The program of the new dollar coin honors the long dead presidents. It's expected to run for 11 years and can extend depending on life span of the living presidents. Metallic money has been used since long in history. For example the first metallic bucks issued by the American Unit were made of Silver in 1794. In United States, dollar coins are minted by United States Mint and are made of Gold, Silver and Base metal.

The new dollar honors the late Presidents by producing metallic money with their pictures engraved on them. This act was passed by United States Congress in 2005 and was implemented on January 2007. The program operates in systematic way. The President is eligible for being given the honor if he or she has been dead for at least two years. Four faces of Presidents appear within a year at intervals of three months.

The Presidential dollar is smaller in size and lighter in color than the Sacajawea one. Both are known as the Golden bucks though they are not made of Gold but are Golden in color. The Presidential one has wording "In God We Trust", date issue and the mint mark printed at the edge while the Sacajawea has the same wording, the date and mint mark printed on the face side of the coin.

Collection of these new dollars can be fun. The first new one was released on February 2007 and in March, the United States Mint made an error of circulating them without legendary wording 'In God We Trust' and at first the collectors fetched high profits but later the value declined. The same month, an American couple found a George Washington metallic buck without stampings on both sides and this fetched a very high market value because or their rarity.

By: Peter Gitundu

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It is no wonder that some special coins are so popular with collectors around the world. In fact, the number of people who are interested in the collection of coins is astonishingly high. The attraction increases when it is a special series like the American platinum eagle coins. You may wonder what differences are there from other popular special coins like the American Silver Eagle coin and the special gold coins.

There the specialty is that on every change each year, the design features an entirely new look. On the reverse or back side, there is a bald eagle with different regions of America. The obverse side or front side of the coin features the powerful and striking image of the "Lady Liberty" as she is looking into the future, which symbolizes vigilance, faithfulness to duty, and the spirit and character of Americans. This marvelous creation on these rare coins was designed and engraved by famous sculptor and engraver John M. Mercanti.

These astonishing rare coins bear the inscription "Liberty" and the mottos, "In God We Trust", and "E Pluribus Unum", which are also on the obverse along with their date of issue. Within the curve located at the bottom of these coins you will find the face value and the West Point "W" mint mark, which is also found on the obverse.

On the reverse side of these rare coins, the design features a bald eagle soaring across a setting sun within different regions of America, which changes each year with the release of that year's coins. Watching over our firm foundation of democracy is the bald eagle, the nation's symbol of power, courage, and freedom, which was shown in different designs between the years of 1998 and 2002 known as the "Vistas of Liberty" series.

The American Silver Eagle coins were released on 24 November 1986. One major peculiarity of the silver coin is that silver eagle coin is offered in only one denomination. That is the one ounce size. The face value is $1 and its diameter is 1.598 inches.

These rare coins were given a face value of $1 to protect it from existing counterfeiting laws and this value was low enough to ensure they would never actually circulate in the money market. The small face value also holds sentimental appeal to those who remember the circulating silver dollars of long ago.

The American Silver Eagle Coins are also known as American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins. They are true collectibles as the weight, content, and purity are guaranteed by the United States government.

Gold coins, minted in the United States and Europe, are becoming the choice collectible coins in the world. It is particularly so in the case of coins minted before 1933. Every day the media comes to you with the attractions of the bullion. That is reported to be the best way to offset risk, and to combat inflation.

Another advantage of the gold coins is that they are historically important and artistically beautiful. Often they are regarded as perfect works of art. Some peculiar gold coins are the $20 gold Double Eagle, first minted in 1907, and featuring an impressive image of Liberty striding gloriously out of dawn.

So the world of special coins is out there beckoning you to its several attractions.

By: Victor Epand

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First minted in 1874, the Morgan Silver Dollar was produced for 30 years, ending production in 1904. After almost 20 years of not being produced, the US Mint did a production run of 1921 Silver Dollars and thus the coins finally ceased production after 1921, never to be produced again. Oddly enough, and unlike many other silver dollar coins, the Morgan Silver Dollar was not named after a famous politician or businessperson, but was named after the designer of the Morgan Silver Dollar.

