John Quincy Adams Dollar

History

The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, Public Law 109-145, was signed on December 22, 2005 and created a rotating series of circulating dollars honoring the presidents in order of service. The findings section of the statute leaned on the 50 State Quarters precedent, arguing that a design changed on a regular schedule increases public demand, keeps coins moving through commerce and serves an educational purpose. John Quincy Adams was the sixth president, so his coin was the sixth design in the program and the second of the four issued in 2008, following his father's 2007 issue and preceding Andrew Jackson. Circulation strikes were released on May 15, 2008, and because each president received a single quarter-year slot, the type exists for that one year only.

Details

Don Everhart, a sculptor-engraver at the Mint, is credited with the Adams design. Circulation strikes came from Philadelphia and Denver, proofs from San Francisco, and a satin finish version was made for the annual Uncirculated Coin Set. The satin coins were struck from specially prepared dies on burnished planchets, and the Mint described them as struck on special presses using greater force than that applied to circulating coins, which produced the sharp detail and the characteristic surface. None of the satin pieces entered circulation; they were sold only in the Mint set or individually at a premium over face value. Presidential dollars carry the date and mint mark on the edge rather than on either face, applied in a separate operation after striking.

Features

The obverse shows a portrait of John Quincy Adams with JOHN QUINCY ADAMS above and 6TH PRESIDENT 1825-1829 arched below, giving the dates of his term. The reverse is the design shared across the program, a rendering of the Statue of Liberty with the $1 denomination beneath Liberty's right arm and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the same side. PCGS splits the issue into Position A and Position B, which describe whether the edge inscription reads right-side-up or upside-down when the obverse faces the viewer, and maintains separate listings for each. The headline variety of the date is the missing edge lettering satin finish coin, on which the edge is blank because the piece never passed through the edge lettering machine, taking the date and mint mark with it; PCGS catalogues it as a Special Strike and shows the date in parentheses as (2008) for that reason. Since the variety is defined by an absence that post-mint grinding can imitate, examples in the market are essentially always encapsulated.

Notable facts

• The 2008 Uncirculated Coin Set held 28 satin finish coins in two folders of 14, one folder for Philadelphia and one for Denver, and sold for $22.95.
• Sales of that set opened at noon Eastern time on July 30, 2008, and its coins carried $13.82 in face value.
• The satin finish used for the annual Uncirculated Coin Set was introduced in 2005.
• Beginning January 1, 2007, the Presidential $1 Coin Act required the Secretary to mint Sacagawea dollars for circulation each year in a quantity of no less than one-third of all dollar coins issued.
• PCGS has applied both MS and SP grade prefixes to the missing edge lettering satin coins over time, so the same variety appears under two designations in price series.
• Presidential dollars have no strike designation comparable to full bands or full bell lines, and the marks that limit grades on satin pieces generally come from Mint packaging and handling rather than circulation.