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Modern US Coins – Coinage of the Obama Era

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez for CoinWeek.com ……
It’s still unclear how history will ultimately remember the presidency of Barack Obama, who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 through 2017. But coin collectors can already honor the historic, two-term former commander-in-chief in their own ways. Over the course of the eight years President Obama helmed the nation from the Oval Office, a multitude of new coins and other numismatic measures were issued or legislated. Some of the coins released during Obama’s presidency had been signed into law by President George W. Bush. Others were legislated under Obama’s watch and will be released during the presidency of Donald Trump, who was inaugurated on January 20, 2017.

Some of these Obama-era coins are numismatically historic, while others are more obscure yet nevertheless important collectibles in their own right. The coins range from circulating one-cent commemoratives to issues bearing entirely new denominations, and each deserves a spot in any modern U.S. coin collector’s proverbial cabinet. Additionally, there were also several landmark changes to other aspects of the hobby while Obama was in office.

Let’s take a look at the coins, money and other numismatic happenings of the Obama era and consider each for its significance to the hobby as well as in history.

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Circulating Coins

2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Cents

Among the first coins to enter circulation during President Obama’s first term, Lincoln Bicentennial cents honor the various stages of Abraham Lincoln’s personal and career life from his birth in a Kentucky log cabin to the presidency. The first of the four 2009 Lincoln cents bearing commemorative reverses was released February 12, 2009 – just a few weeks into Obama’s presidency.

Not lost on historians is the poetic fact that the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial cents, the first new series released during the presidency of our nation’s first black president, honor the 200th birthday of the man who in 1863 legally emancipated slaves in the United States.

Lincoln Bicentennial cents were issued in their conventional 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper composition for circulation and 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc composition for collector sets–as was the alloy of the 1909 Lincoln cent. The 2009 Bicentennial cents are not considered scarce today as hundreds of millions were made in the zinc-based alloy, and those pieces widely circulated today.

2010-Current: Lincoln Union Shield Cent

The 50-year-old Lincoln Memorial design on the reverse of the Lincoln cent in 1959 was removed in 2009 to accommodate the four commemorative designs of the Lincoln Bicentennial cent series. In 2010, the Lincoln Memorial motif was permanently replaced by the Union Shield, which represents Lincoln’s ability to keep the country together following the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 through 1865.

Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth – only six days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his army at Appomattox. But the 16th president will forever symbolize the reunification of a nation divided.

Lincoln cents made since 2010 are generally common and are slowly but surely becoming the nation’s primary circulating one-cent type coin. No major die varieties or scarce numismatic issues are known as of the time of writing, and all regular-issue circulated specimens are worth face value.

2017-P Lincoln Cent

One of the last new coins to enter circulation on Obama’s watch was the 2017-P Lincoln cent. It was the first United States one-cent coin to bear a “P” mintmark, indicating its origin at the Philadelphia Mint. Customarily, pennies don’t contain a “P” mintmark, but Mint officials determined a “P” mintmark was an ideal way to honor the 225th anniversary of the United States Mint, marked on April 2, 2017 – exactly 225 years after the Coinage Act of 1792 was passed by United States Congress. The Coinage Act of 1792 established the United States Mint, which in 1793 produced its first official Federal coinage.

2017-P Lincoln cents were issued under Obama as zinc-based general-circulation coins, and the first recorded specimen was discovered in early january by a coin collector while visiting a gas station in North Carolina. Any numismatic issues of the 2017-P Lincoln cent were released after Obama left the White House on January 20, 2017.

2015 Silver Roosevelt Dime Special Issues

Helping ramp up sales for the 2015 March of Dimes commemorative silver dollar, the United States Mint issued two special 90% silver Roosevelt dimes. The Roosevelt dimes rounded out a three-coin proof set anchored by the March of Dimes silver dollar, which features an obverse jugate portrait of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who founded the March of Dimes in 1938 to help fund the fight against polio, and Dr. Jonas Salk, who discovered a vaccine for the disease. The March of Dimes silver set includes a Philadelphia-minted Reverse Proof dime and a West Point Proof specimen. The 2015-P Reverse Proof was the first such issue for the dime denomination, while the 2015-W became the first Proof West Point dime.

