What are Presidential Oath Dollars?

A few weeks ago the world was introduced to the so-called "Presidential Oath Dollars." These coins were offered in an extremely limited quantity on a well known television shopping show. The coins sold out quickly and created a lot of excitement.

The coins were initially sold at the Denver and Philadelphia Mint gift shops. An aluminum ring was placed around a regular Presidential Dollar. The ring has an inscription of the Presidential Oath, "Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States." By placing a silver colored metal ring around the golden colored dollar, a bi-metal effect was created.

The coins were supposedly limited to only 1,000 per President and were produced for the first six Presidential Dollars: George Washington, John Adams, Andrew Jackson, James Monroe, James Madison, and John Quincy Adams.

Although the coins were originally available at the Denver and Philadelphia Mint gift shops, they are not official mint products. The items were conceived and created by the private contractor Aramark who runs the gift shops.

The coins appeared earlier this month on the Home Shopping Network. They were encapsulated and graded by the third party grading firm ANACS as MS65 or MS66. The coins were also placed into special custom oak presentation boxes. The offering sold out in approximately 30 minutes.

While the quick sell out clearly shows some initial popularity for the coins, in the longer term the prospects are not as clear. The coins are basically regular Presidential Dollars encased with an aluminum ring. This could be compared to an encased coin, which are commonly manufactured as keepsakes using pennies. However, the fact that the Presidential Oath Dollars were produced in such a limited quantity does add an interesting aspect. Time will tell whether these coins are truly collectible or temporarily popular novelties.

Michael Zielinski is an internet entrepreneur and coin collector. Find more information about Presidential Dollars or find quality coin websites in the coin directory.