How to Collect the New Presidential Dollars

Have you seen the TV ads by the United States Mint that showcase the Presidential Dollars? Similar to the very popular State Quarter program, the Presidential $1 Coin program will honor all of our Nation's presidents by issuing a dollar coin for each one in the order in which they served.

There will be four coins released each year, starting in 2007. The lineup for this year will be Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison. In fact, the first coin of our first president, George Washington, was released with much fanfare on February 15^th, 2007.

Remember the Sacagewea "Golden" Dollar? The Presidential $1 coins will be very similar to it, in size, weight, color and metal composition. Notice that I put golden in quotes. When the Sac $1 was issued, people thought it was made of gold due to the color and the fact that it was called the Golden Dollar. Of course, it wasn't. It was just describing the unique golden color.

But, that's where the similarity ends with the Presidential $1 coins and the Sacs. There are some very unique features on this coin that already have collectors seeking them out:

· The obverse, or front of the coin, shows the name and likeness of the President, the term of office and the number that shows the order in which he served.

· There will be edge lettering on the coin! To make room for the design on the obverse, the normal inscriptions have been moved to the coin's edge. These include "E Pluribus Unum", "In God We Trust", the year of minting, and the mintmark.

· The Statue of Liberty is on the reverse side of every Presidential $1 coin, graphically illustrating the word "Liberty" that is found on all other circulating coins.

Besides the collectible value of these coins, they also refresh our memory of United States presidential history. It's a great way for children to reinforce their American history lessons, as each coin tells them who served when and in what order.

Now, on to the collecting aspects! How do you get a hold of these coins? There are many venues for this, including directly from the United States Mint web site, eBay, coin dealers, and your local banks.

I strongly recommend you first check with your area banks to see if they are stocking them. Why? Because you will only pay a dollar for each $1 coin. There's no markup involved at all. Now, you probably won't be able to get just a single coin at the bank, but rather you'll have to pay for a roll of the coins. The banks get the Mint wrapped rolls with 25 coins per roll, so you'll have to fork over $25. The beauty of this is that you can keep the ones in the best condition (minimal scratches, marks, etc.) and spend the rest as you would with other dollar coins or bills.

Plan on getting some PVC-free coin flips or containers from a coin dealer or Wal-Mart to store the coins. And, handle them by the edge only to avoid fingerprints on the sides of the coins. They become nasty, unattractive smudges after a while.

I would avoid buying them on eBay. At the time of this article, people were in a bidding frenzy and paying up to twice as much for the coins as you would pay at the bank. Why? Don't ask me! Perhaps they want to "be the first on the block" to get the coins. Besides paying much more for them, you will also incur shipping and handling charges. And a lot of the sellers pad the S&H to squeeze out a larger profit.

Remember I said you could buy them directly from the U.S. Mint web site? That would be my second choice only if your local banks will not have them at all. The Mint is selling the $25 rolls of these coins for $35.95 PLUS $3.95 S&H. So, in essence you will be paying $40 for a $25 roll of dollar coins. Not a good deal.

Lastly, you could buy these from a coin dealer. Understand, though, that the dealer has overhead to cover his business operation, so he or she will also have a premium on these. What you can do, though, is buy the coins in special sonically sealed plastic holders that have the coin grade listed on it. There are grading services, such as the premier company Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) that grade the coins according to their condition. The higher the grade, the scarcer the coin is. The scarcer the coin is, the more value it has on the secondary market.

Whichever way you collect them, please realize that they are not made of gold, that they will mint 300 million of each $1 coin for circulation, and probably won't be worth much more than face value years later.

Collect them for the sheer enjoyment and historical value, especially if you have children old enough to understand. Have fun!