One can argue that the 2015 March of Dime silver Proof set, which sold out within a few days of its release on May 4, would probably not have sold as well if not for the inclusion of the two silver Roosevelt dimes. Whether this is true or not, the secondary market was certainly hungry for the trio. By mid-May, some March of Dimes silver sets were selling for more than $200, more than three times the original issue price of $61.95. Today, the set trades today for generally between $75 and $100.

2009 Washington, D.C., and United States Territories Quarters

Though technically a standalone series, the 2009 Washington, D.C., and United States Territories quarters are commonly seen as an appendix to the wildly popular 50 State Quarters series that ran from 1999 through 2008. Six different reverse designs were included in the D.C. and Territories Quarters series, including those honoring the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands.

Business-strike copper-nickel clad versions of the quarters were issued for general circulation while satin-finish copper-nickel clad pieces were issued in Uncirculated sets. Proof specimens were produced in the standard copper-nickel clad composition as well as a 90% silver variety. None of these issues are presently considered scarce.

2010-Present: America the Beautiful Quarters

The America the Beautiful Quarters series, which launched in 2010 and is slated to run until 2021, was authorized by the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008. The Act was signed by President George W. Bush on December 23, 2008, representing one of the last bills he officially brought into law before President Obama took office less than a month later. New issues in the series are released about every 10 weeks, similar to the frequency of new designs with the arguably more popular 50 State Quarters series that preceded it.

Each new design is released based on when the national landmark was introduced; Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, established on April 20, 1832, was the subject of the first quarter. The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, established on November 6, 1998, will be the last issue of the America the Beautiful Quarter series upon its release in 2021. Incidentally, President Obama’s birth state of Hawaii is honored with the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Quarter of 2012, and Vice President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware is featured on the 2015 Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Quarter.

Presidential $1 Coin Series 2007-2016

Born in the wake of the immensely popular 50 State Quarters program, which ran from 1999 through 2008, the Presidential $1 coin series was a Bush-era initiative that largely lived out its days during the Obama Administration. The scope of the program did change midway through Obama’s presidency when, in 2012 the Presidential $1 coin transitioned from being a circulating series to a numismatic-only coin program.

Presidential $1 coins failed to circulate well, leading to a stockpile of more than $1.1 billion Presidential dollar coins in bank vaults. In December 2011, Vice President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced dollar coins would no longer be minted for circulation.

The suspension of Presidential $1 coins for circulation also extended also to a counterpart dollar coin series honoring achievements in Native American culture. Beginning in 2012, both the Presidential $1 coin series and Native American dollar series were available to collectors only through coin set and Mint-issued collector rolls and bags.

The final Presidential dollar coin was issued on July 1, 2016. The last dollar honors Ronald Reagan, who served as the nation’s 40th president from 1981 through 1989.

Native American Dollar Series 2009-Date

The Native American dollar series honors significant “contributions by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the development and history of the United States,” according to the verbiage of the 2007 legislation authorizing the series. The coin series, anchored by Glenna Goodacre’s Sacagawea obverse first seen on the dollar coin in 2000, features annually changing reverse designs. The first of these designs honors the Three Sisters method of planting corn, beans, and squash, and was released on January 2, 2009.

The first Native American dollar released during the Obama Administration was the Great Law of Peace Native American dollar of 2010. As the 2017 Sequoyah Native American dollar was released five days into the Trump presidency on January 25, the last official Native American dollar of the Obama era is the 2016 Cherokee Nation dollar.

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Commemorative Coins

2009 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Silver Dollar

In addition to the four new one-cent reverse designs of 2009 was a silver commemorative dollar honoring the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Public Law 109-285, the “Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act”, was signed into law on September 27, 2006 by President Bush and was released on February 12, 2009, becoming one of the very first coins released under the Obama Administration.

