For the first time this year, the United States Mint has released a 2012 Presidential $1 Coin & First Spouse Medal Set. It honors Chester Arthur and Alice Paul. Sales began Thursday, October 18, at noon Eastern Time.
The price of the medal set is $9.95, which is cheaper than prior issues in the series. 2011-dated sets are priced at $14.95 each while 2010-dated sets cost $11.95 each. Sets in both previous years are still for sale.
Collectors find two items making up the latest medal set, an uncirculated quality Chester Arthur Presidential $1 coin and an Alice Paul and the Suffrage Movement bronze medal that bears the same designs featured on the recently released proof and uncirculated 24-karat gold coins.
The two pieces are mounted on a colorful plastic card that has a portrait of Chester Arthur, plus his signature on the front. The back of the card offers information about the Presidential $1 coin and medal.
Chester Arthur $1’s launched six months ago on April 5, 2012 in rolls, bags, and boxes. They were the first Presidential dollars that were not released into circulation via the Federal Reserve Bank as prior strikes in the series had been. While they are still legal tender coins of the United States, they are now only sold as numismatic items directly to collectors from the U.S. Mint.
At this time, the only means of acquiring a bronze medal duplicate of the gold coins honoring Alice Paul and the suffrage movement is by purchasing the Arthur Presidential $1 Coin & First Spouse Medal Set. In the past, bronze medals were sold individually and shared launch dates with their corresponding First Spouse Gold Coins. That was not the case when the Alice Paul gold coins were released last week on October 11.
Alice Paul, who was born during Chester Arthur’s administration, was selected by Congress to be part of the First Spouse series because Arthur’s wife, Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, passed away before his presidential term. Alice Paul was one of the strategists of the suffrage movement that led to the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution, ratified in 1920, allowing women the right to vote.
Collectors may place orders for the Chester Arthur Presidential $1 Coin & Alice Paul Medal Set right here or at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment can make their purchases at 1-888-321-MINT (6468). The Mint charges a $4.95 shipping and handling on all domestic orders.
