numbers of vending machines and coin accepting equipment will accept the coin and are labeled as such; cash register drawers are ready to accept the coins; and the contractors who handle recirculation of coins for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System have machinery available to deliver and recycle the coins in packaging that is useful to businesses, including rolled coins."