2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar

The 2009 Braille commemorative silver dollar became the first United States coin with readable braille, a type of writing utilizing a series of raised dots to convey words and phrases to those who are blind. The Louis Braille dollar, commemorating the 200th birthday of the French educator, was released on March 26, 2009 and became one of the first new United States coins under the Obama presidency.

2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Silver Dollar

The 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Dollar was released on February 25, 2010, and commemorates individuals who not only served in times of war, but also paid a dear price because of their service to the United States or died after living with their injuries. The authorizing legislation, Public Law 110-277, “the “American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act” was among the last Obama era commemorative coins that had been signed into law by Bush.

2010 Boy Scouts of America Centennial Silver Dollar

The Boy Scouts of America Centennial dollar was released on March 23, 2010 and honors the centennial of the Boy Scouts youth organization, which was founded on February 8, 1910. The silver dollar legislation was signed into law by Bush in 2008 and released during the Obama presidency.

2011 Medal of Honor Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

The 2011 Medal of Honor Dollar and $5 Gold coins were among the first coins to be both signed into law by Obama and released during his presidency. Both coins, which incorporate an image of the Medal of Honor, saw relatively limited distribution, especially in Uncirculated finish and are among the scarcer of the more recent United States commemorative coins.

2011 United States Army Half Dollar, Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

Another military theme was honored on U.S. commemorative coins in 2011 when the U.S. Army commemorative coin trio was released. The U.S. Army coins, released on January 31, 2011 during a ceremony at the Pentagon, were signed into law during the Bush presidency yet released during the Obama White House years.

2012 Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar

More than three years elapsed between the time when Bush signed the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Commemorative Coin Act into law on October 8, 2008 and the February 2012 release of the silver dollar honoring this branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Surcharges from the sale of the Infantry Solider dollars helped support the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center in Columbus, Georgia.

2012 Star Spangled Banner Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

Several commemorative coins released during Obama’s first term were signed into law by his predecessor, but the legislation behind the 2012 Star Spangled Banner silver dollar and $5 gold commemorative were both authorized and signed into law during the second year of Obama’s tenure and released during his fourth. The coins honor the 200th anniversary of the “Star-Spangled Banner” national anthem, which was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during tense moments at Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812.

2013 Girl Scouts of America Centennial Silver Dollar

The Girl Scouts of America were honored on a 2013 silver dollar was signed into law by Obama during his first year of office on October 29, 2009. The silver dollar, which celebrates the 1912 founding of the beloved youth organization for girls, employs a numerical representation of its denomination as “$1,” becoming the first U.S. commemorative silver dollar to express its face value using both the “$” dollar sign and a simple “1” numeral in this manner.

2013 5-Star Generals Half Dollar, Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

What do Henry “Hap” Arnold, Omar N. Bradley, George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Douglas MacArthur all have in common? These five men were all five-star generals and historic figures featured on the Five-Star Generals half dollar, silver dollar, and $5 gold coin. Arnold and Bradley anchor the obverse of the half dollar, Marshall and Eisenhower hold fort on the dollar, and the iconic MacArthur, who became a household name while leading the Pacific Theater during World War II, is singularly honored on the $5 gold coin.

2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Curved Half Dollar, Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

One of the most popular commemorative coin initiatives of the Obama era is none other than the National Baseball Hall of Fame half dollar, silver dollar, and $5 gold coin, each of which feature a unique, dome-shaped design. The three commemorative coins, designed by a young California artist named Cassie McFarland, scored a collective home run with diehard numismatists and baseball fans alike. Across all three denominations in either Uncirculated or Proof finish, a total of 841,313 coins were sold, representing one of the most successful United States coin initiatives in terms of program sales figures since the release of the 1995-96 Olympic coins.

