Mint Releases 2009 Presidential Uncirculated Set 4/2

by U.S. Mint

Uncirculated versions of the 2009-dated coins in the Presidential $1 Coin Program will be available beginning at noon Eastern Time (ET) on April 2, 2009.   The 2009 Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated SetTM, priced at $15.95, contains coins bearing dramatic portraits of Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor on the obverses (heads side). 

The Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated Set includes eight beautifully crafted coins - four each from the United States Mint facilities at Philadelphia (P mint mark) and Denver (D mint mark).  A protective, rotatable blister encases each coin, allowing the edge-incused inscriptions to be fully visible.  The coins are displayed in an attractive folder that includes biographical sketches and portraits of each former President. 

Featured on the reverse (tails side) of all Presidential $1 Coins is a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty.  The inscriptions E PLURIBUS UNUM, the year 2009 and the mint mark (P or D) are edge-incused on the coins.  The inscription IN GOD WE TRUST is featured on the obverse of the Presidential $1 Coins. 

 

Orders for the 2009 Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated Set and other Presidential $1 Coin products can be placed by using the United States Mint's secure Web site, www.usmint.gov.  Orders are also accepted at the toll-free number, 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).  Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468).  Please add $4.95 shipping and handling fee to all domestic orders.

Note:  To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, orders placed prior to the official on-sale date and time of noon ET on April, 2, 2009, shall not be deemed accepted by the United States Mint and will not be honored.  For more information, please review the United States Mint's "Frequently Asked Questions," Answer ID #175, on the Online Catalog.

Contact:

Press inquiries:  Michael White (202) 354-7222

Customer Service information:  (800) USA MINT (872-6468)

Mark Twain Coin Proposed for 2013

By David L. Ganz

Identical bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to require the Mint to produce a commemorative silver dollar and a $5 gold piece in 2013 honoring a pseudonym, Mark Twain, one of America's most beloved authors.

Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the author who created the characters of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, who appear in his books mandated for reading for generations of American high school and college students, had a variety of careers including riverboat captain, newspaperman, humorist and book publisher. He published the highly successful memoirs of the dying Ulysses S. Grant.

Senate Banking committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., whose committee handles all coinage legislation backs S. 483 in the Senate. His may be the final word near session's end when many coin bills are finally pushed into law. 

The House version, H.R. 1195, is Connecticut's Rep. John B. Larson.

Clemens was a longtime resident of Connecticut.

Up to 300,000 gold coins and 500,000 silver dollars are called for. Proceeds benefit four different properties from a variety of locations that were important to Clemen's life.

Some 40 percent of the surcharges would go "to the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Conn., to support the continued restoration of the Mark Twain house and grounds, and to ensure continuing growth and innovation in museum programming to research, promote, and educate on the legacy of Mark Twain."

Then 20 percent each to "the Mark Twain Project at the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley, Calif., the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, N.Y. and ... to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Mo., to preserve historical sites related to Mark Twain and to help support programs to study and promote Mark Twain's legacy."

Under House and Senate rules, two- thirds of each body must approve co-sponsorship before a hearing can be held; but with Dodd as committee chair, that is probably going to be inapplicable.