Prior to the Morgan Silver Dollar was the Seated Liberty Silver Dollar and Silver trade coins which were used mainly for trade with the orient. Morgan Silver Dollars were made of 0.77344 troy ounce of silver and were produced around the same time as a large silver strike in Nevada. Because the availability of silver was so large, the US government resumed production for one year to produce the now famous 1921 Morgan Silver Dollar.

One interesting story comes to mind regarding the fate of the 1921 Silver Dollars. An old farmer by the name of Lavere Redfield began to accumulate a huge supply of them. He was a savvy investor and lived as though he had nothing. At the time of his death in the 1970's, he left an estate valued at over 100 million dollars. Among his assets were a cache of Morgan's so large that no one had ever come across such a large hoard. It seems that over the years Redfield would visit a bank and buy bags of 1000 Morgan Silver Dollars at one time, driving them home in his old pickup truck. At the time he was able to purchase the coins for only $1 each. Upon his death, a mountain of silver coins were found in his basement, to the tune of 400 bags. 400 bags of coins with each bag containing 1000 coins. Even at face value would have been $400,000, however the coins went to auction and fetched over 7 million dollars!

Since their issue in the 1920's the Morgan coins have been an important part of many coin collections. Among the most valuable of the Morgan Silver Dollars are the coins marked with "cc", which is an indication that these coins were made at the Carson City facility. In terms of high value, there are 3 years of Morgan's that stand out as being rare: the 1889-CC, the 1893-S and the 1895 Morgan Silver Dollars. Of all Morgan Silver Dollars, these are the most sought after. If you happen to be the owner of one of these coins, you may be pleasantly surprised with the worth of the coin.

By: Blake Hygate

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Lots of folks enjoy accumulating and exchanging silver dollar coins as a pastime. Now is it less common to see these silver coins at all so it is a thrill to come across one. Unfortunately, not everyone recognizes rarity and seeing only the denomination of these coins will have no problem spending them like any other cash.

In the late 19th century, a silver dollar known as the Morgan dollar was put into use. This characterizes of an eagle on one side and the face of Miss Liberty on the other side. Due to the weedy looks of the eagle in the coin, it is sometimes referred to as the "buzzard dollar". The production of Morgan dollar coins stopped in 1921, but even now they are worth collecting.

Some people like to trade their coins for others. Hobbyists like themselves may own a certain coin that is needed to fit a specific collection, so they will turn to these fellow coin collectors and offer one of their own unique coins. To trade dollar coins, you will have to have a fairly rare coin yourself. Most coin collectors have many dollar coins and will trade a coin they have a duplicate of, so as not to lose the coin for their collection.

Silver dollar coins can be quite striking. The coins which are made of almost pure silver are more valuable and more attractive than the coins that are made of copper. At various times, the United States Government issues limited edition commemorative silver dollar coins. These coins are and rare and collectors often set aside a few of them to trade or add to their collections.

A coins value increases the older and rarer it is. If you have an extremely rare coin, it does not matter what condition it is in. The condition of a coin will matter more if it is less rare, and the better it looks, the more money it will bring in. A Morgan Dollar that is in Brilliant Uncirculated condition commands a lot of money because it is both a rare coin and in perfect condition.

If you are thinking about starting to collect and trade silver dollar coins, it's best to do in-depth research before doing anything else. After all, the more knowledge you have about coins, the more prudent you will be in buying and trading them.

By: Menachem Green

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Maybe you're familiar with the term "trade dollars" and maybe you're not. Silver Trade Dollars were issued by their respective country to be used from trading of international goods from foreign countries. Many countries made trade dollars but four stand out as the most popular.

The United States Mint produced silver trade dollars in their Philadelphia, Carson City and San Francisco locations from the years 1873 to 1885. The U.S. Trade dollar was designed by the Mint's Chief Engraver, William Barber. Of the three locations, the San Francisco location was the one most utilized because the silver was mined closest to San Francisco and they were usually used for trade between China, and San Francisco which was the closest trade route between China and the U.S. During that time transportation was slow and it made most sense to the produce the coins close to the location where they would be used.

