Presidential Portraits Selected for Dollar Series

You may not be able to pick President Benjamin Harrison out of a crowd, but the six latest presidents to be honored on $1 coins should bring a spark of recognition to most people.

The U.S. Mint issues four Presidential $1 coins per year. The coins for 2015 will honor Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. The coins for 2016 honor Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford.

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee gave its recommendation on designs for the coins when it met March 10 in Washington, D.C.

“We picked the best designs of the ones presented to us,” said CCAC Chairman Gary Marks. “They are portraits, so it’s a fairly subjective exercise. We thought we came up with some good images.”

There was discussion, for example, as to whether one design choice for Kennedy made him look too young, and whether a profile or straight-on portrait of Nixon was best.

In the end, the CCAC chose a portrait of Kennedy that has him looking downward, and a profile portrait of Nixon.

“For Nixon, it comes down to the nose,” Marks said. “That nose was so distinctively Nixon that profile really begged to be selected.”
Each coin has a common reverse design featuring the Statue of Liberty and is the same size, weight and metal as the Native American $1 coins.

Presidential coins issued since 2012 are no longer minted for circulation. They are available in a Presidential $1 Coin Proof Set – the 2014 set of four coins is priced at $18.95. There will also be rolls, bags and boxes available.