Today, April 5, 2012, marks a continuation of the Presidential $1 Coin Program as well as the beginning of a new era for the series. Beginning at Noon (Eastern), the United States Mint began accepting orders for rolls and boxes of Chester Arthur Presidential $1 Coins.

Rolls contain a total of twenty-five coins with buyers having the choice between new dollars struck at the U.S. Mint’s facility in Philadelphia or those struck at the facility in Denver. Each roll costs $32.95 a piece.

Available boxes include 250-coin or 500-coin from either Denver or Philadelphia. Prices are $275.95 for the 250-coin boxes and $550.95 for the 500-coin boxes.

A standard shipping and handling fee of $4.95 applies to domestic orders, but there is an extra shipping charge of $7.95 per box of 500 coins due to their weight.

Bags and boxes may be ordered from the US Mint website at http://catalog.usmint.gov/.

The Arthur Presidential $1 Coin is the twenty-first to be issued in the series. However, its release is the first to be affected by significant changes to the program instituted by the Treasury Department late last year.

The Presidential $1 Coin Program debuted in 2007 and honors the nation’s former President’s with their likenesses on the obverse of the coins. Four new strikes are issued annually in the Presidential series in the order in which the individuals served. The first twenty of the program were struck for circulation and made available to local banks through the Federal Reserve System as well as offered by the U.S. Mint.

Then, last December, the Treasury Department issued an order suspending all Presidential $1 Coin production, except for numismatic purposes. Officials cited surpluses of the $1 coins in Federal Reserve vaults, and ordered the program change as part of a broader Campaign to Cut Government Waste established by President Barack Obama.

Thus, the Chester Arthur Presidential $1 Coin is the first to be struck by the Mint solely for numismatic reasons and not to be issued into circulation. However, as a means to still satisfy demand for coins of the series, the Mint has opted to create four new additional products containing the strikes. These include the two aforementioned box products, and these two offerings to be released at a later date:

• Presidential $1 Four-Coin Set for $9.95
• Presidential $1 Coin 100-Coin Bags for $111.95

The new products will be offered by the Mint in addition to the standard Presidential $1 Coin containing products such as the just released rolls.

Shown on the obverse of the Chester Arthur Presidential $1 Coin is a portrait of the twenty-first President of the United States as designed and engraved by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart. The likeness of the President is surrounded by the inscriptions of "CHESTER ARTHUR," "IN GOD WE TRUST," "21st PRESIDENT" and "1881-1885."

The reverse of the coin contains the standard image of the Statue of Liberty as seen on all of the coins of the series. It was designed by Everhart as well and contains the inscriptions of "United States of America" and "$1." Edge-incused inscriptions are used to show the "2012," "E PLURIBUS UNUM" and the mintmark.