WASHINGTON — Millions of new John Adams Presidential $1 Coins are heading to the Nation’s banks and financial institutions. It is the first time the United States has featured President Adams on a coin. The United States Mint is marking the occasion with a ceremonial launch and coin exchange in John Adams’ birthplace of Quincy, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, May 22.
Those who cannot travel to Quincy may obtain John Adams Presidential $1 Coins at most banks and financial institutions throughout the country, starting today, May 17. Banks that run out of John Adams Presidential $1 Coins are encouraged to re–order them. The public may also order Presidential $1 Coins in bags and rolls at the United States Mint’s website www.usmint.gov.
“John Adams was a great patriot who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and served as Vice President and then President of our Nation in its early days,” said Director Edmund C. Moy. “This new coin provides the opportunity to learn more about our second President and his fascinating life. With the John Adams Presidential $1 Coin, like the George Washington Presidential $1 Coin before it, Americans are discovering that using a dollar coin is more convenient in many transactions.”
John Adams was the second President of the United States, and the coin commemorating John Adams is the second of the Presidential $1 Coin series, now in circulation. The United States Mint inaugurated the Presidential $1 Coin series in New York with the George Washington Presidential $1 Coin on February 15, 2007, in time for Presidents Day.
Nearly half a billion George Washington and John Adams Presidential $1 Coins have been ordered to date by the Federal Reserve for circulation. Public awareness of the new Presidential $1 Coins has tripled from approximately 15 to 20 percent in November 2006, when the designs for the coins were unveiled in Washington D.C., to approximately 60 percent in March 2007.
The United States Mint is offering financial institutions and retail businesses free informational materials via www.usmint.gov/$1coin. Students, teachers, parents and educational organizations can also access lesson plans and other free educational tools on the same website.
Congress authorized and the President approved the Presidential $1 Coins with the Presidential $1 Coin Act (Act) of 2005. The Act requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins honoring the United States Presidents in the order in which they served, with four new designs annually. Along with the George Washington and John Adams Presidential $1 Coins, coins featuring Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will roll out later in 2007. To download digital images of the John Adams Presidential $1 Coin, please click here.
Unique Designs Honor Historic Figures
The design of the John Adams Presidential $1 Coin, like all of the Presidential $1 Coins, was created to be bold and dramatic. Edge–lettering also draws attention to the inscriptions “E Pluribus Unum” and “In God We Trust,” as well as the date and the mint mark, distinguishing Presidential $1 Coins from all other coins in circulation today.
The new Presidential $1 Coins are identical in color and size to the Golden Dollar featuring Sacagawea, and have the same distinctive rim and tactile features to assist the visually impaired. The obverse (heads side) of each coin will feature an image of a former President and the years of his term of office. The reverse (tails side) displays an image of the Statue of Liberty and the inscriptions “United States of America” and “$1.”
Distributed through Banks and Other Financial Institutions
The United States Mint and the Federal Reserve are taking steps to enable businesses and the public to obtain the new John Adams Presidential $1 Coin and all of the Presidential $1 Coins, as they are released.
Like the George Washington Presidential $1 Coins, the John Adams Presidential $1 Coins will be shipped to banks and other financial institutions in rolls and small bags, unmixed with other $1 coins. Banks may order and store each Presidential $1 Coin up to two weeks before its introduction so financial institutions will have supplies on hand on the release date. The coins will be available to banks in unmixed rolls and bags for four weeks after the introduction of each design. However, banks should not hesitate to re–order Presidential $1 Coins after the four–week window, in case there are remaining supplies. The special ordering process begins again two weeks prior to the date on which a new Presidential $1 Coin is released.
Presidential $1 Coin Commemoratio.
Each President will be honored with a single Presidential $1 Coin, regardless of the number of consecutive terms he served, except for Grover Cleveland, the only United States President to serve non–consecutive terms. He will be honored on two coins. No living, former or current President can be honored on a coin.
For more information on the new Presidential $1 Coins,please visit www.usmint.gov/$1coin.