2014 Kennedy 50th Anniversary Half Dollar Gold Coin

The 50th anniversary of the first Kennedy half dollars of 1964 was honored with the release of the 2014-W Gold Proof Kennedy half dollar. The dual dated 1964-2014 3/4-ounce .999-fine gold coin features faithfully replicated versions of the standard obverse and reverse designs by Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro, respectively. The 2014 Gold Kennedy coin was widely anticipated prior to the opening of sales on August 5, 2014.

However, positive sentiments about the coin were somewhat dampened when fights broke out among some of the hundreds of people lined up to buy the coin on the day of its release at the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) World’s Fair of Money show in Chicago. Demand for the coin stagnated only days later, and many orders were later cancelled, meaning negative sales reports from the Mint. The production limit, initially set at 200,000, was adjusted to 75,000. The Mint finally achieved a technical sellout one year later, when 73,772 pieces were ultimately sold.

Sales began on a special four-coin silver Kennedy half dollar set on October 28, 2014. The four silver coins were produced at four different mints and struck in four different finishes, including proof (Philadelphia), uncirculated (Denver), enhanced uncirculated (San Francisco), and reverse proof (West Point).

2014 Civil Rights 1964-2014 Silver Dollar

The 2014 Civil Rights silver dollar specifically honors the landmark Civil Rights Act enacted on July 2, 1964. The law made impacts in labor and hiring practices as well as general society and outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. While the law protects all Americans, it represented the de jure end to discriminatory voter registration requirements and racial segregation in the workplace and in establishments that serve as public accommodations, such as restaurants and hotels.

The Uncirculated Civil Rights dollar coin became one of the scarcer commemoratives released during Obama’s second term, selling just 24,720 pieces. The proof version of the coin fared marginally better on the distribution side, recording sales of 61,992 coins.

2015 U.S. Marshals Service 225th Half Dollar, Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

The 2015 United States Marshals commemorative coin program honors the federal law enforcement agency that works within the United States Department of Justice and belongs to the judicial branch of the government. The half dollar and silver dollar depict scenes reminiscent of earlier times for the agency, particularly with imagery of the gun-slinging lawman on the obverse of the half dollar and dollar. The $5 gold coin centrally features the Marshal’s star-shaped badge on its obverse and heraldic eagle embracing a U.S. Marshals shield upon its breast on the reverse.

2015 March of Dimes 75th Anniversary Commemorative & Limited-Edition Proof Roosevelt Dimes

Speculative frenzy heated up within the coin community during the late spring of 2015, when the March of Dimes 75th anniversary silver dollar was released. The coin, prominently featuring a jugate bust of polio survivor and March of Dimes founder Franklin Delano Roosevelt and polio vaccine pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk, was a hit.

But the real shot in the arm for proof sales of the March of Dimes commemorative silver dollar was the special inclusion of two specially produced 2015 proof dimes in a three-coin limited-edition collector set. The 2015-P reverse proof and 2015-W proof silver dimes boasted a total mintage of 75,000, and the three-coin sets in which they were sold were gone within days of their May 4 release.

2016 Mark Twain Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

One of America’s most beloved writers and humorists, Samuel Langhorne Clemens – better known to millions by his pen name, Mark Twain – is featured on a silver dollar and $5 gold coin commemorative pair. Surcharges for the coin, which honor the man who wrote such classics as Huckleberry Finn and “The Celebrated Jumping Frog Calaveras County, benefit The Mark Twain Project at the University of California, Berkeley; the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut; the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri; and the Center for Mark Twain Studies in Elmira, New York.

2016 National Park Service Half Dollar, Silver Dollar & $5 Gold Coin

The centennial of the National Park Service (NPS), operating some of the nation’s most popular recreational and conservation sites, such as Grand Canyon National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, is honored on three commemorative coins released. The half dollar, silver dollar, and $5 gold coin each pay homage to the NPS and its 100th birthday with designs featuring the organization’s logo and interpretive scenes from some of the various 400 parks and sites operated by the service.

