United States Mint Introduces New Presidential $1 Coin at President Lincoln's Cottage in Nation's Capital

Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin Launches on Anniversary of Gettysburg Address

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Mint launched a new Presidential $1 Coin honoring Abraham Lincoln today, the 147th anniversary of his Gettysburg Address.  United States Mint Director Ed Moy introduced the new coin during a ceremony at President Lincoln's Cottage on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C.  Erin Carlson Mast, director of President Lincoln's Cottage, was on hand to celebrate the coin's release.  After the ceremony, children 18 years old and younger received an Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin, and adults exchanged their currency for 25-coin rolls of the new coin.

"Connecting America through Coins, the United States Mint presents the long-awaited Presidential $1 Coin honoring Abraham Lincoln," said Director Moy at the ceremony, "in the same month that Lincoln won election 150 years ago and became the 16th President of the United States."

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President, was born February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, into a poor frontier family.  A self-taught lawyer, he also served in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives.  In 1858, while campaigning for a seat in the U.S. Senate, Lincoln engaged incumbent Stephen A. Douglas in a series of debates over slavery.  Though he lost the election, Lincoln's eloquence won him national attention, and in 1860, he received the Republican presidential nomination.  Lincoln became President of the United States in 1861 as the Nation descended into the Civil War.

On April 14, 1865—only a few weeks into his second administration and just five days after the Civil War ended—Lincoln was shot by Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.  Lincoln died the next morning in Washington, D.C.

The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-145) directs the United States Mint to issue four $1 coins each year to honor our Nation's Presidents in the order in which they served in office.  The Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin is the 16th release in the Presidential $1 Coin Program.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin entered into circulation November 18.  Numismatic rolls containing the new coin also are available for purchase at the United States Mint's Web site, http://www.usmint.gov/catalog, or by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).  Hearing- and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468).  A fee of $4.95 will be added to all domestic orders for shipping and handling.

President Lincoln's Cottage is the most significant site associated with Abraham Lincoln's presidency after the White House.  President Lincoln lived there for one quarter of his presidency and was living there when he drafted the Emancipation Proclamation and deliberated critical issues of the Civil War.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation opened the cottage to the public in 2008 after a seven-year restoration.  Today, it offers intimate guided tours, providing an in-depth, media-enhanced experience highlighting Lincoln's ideas and actions through historical images and voices.  For more information about the cottage, go to http://www.lincolncottage.org.  To learn more about the National Trust for Historic Preservation, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/.

To view and download high-resolution images of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin, go to: http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/?action=Photo#Pres.  For additional information about the Presidential $1 Coin Program, visit:  http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/.

SOURCE United States Mint