Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on Dec. 13 immediately suspended production of Presidential dollar coins as part of the Obama Administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste.

The announcement was made by Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin during a press conference following a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden. The press conference was also attended by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who outlined plans to cut government waste.

Wolin said the U.S. Mint will only produce circulation-quality Presidential dollars for numismatic sales, to be sold above face value.

Suspending dollar coin production for circulation will save $50 million to $70 million annually, according to the government. Commerce demand for dollar coins will be drawn from current Federal Reserve inventories, estimated at 1.4 billion coins. Federal Reserve inventories currently hold sufficient dollar coins to meet demand for the next 10 to 12 years, Wolin said.

The last Presidential dollar struck depicts the portrait of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States.

Additional details will be published in the Jan. 2 print edition of Coin World and posted online at www.coinworld.com on Dec. 19. ¦