New Presidential $1 Coins are certainly a hit with many collectors, but their acceptance elsewhere since they were first introduced in 2007 has been slow.
Frightening slow… and very similar to previous failed attempts at thrusting dollar coins into the publics hands.
Like the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea golden dollars, Presidential $1 coins face a daunting and nearly impossible task of competing with the one dollar bill.
The Hesselgesser Flowing Hair and Bust Dollar Collection, the number one set of early United States silver dollars in the Professional Coin Grading Service’s Set RegistrySM, will be displayed during the Long Beach, California Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, February 14 – 16, 2008.
“The collection is owned by California radiologist, Dr. Robert D. Hesselgesser, and it’s the finest collection of Flowing Hair and Bust variety dollars graded by PCGS using Bolender and Bowers-Borckardt reference numbers. He has added or upgraded about a dozen coins since he first registered this impressive set a year ago when the expanded PCGS variety attribution services were launched,” said BJ Searls, Manager of the PCGS Set Registry.
“The total number of possible varieties in the Registry is 118. The exhibit at the PCGS booth (#807) at the Long Beach Expo will showcase 107 of them, many among the finest known examples.”
Highlights of the exhibit include:
Buying a box of Cheerios® in January of 2000 bought you more than a good breakfast. You were given one shot at a very special Sacagawea golden coin.
Just a dollar you say? Not quite. These Cheerios dollars are now being sold for several thousand dollars each.
You likely remember the introduction of the Sacagawea golden dollars back in 2000. It’s hard not to remember. The U.S. Mint spent $53,000,000 that year on marketing and advertising just to get your attention.
The verdict isn’t in on whether counterfeit coins were used earlier this month at a local McDonald’s restaurant in Macomb, Illinois.
The boy who used them was given the four Presidential $1 Coins as a gift from his grandparents. They were special proof versions, which are made for collectors, and have a current value of at least $14.95.
Proofs usually make ideal gifts for many children due to each coin’s mirror-like shine and unmatched detail. The boy, however, was apparently less intrigued and decided to spend them.
America loves their series. First came the 50 State Quarters. Next came the Westward Journey Nickels. Then the Presidential $1 Coins.
Now wait… Be patient… And please hold your horses… Why? Because a new Sacagawea Golden Dollars series is on the way.
Is it just me or is your heart NOT racing? Well, the new commemorative Sacagawea Dollars won’t be out until 2009 so maybe there’s time to build some excitement.
Eileen Collins (Colonel, USAF, RET.) had an exceptional career with NASA. Her achievements helped springboard not 
only the launch of missions, but that of the Sacagawea Dollar coins. Let’s swing through a quick series of historical events tying Collins and the Sacagawea coins together. Warp back to July 23, 1999…
On that day, NASA Mission STS-93 Columbia blasted off into space carrying Chandra X-ray Observatory - one of NASA’s four Great Observatories, like the Hubble Telescope. Cool stuff!
But throw out the scientific values of the trip and two things stand out: Collins was the first woman to command a space shuttle and with her went some unique “pocket change”. The change? You guessed it… Sacagawea Golden Dollars. But these aren’t the golden dollars we’re used to seeing dispensed from post office vending machines!
