Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005

The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 authorizes the U.S. Mint to create and circulate a series of $1 coins featuring the portraits of deceased U.S. Presidents in the order they served. The bill also directs the production of 24-karat gold bullion coins honoring the First Spouses and mandates a special redesign of the penny in 2009 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

For the average citizen, this means new $1 coins will appear in daily commerce, featuring unique "edge-incused" lettering for the date and national mottos to make the coins more distinct. The program is designed to encourage the use of dollar coins in place of paper notes to save the government money on production costs while providing collectors and the public with a rotating series of historical designs.