Will Fillmore sales hit the gas?

Today Millard Fillmore gets his dollar coin. The official beginning of sales by the Mint of 25-coin rolls is noon Eastern Time.

How many Americans hearing the 13th President’s name without any other context provided would even identify him as an American President?

He sounds more like the guy who owns the gas station on the corner. He would have a nickname, “Phil,” and would have suffered no end of gags with his name relating to “Filling” the tank. That would make him either the most happy-go-lucky fellow in the neighborhood or the meanest, depending on how he handled the lifetime of jokes.

And don’t get him started on what the kids did to his first name in his youth.

But the facts are unalterable. He wasn’t a gas station owner. He was President of the United States, taking the office following the death Zachary Taylor in 1850. He was not elected in his own right.

Rolls of the dollar coins are $35.95 each from either Philadelphia or Denver, plus $4.95 per order for shipping and handling.

Visit the Mint’s Web site at www.usmint.gov for details.

Yes, I know I am not doing the 13th President’s reputation any good with these comments, but then again I might be because more people will probably better remember “Phil” at the gas station than Millard Fillmore, President of the United States.