Collecting the presidents on $1 coins
By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 25, 2007Closing in on completing her collection of quarters featuring the 50 states, 4th-grader Maura McDonagh found a new reason to search her father's change Wednesday.
"It's fun to know what all the presidents look like," she said, examining the first presidential $1 coin. "I can't wait to get the new coins."
More than 100 pupils at Bell Elementary, 3730 N. Oakley Ave., were among the first in the country to see the presidential series' first coin, which features George Washington. The new $1 coins will begin to trickle into local banks and cash registers beginning Feb. 15.
The U.S. Mint will release a coin for each succeeding president every three months. Each coin will feature the president's name, his image and the years of his term.
Living presidents are not eligible to be featured on the coins.
The coins are meant for collecting and commerce but also have an important educational aspect, said Kevin Hamer, director of sales and marketing at the mint.
"The coins encourage you to check your change, collect a series and learn more about the country," Hamer said. "We think this is an excellent opportunity for Americans to learn about history."
Hamer introduced the designs for the first four coins to an auditorium full of 3rd and 4th graders at the North Side school Wednesday. The pupils received white ponytail wigs and learned about the man behind the coin from George Washington impersonator and historian Bill Sommerfield.
Sommerfield, who said he has performed for President Bush, dispelled common myths about the nation's first president.
No, he didn't have wooden teeth--just coffee-stained dentures. And no, he didn't want to be president--he was persuaded by the other Founding Fathers.
"Did you really chop down a cherry tree?" one pupil asked in a mock presidential news conference.
"My father was a farmer, and I was a farmer. We respected nature," Sommerfield said in character. "No, I never cut down a cherry tree!"
It was one of 10 such events at schools around the country to raise awareness about the new $1 presidential coins before the debut days before Washington's birthday. The coin features the Statue of Liberty on the back.
For the first time since the 1930s, "In God We Trust," "E Pluribus Unum," and the year it is made will be engraved on the coins' edge.
Mint officials hope the new coins will catch on more than past $1 coin attempts. The Susan B. Anthony $1 coin was introduced in 1979, and a Sacagawea $1 coin came in 2000, Hamer said.
The $1 coin is an easier way to manage change instead of carrying around loose quarters, Hamer said. The $1 coin is accepted at most parking meters, vending machines, toll booths and public transportation kiosks, he said.
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