Presidential $1 coins began their journey in 2007 with the release of four coins starting with our first President of the United States, George Washington. Following in sequential order, they would continue to release four coins per year until 2016 when the series came to an end following strict guidelines that living past Presidents should not appear on coins. However, introducing something new and different to the fold in an attempt to garner more interest from collectors, the United States Mint started making Coin & Chronicles Sets honoring the Presidents that served this great nation.
However, the sets lacked luster and sales were modest at best. That all changed in 2015 when the Mint switched up their objective and perhaps ended up doing themselves a disservice in the end. Going back five years, we will take a deeper look into two coins from those sets that landed themselves on Whitman Publishing’s fourth edition of the top 100 of the Greatest United States Modern Coins list that was created by authors Scott Schechter and Jeff Garrett. With influence from dealers across the country, we look into a blunder of sorts by the Mint and how these two coins from 2015 caused frustration among collectors that normally would not give these sets a second glance.
#85 - 2015-P Truman and Eisenhower Presidential Dollars, Reverse Proof
With the less than average interest in the 2014 Coin & Chronicles Set that featured President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Mint decided to change up the narrative. While prior sets included dollar coins and other collectible items such as stamps or medals that outlined that particular President’s time in the Oval Office, 2015 saw a different approach. Switching up from just one release, the Mint decided to release four Coin & Chronicle Sets in 2015 in congruence with the release of the four Presidential $1 Coins being released in an annual fashion. They would also contain a Reverse Proof Presidential dollar that was exclusive to the set. It would be the first Reverse Proof finish in the entire series.
Beginning with President Harry S. Truman, the Reverse Proof dollar would also be accompanied by a silver inaugural medal and a postage stamp from 1973. Mintage limits were set at 17,000 which sounded ideal due to 2014’s Roosevelt set being limited to 20,000 and sales reflecting just a little over 13,000 total. For just $57.95, sales would begin on June 30th, 2015, with a limit of five per household. Here is where things get a little messy: the Mint was SOLD OUT in just 15 minutes.
It turns out that the anticipation of the first-ever Reverse Proof Presidential $1 coin caused more excitement than the Mint thought it would. The new finish paired with the extremely limited mintage of 17,000 made collectors change their tune to the Presidential dollar coins. In an attempt to correct their first mistake, the second set featuring President Dwight D. Eisenhower was limited to two per household although the mintage limit was still set at 17,000. The set was virtually the same and because of the way things transpired with the Truman Coin & Chronicles Set, collectors and dealers were more alert to the rarity of the sets and the coin that was contained within them. The Eisenhower Coin & Chronicles Set went on sale on August 11th and fifteen minutes later, none of them were available.
The sets to follow that included Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson had higher mintage limits. That made the 2015-P Truman and Eisenhower Reverse Proof Presidential $1 Coins even more collectible. These coins maintain their value today. When all was said and done and the Mint updated their sales, the Truman sets ended up with a mintage of 16,812, and the Eisenhower sets ended up at 16,744.
These two coins did not make this list until the 3rd edition as a new entry.