Top 5 Commemorative Presidential Coins

When it comes to commemorative presidential coins, or commemorative coins that honor past U.S. presidents, there are not a lot of coins out there. That’s mostly because former presidents have played such a major role in our circulating coinage since the dawn of the 20^th century, appearing on the obverses of most of those coins, including the presidential $1 coin series. 

1900 Lafayette Dollar

But before 1900 no American president had ever appeared on any U.S. coin. The reason is that when George Washington was president, he said he did not want our coinage to follow the British and European tradition of depicting monarchs on their coinage, and that’s why we began using images of Lady Liberty instead.

The very first American presidential commemorative coin was the 1900 Lafayette Memorial Dollar that features a double obverse portrait of French General Lafayette and President George Washington, who became the first U.S. president to appear on a coin.

Those coins were all minted on December 14, 1899, which was the 100^th anniversary of Washington’s death, when 50,000 pieces were made with 12,000 sent to Paris to be sold through the Memorial Commission, but 10,000 were returned since the coin did not sell well there. 36,000 were sold in the U.S., and the remaining 14,000 were returned to the Mint to be melted.

The purpose of the coin was to raise funds to have a statue of Lafayette created to become a gift from the United States to France to honor to personal and financial sacrifice of the French General, who in 1777 arrived in the U.S. with his troops to aid our troops in the Revolutionary War.

Today this is a popular classic commemorative coin that is most often seen in AU condition worth about $600, slightly more or $750 in MS60, $1650 in MS63 and over $78,000 in the top grade of MS67.

1918 Illinois Half Dollar

In 1918 a commemorative silver half dollar was issued for the centennial of Illinois’ admission to the Union, becoming the first of what would be dozens of such coins issued for other states. In this case the coin also became one of the very few commemorative coins of the classic period that featured past presidents. And not just any president, but Abraham Lincoln, who has long been considered our most popular president ranked almost always ahead of the next most popular ones that include Washington and FDR.

The obverse portrait of a youthful Lincoln was created by former chief engraver George T. Morgan based on a statue created for Illinois’ centennial that was unveiled the same year the coin was issued, while the reverse featured an image of the state’s official seal by John R. Sinnock, who would later design the Franklin half dollar. 100,000 examples were struck, and by 1936 all were sold.

This coin is worth about $200 in MS 62, $250 in MS63 and $385 in MS65, jumps to $700 in MS66 and reaches all the way to $21,500 in MS68. Since the majority of the surviving examples are lower mint state coins, and fewer than 10,000 of the estimated 55,000 surviving coins grade MS65 or better, it is recommended to obtain one that grades at least MS65.

1997 FDR $5 Gold

Only three modern gold commemorative coins honor past presidents, and of those one is for James Madison and the Bill of Rights, a key part of the Constitution but not a president who is viewed as being especially popular.

Then there is the 1997 $5 gold coin for Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only president elected to three terms and the person who was instrumental in guiding the country through World War II and out of the Great Depression - the most seminal events of our modern history.

The choice of FDR for a gold commemorative coin was an interesting one, especially as it was not issued as is usually the case with an accompanying silver dollar and clad half dollar. FDR is the president who took the U.S. off the gold standard, ending the use of gold coins for circulation, making him an ironic choice for one of the few gold presidential commemoratives. In addition, the year 1997 is not an anniversary connected to the 32^nd president.

Although as many as 100,000 of these coins were authorized, sales were poor, which is why the total mintages were 11,805 in uncirculated condition and 29,233 in Proof, making the mint state pieces one of the lowest of the modern commemorative series.

The coin’s obverse is based on a photograph of FDR from his war service, while the reverse is based on the presidential seal in 1932 when he was first inaugurated.

Prices fluctuate with current gold values and are currently just under $700 for MS70 and PF70 with lower-graded pieces worth about $100 over their melt value.

1997 Washington $5 Gold

Issued to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of Washington’s death, $10 from the sale of each of these coins went to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which preserves Mount Vernon.

The coin is especially notable not just as one of the very few modern gold commemoratives issued for a past president but also for its stunning and widely acclaimed design. The obverse is the famous right-facing bust of Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser based on a sculpture by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Hudon. The design had been recommended for the obverse of the new Washington quarter in 1932 that was then vetoed by the then Treasury Secretary in favor of the design by John Flanagan that most numismatists do not consider to be artistically as good.

The reverse features a very impressive spread-winged eagle perched on several arrows with 13 stars above for the 13 original colonies that has a great sculptural relief to it.

With a maximum authorized mintage of 100,00 coins, the issue sold 22,511 in mint state and another 41,693 in Proof, probably not selling out because at this time the U.S. Mint issued a lot of commemoratives coins each year, and collector budgets were getting strained.

Current values for this issue fluctuate with gold prices. MS70 coins run $775, while Proof 70 are $700 due to the difference in mintages. Lower graded coins run around $550 or about $100 above their melt value.

2009 Lincoln Silver Dollar

Of the very few modern commemorative silver dollars with past presidents, undoubtedly the top one is the 2009 Lincoln silver dollar issued two hundred years after the birth of our most popular president. In addition to the subject matter and the fact that apart from Lincoln cents and the 2010 presidential dollar coin, he is only depicted on this coin and the 1918 half dollar is the fact that the coin sports an outstanding design.

The obverse features an impressive portrait of Lincoln by Justin Kunz that was sculpted by Donald Everhart, while the reverse contains the key final 43 words of Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation.

The coin had a maximum authorized mintage of 500,000 coins. It was released on February 12, the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and the same day a new Lincoln cent was launched with the first of a series of four special reverse designs that depicted different phases of the president’s life.

By March 27, the mint state versions were sold out, and the next day the same happened to the Proofs, adding up to 450,000 coins, including 125,000 uncirculated and 325,000 Proof coins.

These remain inexpensive coins at between $40 and $50 below 70, while MS70s run $75 and Proof 70s $90.

Sources

Q. David Bowers, A Guide Book of United States Commemorative Coins (Whitman, 2017).