2017 Lions Club International Centennial Silver Dollar

The Lions Club International silver dollar was released on January 18, 2017 and became the last United States commemorative coin released under the Obama Administration. The coin, struck in both proof and uncirculated finishes, honors the 100th birthday of Lions Club International, a community service organization founded by Chicago businessman Melvin Jones in 1917 that now has more than 1.4 million members worldwide.

2017 Boys Town Centennial Half Dollar, Silver Dollar, $5 Gold Coin

The Boys Town Centennial half dollar, silver dollar, and $5 gold coin trio commemorates the Nebraska youth and family charity that was started by Father Edward J. Flanagan in 1917. While it will be released during the Trump Administration, this commemorative coin was signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2015.

2018 World War I American Veterans Centennial Dollar

This silver dollar, signed into law by Obama in 2014, honors all American veterans who fought in World War I, which formally concluded in 1918. While the last American World War I veteran died in 2011, the new silver dollar is sure to make proud the many now-elderly children whose parents fought in World War I. The design of the silver dollar was decided in a public competition, and was one of the first such coin design contests since the designs on the United States 1776-1976 Bicentennial coins were solicited from the public more than 40 years earlier.

2018 Breast Cancer Awareness Half Dollar, Silver Dollar, $5 Gold Coin

The trio of 2018 Breast Cancer Awareness commemorative coins is significant in that it will include the first United States pink gold coin. Furthermore, as with the World War I American Veterans silver dollar, the designs for the breast cancer awareness coins will be decided by a public competition. President Obama signed the bipartisan bill, pitched by United States Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (Democrat, New York) and Pete Sessions (Republican, Texas), on April 29, 2016.

2019 Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Half Dollar, Silver Dollars & $5 Gold

The 1969 Apollo 11 mission that made Neil Armstrong the first person to walk on the Moon will be commemorated on four different coins to be released in 2019 during the 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing. The four-coin commemorative series will be significant for featuring domed planchets (like the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame coins) and two types of silver dollars, including one struck to the denomination’s standard specifications and another with the same physical specifications as the three-inch-diameter, 5-ounce .999-fine silver America the Beautiful coins. The 2019 Apollo 11 commemorative coins, signed into law by President Obama on December 16, 2016, will be released at about the time the 2020 United States presidential election run-up will be well underway.

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Bullion Coins

2016 30th Anniversary American Silver Eagle

The popular American Silver Eagle program that launched in 1986 was celebrated in 2016 with the issuance of a special-edition, edge-lettered silver eagle marking the 30th anniversary of the series. The 2016-W proof American Silver Eagle was the first issue to feature an edge inscription with the phrase “30th ANNIVERSARY” on an otherwise plain edge.

2016 Gold Liberty Dime, Quarter & Half Dollar

This three-coin set of 24-karat gold coins honors the Miss Liberty designs of Adolph A. Weinman and Hermon A. MacNeil, which were released in 1916 on the dime, quarter dollar, and half dollar. Weinman’s Winged Liberty Head (or “Mercury”) design appeared on the dime until 1945 and Walking Liberty motif, seen today on the obverse of the American Silver Eagle, graced half dollars made through 1947. Meanwhile, MacNeil’s Standing Liberty type was struck on the quarter until 1930.

The three silver coin designs were reproduced on virtually pure gold coins that were nominally monetized as a dime, quarter and half dollar, respectively. The physical weights of these gold coins are symbolic to the designs each carries, including the tenth-ounce “Mercury dime,” quarter-ounce “Standing Liberty quarter,” and half-ounce “Walking Liberty half dollar”.

MMIX (2009) Ultra High-Relief Saint-Gaudens Gold Coin

One of the earliest coins released during the Obama era was also among the most popular of the early 21st century: the MMIX (2009) Ultra High-Relief Saint-Gaudens Gold $20 coin. Modeled after the original ultra high-relief Saint-Gaudens design that was too technically complicated for mass production in 1907, the 2009 Ultra-High Relief 24-karat coin was an immediate hit with collectors, selling 28,173 pieces on the first day alone. A total of 114,427 were minted.

