Craig —
Many thanks for your thoughtful response. Kaiser’s brain operated at a level far above mine. But he had (and I pray still has) an incredible wit and insight into coinage. I think the only reason I still collect is for the beauty and many times challenge of beating the rest of you on the Mint’s ordering system!

Yes, there was a time when the Mint was trying to get the 1 Dollar coins accepted instead of 1 dollar bills. So they offered a program where you could get rolls (and I think maybe bags) at face value for you to use, rather than collect. Even free shipping. Many on this site probably were like me, doing a little bit of collecting and spending the ones we got.

But since my daughter taught at an Elementary School named Jefferson, it gave me a unique opportunity to sometimes visit her class, read to them, and try to engage them in the learning process. They LOVED seeing me, especially since they suspected I would play some of my Jefferson Dollar give-aways. And I gave rolls of them to my daughter to give out too. It was amazing how kids who otherwise could mostly care less about school all of a sudden would get so excited.

I also used to give out those coins (and dollar bills) at Halloween. I’d have 5 items on a big board and the kids could select only 3 and they had to be different. The other 2 items were full sized candy bars, good stuff since our home was way up a hill. I figured it the kids could make it all the way to my front door they deserved some great goodies. But the really fun thing was the parents escorting their kids. They’d see the money and be jumping up and down for their kids to select it. But the kids mostly wanted the full sized candy bars! The dynamics of it all was a lesson in human nature.

So maybe look it up on the Mint’s past. It must have been almost 10 years ago …. I really appreciate the comments on Heir Kaiser.
— Mike

I don’t know if Kaiser has passed or not, but it was clear to me that he was having health problems. Clearly, he was an avid coin enthusiast and I always thought the only reason he wouldn’t be engaged with coins is unfortunately…death. But as they say, that’s waiting for us all at the end of the line.

BTW, when you say ‘the mint will. sell you rolls of presidential dollars at face value’, I’m assuming you were buying them from the bank? I used to collect them from the mint, wrapped in mint paper, and they always carried a premium.

I actually was considering getting a bag of them to use for small purchases at the local Taco place, the odd dollar needed going across the Balboa Ferry, throwing into the local homeless cup … you get the drift. My bet is that most people who got one would ask WTF is this???

Years ago, when the Mint would sell you rolls of the Presidential dollars at face value, I bought a bunch for my daughter (who was a 5th Grade Teacher at Jefferson School) to give out to her students to encourage class participation. They went nucking futs. But their enthusiasm ended when the coins ran out.

You know IF the Mint started that program again I bet many others might do the same. And if they wanted to get something going to replace dollar bills that might be one of them. Or maybe they make “Toonies” (is that what they call them?) like Canada.

On a TOTALLY UNRELATED subject, did I hear correctly that “Kaiser” passed away? I always enjoyed, and was many times challenged, by his incredible posts ….
— Mike

They were discontinued as circulating coins in 2012. You may come across the older ones and presidential dollars occasionally. Otherwise they’re only sold in collector sets or in rolls, bags and boxes. Same with Kennedy Half Dollars since 2003.