James Monroe 2008 US Presidential One Dollar Coin
The 2008 James Monroe Presidential Dollar was released on February 14, 2008. The coin represented the first release of the year for the Presidential Dollar series and the fifth release for the series overall.
Before being elected as President, James Monroe served in the Revolutionary War, championed the Bill of Rights, and helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. His Presidency is known for the Monroe Doctrine and Missouri Compromise. He served two terms as the 5th President of the United States from 1817 to 1825.
The official launch ceremony for the James Monroe Presidential Dollar was held at Ash Lawn-Highland in Charlottesville, Virginia. This is the estate of President James Monroe. The Acting Deputy Director of the United States Mint Dan Shaver, Ash Lawn-Highland Executive Director Carolyn Coggin Holmes, and the James Monroe Memorial Foundation President G. William Thomas Jr were in attendance. The public was able to exchange paper dollars for the new dollar coins one day before they were officially released into circulation.
The obverse of the James Monroe Dollar coin features a portrait of the President and the reverse features the Statue of Liberty design used on all Presidential Dollars. The obverse was designed and sculpted by Joseph Menna. The reverse was designed and sculpted by Don Everhart.
The obverse includes the inscriptions “James Monroe,” “5th President,” and the years of his presidential term “1817-1825.” The reverse inscriptions include “United States of America,” and the denomination “$1.” The date and mint mark are located on the edge inscription of the coin along with the mottoes “In God We Trust” and “E Pluribus Unum.”
Mintage levels for the series showed another decline with the release of the James Monroe Dollar. The Philadelphia mint produced 64,260,000 coins and the Denver mint produced 60,230,000 coins. These figures marked another fresh low for circulation strike Presidential Dollars.
Just before the James Monroe Presidential Dollars were released into circulation, there was some excitement with collectors when it was reported that between 70,000 and 140,000 had been struck on quarter planchets. The errors were discovered during the coin wrapping process and collected and returned to the Mint to be destroyed. So far, none of these error coins is known to have escaped into the hands of collectors.
James Monroe Presidential Dollar Coin Specifications:
Diameter: 26.5 mm
Weight: 8.1g
Thickness: 2.0 mm
Edge: Lettered
Composition: 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, 2% nickel
Mintage: 64,260,000 Philadelphia, 60,230,000 Denver
Presidential $1 Coin — Lady Liberty Reverse Statue of Liberty, 1886
She is the work of sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who enlisted the assistance of engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower, to help him solve some of the structural challenges presented by creating a statue of such magnitude.
The Statue of Liberty was completed in 1884 and shipped to the United States in June 1885, having been disassembled into 350 individual pieces that were packed in over 200 crates for the transatlantic voyage. In four months’ time, she was re-assembled in New York Harbor, standing just over 151 feet from the top of the statue’s base to the tip of the torch her right hand holds high above the waters of New York Harbor.
Originally intended as a gift to celebrate the American Centennial in 1876, the Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a symbol of the friendship forged between the new American government and the government of France during the American Revolutionary War.
The tablet she holds in her left hand carries the inscription "July IV MDCCLXXVI" in reference to the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the Nation.
There are 25 windows running the length of Lady Liberty’s crown, which is topped by seven rays, meant to convey both the light of the sun and the seven seas and continents of the world.
For millions of Americans, the Statue of Liberty was the first sight that their ancestors saw as they arrived in America after having left their homes in search of a better life for themselves and for their families.
To celebrate her 100th anniversary, the Statue of Liberty was featured on a United States commemorative coin in 1986. In 1997, a close-up image of the Lady Liberty was chosen for the obverse of the new American Eagle platinum coins.
Presidential $1 Coins
Presidential Dollar Coins feature larger, more dramatic artwork, as well as edge-incused inscriptions meant to revitalize the design of United States coins and return circulating coinage to its position as an object of aesthetic beauty.The U.S. Mint launched the Presidential $1 Coin Program in 2007. The 10-year initiative includes one dollar coins featuring obverse designs honoring the Presidents in the order in which they served in office.
