Consisting of what has proven to be four of the more popular coins in the 24-karat gold series dedicated to honoring the spouses of the former Presidents of the United States are the Liberty Subset First Spouse Gold Coins.

Liberty Subset First Spouse Gold Coins - Click to Enlarge

The 1/2 ounce .9999 fine gold series itself typically honors the wives of the former Presidents with a portrait of the individual on the obverse and an image emblematic of their life on the reverse. However, the law authorizing the strikes made allowances for those instances when the Chief Executive of the country served without a spouse.

According to the Presidential $1 Coin Act (Public Law 109-145), in these instances: "the image on the obverse of the bullion coin corresponding to the $1 coin relating to such President shall be an image emblematic of the concept of ‘Liberty’ as represented on a United States coin issued during the period of service of such President."

As such, four of the coins in the complete series feature the concept of Liberty in place of a spouse. These include the following strikes:

2007 Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty – image taken from the 1800-1808 Draped Bust Half Cent deigned by Robert Scot.

2008 Andrew Jackson’s Liberty – image taken from the 1807 to 1836 Capped Bust Lettered Edge Half Dollar designed by John Reich.

2008 Martin Van Buren’s Liberty – image taken from the 1837 to 1891 Liberty Seated Dime designed by Christian Gobrecht.

2010 James Buchanan’s Liberty – image taken from the 1840 to 1907 Liberty Gold Quarter Eagle designed by Christian Gobrecht.

Coins such as these which feature classic images from historical American coinage always prove popular with collectors, and this Liberty Subset First Spouse Gold Coins has proven to be no exception.

There is one exception to the aforementioned Liberty rule concerning Presidents who served without a spouse. This was also dictated by the authorizing Act and stipulates that for the Presidency of Chester A. Arthur, the strike will feature an image of Alice Paul, the famous suffragist, instead. Paul was born during the tenure of Arthur.