When traded with Chinese traders, they would strike the Trade Dollars to check for their authenticity, which would leave what are called "chop marks" on the coins that were used in trade. The coins were made of 420 grains or 27g of silver, which was 90% pure. At the time trade dollars actually contained 100g more of silver than silver dollars created for domestic use. Originally trade dollars were produced in order to improve trade with China. In recent days there have been exact copies of brand new trade dollars created in China to look just like the ones produced in the 1800's. Some of the fakes are being sold and passed off as being original, from the 1800's but these are simply reproduction coins.

Japanese trade dollars were also popular around the same time and were used for trade between Japan and the U.S. These coins contained 26.96 grams of silver that was 90% pure.

The third trade dollar that was also popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's were British Trade Dollars. The British trade dollars were used for trade with Britain and countries in the Orient. Singapore and Hong Kong were especially popular countries to trade these coins with. British trade dollars were produced in two Mint locations; one in Calcutta and the other in Bombay.

This list would not be complete without adding the Chinese trade dollar. They were used for trade between China and Britain. Hardest to believe about the Chinese trade dollars is that there were used to trade Opium, which was brought to China and sold to its residents, which made some traders from Britain very wealthy.

By: Blake Hygate

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Silver dollars are a favorite of most US coin collectors. In fact, it is not unusual to find a silver dollar or two away by people who have no particular interest in coins at all. Why is this? What is it about silver dollars that makes people want to collect them or, just hang onto them?

Well, for one thing, they are really Big. And Heavy. And Beautiful,too. (Okay, big, heavy, and beautiful. We are just talking coins here, right? What else?) They are a piece of American History. (Well, I guess so, but what history do you mean?) Pretty much all of it. They were first made in the 1700s, not too long after independence. And they were really a big deal in the days of the Wild West. And how about gambling in Las Vegas? You used to be able to get them in your change there, even if you were just buying gas!

(I see. So why were they made of silver, anyway?)

Because, back when the mint started, in 1792, coins were actually worth the amount of money they stood for. A dollar was made from metal worth one dollar. Silver was the best metal to use, because that way the dollar would still be an easy size in your pocket. Copper would have weighed a ton (not really, but a dollar in copper would have made a better doorstop than a coin. And a gold dollar would be really tiny and easy to lose. (Actually, they tried that in the 1850s. People hated them. They said they were tiny and easy to lose. Go figure.)

(Okay, hold on. Just what do we consider a silver dollar?)

Strictly speaking, it is made of silver (very good!) That means it was likely struck no later than 1935. Some of the Eisenhower dollars made from 1971 through 1976 were 40% silver, but the last of the mostly silver (90%) dollars was a 1935 Peace dollar. And, though it was rumored that the mint actually struck over 300,000 pieces of 90% silver Peace dollars in 1964, all were reportedly destroyed by the mint without exception.

The early dollar coins were really something. Just gorgeous coins.

But I guess the art critics had a problem with them. They said the first American dollar coin, the one they called the Flowing Hair dollar, made Miss Liberty look kind of trashy and undignified. So the next design showed a calmer sort of Liberty. More of a lady I suppose. They called that one the Draped Bust dollar, which seemed to make the grade, until the price of silver rose up to the point that you could make money by melting down your dollars, then trade them for gold.

So then the dollars disappeared. And the mint stopped making them for another thirty years (1805-1835). Then along came the Seated Liberty dollars, designed by Christian Gobrecht, who had worked his way up in the mint to Chief Engraver, after spending a lot of years making number punches for the dates they put on coins. Just imagine spending years making 1s and 8s and 2s and the other numbers, day after day.

The Gobrecht Seated Liberty design was well enough liked that it was put on all of the silver coins except the three-cent piece. Then there were the Morgan dollars, lots of them, beginning in 1878. During these years lots of silver was discovered out West. So much silver was mined that the price of silver tanked.

But silver mine owners had a fair bit of clout in Washington, so a law was passed that said for every paper dollar printed, an a silver dollar had to be struck. No one really needed that many, so they piled up in banks and Federal vaults, bags of uncirculated Morgan dollars.

When the town of Las Vegas began to boom, after construction of the Hoover Dam, out came the silver dollars, onto the gambling tables and into our hearts (so to speak.) As late as the early 1960s, Federal banks had considerable quantities of brilliant uncirculated dollar coins from the 1880s on hand, available for one paper dollar each.

Trust me, that was cool.

By: David W. Baker

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