The 2009 Presidential $1 Coins marked the third year for the series of strikes from the US Mint which honor the former Presidents of the United States of America. Strikes for the year include coins honoring William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor.

2009 Presidential $1 Coins - Click to Enlarge

President George W. Bush signed the authorizing legislation for this series on December 22, 2005 known as the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-145). The Act required the former Presidents to be honored on circulating one dollar coins with their portraits featured on the obverse of the strikes.

The Act also dictated that the coins be released at a rate of four per year in the order upon which the individual served in office. Thus, the first strike to appear in the series was released in 2007 and was the George Washington Presidential $1 Coin. Subsequent strikes in the series appear in intervals throughout the year.

Four coins were issued by the US Mint as part of the 2009 Presidential $1 Coins:

• William Henry Harrison Presidential $1 Coin – honoring the ninth President who had the shortest tenure in office which ran from March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841, this coin was released into circulation on February 19, 2009.
• John Tyler Presidential $1 Coin – this strike honors the tenth former President who served one term from April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845. This strike entered into circulation on May 21, 2009.
• James K. Polk Presidential $1 Coin – the eleventh President of the United States served from March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849. The coin honoring him was released by the US Mint on August 20, 2009.
• Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 Coin – Taylor served as the twelfth US President from March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850. The US Mint issues his strike on November 19, 2009.

A series of First Spouse Gold Coins was also authorized by the same Act that authorized the Presidential dollars, and as the name indicates, they honor the spouses of the former Presidents.

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