2007-D Jefferson Presidential Dollar : A Collector’s Guide

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes ….

The Thomas Jefferson Presidential Dollar was the third Presidential Dollar coin issued in the series, and the third coin issued in the program’s first year. Circulation quality versions of the design were struck at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. The 2007-D version can be identified by the presence of the D mintmark on the coin’s edge.

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, on Shadwell Plantation in Colonial Virginia. Jefferson was born into a wealthy slaveholding family, the eldest of 10 children. He inherited much of his father’s estate, including 52 enslaved people, when he was just 14 years old. Under the guardianship of his father’s friend John Harvie, the young Jefferson doggedly pursued his education. He enrolled in the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. There he studied mathematics, philosophy, and politics. He read law under George Wythe and was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1767.

In 1776, Jefferson served as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, a landmark document in human history that asserted man’s natural rights and established the founding principles of American self-government. During the Revolutionary War, Jefferson served two one-year terms as the Governor of Virginia, moving the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond. Jefferson moved the capital west to protect it from British attack and to put the seat of the state government in a more centralized location. Richmond is located just 70 miles from Jefferson’s Monticello.

Jefferson served in the Congress of the Confederation and worked on establishing a national currency. Some of Jefferson’s ideas, including the decimal currency system, were adopted by the United States Congress in 1792. Jefferson also worked on policies related to westward settlement, an issue that would reemerge during his terms in office. Jefferson spent 1784 to 1789 in Paris as the American Ambassador to France. He returned to the United States shortly after the start of the French Revolution, which the American Government at first supported with near unanimity. As the Revolution turned increasingly violent, cracks in U.S. support emerged, with Jefferson on the side of the radicals and President George Washington and other Federalists taking a dimmer view of the Revolution’s violence.

Jefferson served as Washington’s first Secretary of State. In 1796, he narrowly lost the Presidency to his political rival John Adams, for whom he served in opposition as Vice President—something unthinkable in modern American politics.

In 1800, Jefferson defeated his rival and served two terms as President. The pro-Jefferson partisan press dubbed the victory “The Revolution of 1800.” Thus began an era of Democratic-Republican rule, which continued until the end of the 1820s.

Jefferson’s Presidency was consequential. Beyond the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the country, Jefferson worked to reduce the national debt, pardoned those imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts, tried to rein in the Bank of the United States, and established the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also sought to annex Florida from Spain but failed.

Jefferson’s time as the nation’s chief executive was consequential, even though the Founding Father regarded his other accomplishments as more significant. In his retirement, Jefferson tended to his plantation and attended to his guests, including the Marquis de Lafayette, who visited his home in 1824. He also oversaw the construction and establishment of the University of Virginia. Adams and Jefferson reconciled in their later years, exchanging letters over the final fifteen years of their lives. The nation’s second and third Presidents died hours apart, on July 4, 1826, fifty years after the Declaration of Independence changed the course of history.

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2007-D Jefferson Presidential Dollar Circulation Strike Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

The 2007-D Jefferson Presidential Dollar struck for circulation differs from the collector versions issued in the 2007 Uncirculated Coin Sets. Collectors could acquire the 2007-D business strikes from bank branches or directly from the Mint, which sold the coins in bag and roll quantities. These coins remain plentiful in Gem and Superb Gem grades. Coins in circulation have likely tarnished over time.

Top Population: PCGS MS67 (1,869, 5/2025), NGC MS68 (2, 5/2025), and CAC MS64 (1, 5/2025).

• NGC MS66: eBay, March 8, 2025 – $9.13. Buy It Now. First Day of Issue.
• PCGS MS66: eBay, February 9, 2025 – $9. Buy It Now. First Day of Issue. Position A.

Satin Finish Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

The United States Mint produced Uncirculated Coin Sets, including one example of each coin struck by the Mint’s Philadelphia and Denver facilities. Historically, coins from these sets are produced the same way coins are struck for circulation. Still, from 2005-2010, the U.S. Mint opted to “improve” the quality of these sets by using sandblasted dies, which gave the coins a satin finish.

This decision introduced a new type of coin that lacked enough distinctiveness or appeal to excite the coin-collecting community. While the specimen strikes are usually of excellent quality (often grading MS68 or higher), this is not typically true for the circulation strikes. In addition, the Mint produced a cheaper Satin Finish set that contained only the Presidential Dollar coins.

Note: PCGS has used both MS and SP designations for the Satin Finish coins.

Top Population: PCGS MS69 (237, 5/2025), NGC MS69 (10, 5/2025), and CAC N/A (0, 5/2025).

• PCGS MS69: eBay, April 17, 2025 – $43. 1 bid.
• PCGS MS68: eBay, February 23, 2025 – $12.50. Buy It Now. Position B.
• PCGS MS68: eBay, April 18, 2025 – $11.95. Buy It Now. Position B.
• PCGS MS68: eBay, February 9, 2025 – $6.95. Buy It Now. Position B.

Design

Obverse:

A front-facing effigy of Thomas Jefferson, designed by now-Chief Engraver Joseph Menna, dominates the obverse. THOMAS JEFFERSON runs clockwise along the top, while the inscriptions 3rd PRESIDENT | 1801 – 1809 run counterclockwise at the bottom. Menna’s initials, JFM, are at the corner of Jefferson’s left collar (viewer’s right).

Common Reverse:

Don Everhart’s reverse design features an ant’s-eye view of the Statue of Liberty offset to the left. On the coin, Liberty occupies the bottom right quadrant of the coin, her extended elbow being the coin’s center point. The design is framed by a thin inner circle, which separates the graphic design from the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Beneath Liberty’s extended torch-bearing arm is the denomination $1. This is the common reverse design for all Presidential Dollar coins.

Edge:

The edge of the Presidential Dollar is lettered and features the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM, the mintmark, the year of issuance, and 13 five-pointed stars. This edge inscription may be oriented facing the obverse (Position A) or the reverse (Position B).

Coin Specifications

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