Dollar coins will feature heads of presidents

Got Washington? How about Adams, Jefferson and Madison?

If you use American currency or collect coins, you'll probably at some point have all four presidents in your pocket or tucked away in a safe place. That's because the images of at least 37 past presidents are being pressed on to the backs of a new $1 coin.

The Washington coin goes into circulation today, but coins with the likenesses of each of the country's first four presidents will soon be available for purchase all at once.

The U.S. Mint will be issuing four new coins each year, with the faces and profiles of past presidents on the front and the Statue of Liberty on the back.

The edges of the new coins will bear the words "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust." You can purchase the coins directly from the U.S. Mint.

But banks and coin dealers in Utah have had eager collectors inquiring about them well in advance of their release date.

"We've had a lot of people asking about them," said Judy Harper, who has been in the coin dealing business for 36 years.

Harper works at the 41-year old Rust Rare Coin in Salt Lake City. Her store will have to order the new coins just like everyone else. She's looking forward to getting in the $1 coin proof sets, the coins that get a little extra attention during the production process.

"They're very frosty," Harper said. "They have a nice mirror finish."

The proof coins are sought after by serious collectors, who normally don't go through a bank for their quarry. Still, the First Security branch of the Wells Fargo Bank has heard from its share of coin hunters.

"We've had several people requesting the presidential coin," said Rick Bengtzen, the bank's service manager.

People coming into the bank will be buying the coins at face value. Those coins will be considered circulated, which lowers their value to any collectors hopeful they'll make a profit someday by reselling the coin.

The big payday on any coin comes when someone finds a mistake on the coin. For example, some of the Wisconsin quarters in the state series had an extra leaf on an ear of corn. The value on such a coin can spike to over $100 at first, according to Harper. But as more of the same coin with the mistake surface, the value goes back down.

There's two years to go, including this year, before all the state quarters are in circulation. In the early going, the $1 coin appears to be edging out the quarters in popularity.

"I think this is a little bigger draw," Bengtzen said.

The buck stops, however, with Nixon.

By 2016, you'll be able to purchase a Richard M. Nixon $1 coin. Currently, Nixon, the country's 37th president, is the last coin on the U.S. Mint's coin release schedule, with no immediate plans to mint coins with the images of presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton or the Bushes.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com