First Spouse Gold Coins
The First Spouses of the United States are being honored with a series of 24 karat gold coins.
The First Spouse Gold Coin series began in 2007 with coins for Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty, and Dolley Madison. The series will continue in 2010 with coins honoring Abigail Fillmore, Jane Pierce, James Buchanan’s Liberty, and Mary Todd Lincoln. This site provides information about the series and details of each coin release.
First Spouse Gold Coin Program
The First Spouse Gold Coin Program was authorized under the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, which also created the series circulating Presidential Dollars. In the same order each Presidential Dollar is released into circulation, gold coins will be issued to honor that President’s spouse.
If a President served in office without a spouse, an image emblematic of the concept of “Liberty” will be used for the obverse of the coin. For these situations, the United States Mint has used an image of the allegorical Liberty figure which appeared on coinage which circulated during the President’s term of office.
First Spouse Gold Coins each contain one half ounce of 24 karat gold. The coins are considered numismatic items and have a face value of $10. The gold used to mint the coins must be obtained from newly mined gold from domestic sources.
First Spouse Coin Designs
The obverse of each First Spouse coin features a portrait of the spouse being honored. Inscriptions include the name of the spouse, the years served, the order of the Presidency, date and mint mark, and the mottoes “In God We Trust” and “Liberty.”
The reverse design of each coin contains images emblematic of the spouse being honored. Some of the reverse designs used so far have included memorable scenes from the spouse’s life, or images representative of their major contributions or accomplishments. The inscriptions on the reverse include “United States of America,” “E Pluribus Unum,” the denomination, and the weight and purity of the gold content.
Release Dates and Mintages
The First Spouse Gold Coins have been issued following the release of the corresponding Presidential Dollar coin. This results in four coins being released each year, except for two years when five coins will be released. The annual release schedule has been established, but the dates for each specific coin are usually revealed during the year of issue.
View the First Spouse Gold Coin Release Schedule.
The United States Mint set a maximum authorized mintage of 40,000 coins for each release of the series from 2007 to 2009. Although the first three releases attained the maximum mintage, subsequent releases have not. The US Mint offers each individual coin for sale until orders are received to fulfill the maximum mintage or for approximately one year, whichever occurs first. The mintage levels for some recently sold out coins are enticingly low and the US Mint recently reduced the authorized mintage level for 2010 releases.
View the First Spouse Gold Coin Mintages.
