The 2015 First Spouse Gold Coins could mark the last full year for the program from the US Mint honoring the spouses of the former Presidents of the United States with 24-karat gold coins.
That is because the release of the coins is tied to the schedule followed by the Mint for the circulating Presidential $1 Coins. Both series of strikes were authorized by the same Presidential $1 Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) and requires the strikes to be released at a rate of four Presidential coins per year with the associated spouse coins released that same year.
However, in order for an individual to be honored, the associated President must be deceased at least two years before they could be included in the program. As such, 2016 may not see a complete set of four Presidential of Spouse coins released that year.
The series of First Spouse Coins are each struck from one half ounce of .9999 fine gold. This gives them the distinction of being one of only two regularly issued series by the Mint to be struck from that quality of gold. The other is the American Buffalo Gold Coin series.
2015 will see a total of four First Spouse Gold Coins issued by the Mint:
- Elizabeth Truman Gold Coins , honoring the wife of Harry S. Truman
- Mamie Eisenhower Gold Coins, honoring the wife of Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Jacqueline Kennedy Gold Coins, honoring the wife of John F. Kennedy
- Claudia Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson Gold Coins, honoring the wife of Lyndon B. Johnson
Congress made allowances for special situations that may be encountered in the spouse program including if a President served without a wife or if the President was married to more than one person while in office. For the former, typically an image of Liberty will be shown on the coin in place of the portrait of the wife. If the President was married to more than one person, then both will be featured on separate coins to be released by the Mint.