American Platinum Eagle Proofs

The American Platinum Eagle bullion program was established in 1997 as a complement to the gold- and silver-based American Eagle coin series. The platinum coins have seen various format changes over the decades, including the introduction of annually changing reverse designs on the proof platinum coins. Among these are designs that were released beginning in 2009 as part of the “Preamble to the Constitution” series, with each design paying homage to foundational American ideals such as establishing a fair and equal justice system, providing domestic tranquility, and promoting general welfare.

First Spouse Gold Coins

Launched in 2007 as a complement to the Presidential $1 coin series, the First Spouse gold coin program experienced the majority of its existence during the Obama years. The First Spouse coins of the Obama era include pieces honoring Mary Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt and Nancy Reagan, the last serving as the subject of the final First Spouse gold coin, which was released on July 1, 2016, just months after Reagan’s death on March 6.

American Liberty High-Relief Gold Coins

Following the popularity of the MMIX (2009) Saint-Gaudens High-Relief $20 gold one-year issue, the United States Mint embarked on a Liberty-themed high relief gold coin series that began in 2015. The first American Liberty High Relief gold coin proved very popular, listed as a sellout on the United States Mint website mere hours after it was released on July 30, 2015.

The next coin in the series was newsworthy for another reason: it features the first representation of Miss Liberty as an African American. The historic 2017 American Liberty High Relief gold coin, dual dated 1792-2017 to honor the 225th anniversary of the United States Mint, was released on January 12, 2017 – just days before President Obama left the White House.

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Other Obama Numismatic Achievements

Women on 20s Movement

Obama ran his presidential campaigns on the hope for change, but perhaps one of the most impactful of Obama-era changes won’t occur on pocket “change” but rather paper currency. The non-profit grassroots organization known as Women on 20s geared up in early 2015 and sought to replace the image of President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with that of a prominent woman. Concerned that Jackson’s connection to the Trail of Tears that thousands of Native Cherokee were forced to trod out of their homelands in the 1830s, Women on 20s petitioned to replace his image with slavery abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who is the preferred choice of the organization’s supporters.

The group convinced President Obama and the Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew to add a portrait of historic Civil Rights events at the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse of the $5 bill and a depiction of a famous suffrage protest on the reverse of the $10 bill; both bills will retain their obverse portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton, respectively. The $20 bill, meanwhile, will feature Harriet Tubman on the obverse and bump Jackson’s portrait to the reverse. Barring any executive actions by the Trump Administration, the Treasury Department expects to see the three redesigned bills begin circulating in 2020, which marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which grants women the right to vote.

Silver Coin Composition Changes

On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed legislation that permits the Treasury Secretary to give the Mint latitude to change the metal content of 90-percent silver coins and commemorative silver dollars. One of the caveats of the new law requires any modified coins that formerly contained 90-percent silver compositions to retain a fineness of at least 90-percent silver. This means the United States Mint will likely offer more silver coins with .999 or higher fineness in the years ahead.

Enhancements to the Hobby Protection Act

Obama signed Public Law 113-288 on December 19, 2014, which strengthens the various legal aspects of the Hobby Protection Act passed by Congress in 1973. The enhancements permit law enforcement to pursue legal action against distributors of counterfeit coins and bogus coin certification service holders.

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Obama Era Coins & Collectors

Dozens of coins are directly or indirectly referenced in this article, counting all America the Beautiful Quarters and myriad other distinct mintmark and finish combinations. What the collector does with such a list may range from fulfilling a moment of academic curiosity to referring to it while building a type set of Obama-era coins.

Whatever the takeaway, perhaps the most important message is in recognizing that the period during Obama’s presidency was one of the most colorful times in modern numismatic history. It was a period shaped in no small part by changing collector tastes, the bold emergence of social media and digital technology in numismatics, and shifting hobby demographics. Meanwhile, Obama, for his part, authorized many new coins and other numismatic initiatives that collectors and the general public will be benefiting from and enjoying for decades to come.

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