Dollar Coins and Two Dollar Bills

The Presidents are coming, the Presidents are coming! The United States Treasury is making a new dollar coin, hoping to capitalize on the recent state quarter craze, with the faces of the Presidents of the United States, released in order of their service.

You will remember this is not the first attempt at promoting a dollar coin. The modern dollar coin started with the Eisenhower dollar coin, minted between 1971 and 1978. Started to commemorate the death of Dwight Eisenhower and the Apollo Moon Landing in 1969, the coin was larger than any coin issued and kept mostly by collectors.

Second came the Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979-1981), celebrating the suffragette and the first woman to appear on United States currency. Easily confused with the quarter (same size and color), the Susan B. Anthony dollar never caught on and minting ceased in 1999, when the Sacajawea dollar was created to succeed it.

The latest incarnation was the Sacajawea dollar, which made its first appearance in 2000. Similar in size to the Anthony dollar (and the quarter), the Sacajawea dollar made a splash, as it was gold, instead of the usual silver.

The new dollar coins should make an interesting collectors item, larger than the current dollar coin, also gold, and with engraving on the side of the coin (for the very first time). Four presidents will be honored each year, beginning in 2007 with the release of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. An interesting year will come in 2012, when two Grover Cleveland coins will be issued (or will it be the same one twice?). The final coin will come in 2016, with the Nixon dollar. We will have to wait for Jerry and Jimmy to go on to their final reward, before the issuance of the Reagan dollar, as it is in poor taste to issue a coin with a living person on it.

Speaking of currency, the two dollar bill is rising in popularity, being used for more than tips and slipping into birthday cards from Grandma. Two explanations have been offered, inflation and immigration. Two dollar bills are very common in other countries and immigrants to the United States are comfortable with this denomination and are seeking them out. the 99 cent value meal aside, there are few things left for under a dollar, so the increase in the use of bigger dollars is helping to fuel its increasing popularity. I like to use them if for no other reasons than to see if I can get into this sort of situation.