Read less Image of Presidential $1 Coins
The U.S. Mint produces and issues four Presidential Dollar coins per year, each with a common reverse design featuring a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty. The program was authorized by the Presidential $1 Dollar Coin Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-145).
2007 Presidential Dollars
2008 Presidential Dollars
James Monroe John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren
2009 Presidential Dollars
2010 Presidential Dollars
2011 Presidential Dollars
2012 Presidential Dollars
2013 Presidential Dollars
2014 Presidential Dollars
2015 Presidential Dollars
2016 Presidential Dollars
James Monroe Presidential $1 Coin — Fifth President, 1817-1825
James Monroe
James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States, serving between 1817 and 1825. His time in office is known as the “Era of Good Feelings” for the peace and booming economy the country enjoyed. Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States and the last president from the Virginian dynasty and the Republican Generation. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe was of the planter class and fought in the American Revolutionary War. He was wounded in the Battle of Trenton with a musket ball to his shoulder. After studying law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As an anti-federalist delegate to the Virginia convention that considered ratification of the United States Constitution, Monroe opposed ratification, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. He took an active part in the new government, and in 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first United States Congress, where he joined the Jeffersonians. He gained experience as an executive as the Governor of Virginia and rose to national prominence as a diplomat in France, when he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. During the War of 1812, Monroe held the critical roles of Secretary of State and the Secretary of War under President James Madison.
Facing little opposition from the fractured Federalist Party, Monroe was easily elected president in 1816, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote and becoming the last president during the First Party System era of American politics. As president, he bought Florida from Spain and sought to ease partisan tensions, embarking on a tour of the country that was generally well received. With the ratification of the Treaty of 1818, under the successful diplomacy of his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the United States extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, giving America harbor and fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest. The United States and Britain jointly occupied the Oregon Country. In addition to the acquisition of Florida, the landmark Treaty of 1819 secured the border of the United States along the 42nd Parallel to the Pacific Ocean and represented America's first determined attempt at creating an "American global empire". As nationalism surged, partisan fury subsided and the "Era of Good Feelings" ensued until the Panic of 1819 struck and dispute over the admission of Missouri embroiled the country in 1820. Nonetheless, Monroe won near-unanimous reelection.
Monroe supported the founding of colonies in Africa for free African Americans that would eventually form the nation of Liberia, whose capital, Monrovia, is named in his honor. In 1823, he announced the United States' opposition to any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas with the Monroe Doctrine, which became a landmark in American foreign policy. Monroe’s presidency was also marked by the Missouri Compromise, which preserved a balance of free states and slave states in the United States and prohibited slavery in western territories above the 36/30’ north latitude line. His presidency concluded the first period of American presidential history before the beginning of Jacksonian democracy and the Second Party System era. Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties. He died in New York City on July 4, 1831.
Coinage Legislation under President James Monroe
— Act of January 14, 1818 — This Act directs the location of the United States Mint to remain in Philadelphia for another term of five years, beginning March 4, 1818.
— Act of March 3, 1819 — This Act continues the authorization of certain gold and silver coinage from foreign countries as current and legal tender for the payment of debts within the United States. Specific rates of exchange are enumerated for the coins of Great Britain, Portugal, France, and Spain.
— Act of March 3, 1821 — This Act continues the provisions of the Act of April 29, 1816, relating to the legal-tender value of French coins.
— Act of March 3, 1823 — This Act authorizes certain gold coinage from foreign countries as current and legal tender in all payments on account of public lands within the United States. Specific rates of exchange are enumerated for the coins of Great Britain, Portugal, France, and Spain. The Act also calls for an annual assay of such coins, and for a report to the Congress detailing the results.
— Act of March 3, 1823 — This Act directs the location of the United States Mint to remain in Philadelphia for another term of five years, beginning March 4, 1823.
United States Mint Directors appointed by President Monroe
— 1824 Samuel Moore — Fifth Director of the United States Mint