The James Madison One-Dollar Coin: Legacy of the Fourth President

The James Madison Dollar was released in 2007 as the fourth coin in the presidential program for issuing large dollar coins. 

This program began with the adoption of a new law in 2005, as the government had two main goals: to remember all the US presidents who had already passed away, and the second was to try to get people to use a dollar coin every day.

B. Anthony and Sacagawea Dollars failed to do this. But if you want to show your experience and foresight among other numismatists, then let’s go through the basis of the James Madison dollar coin.

Historical Background: Father of the Constitution

Many people call Madison the “Father of the Constitution” because he did a very important job when they were writing the U.S. Constitution, he outlined the basic ideas of the Virginia Plan, a key document at a meeting in Philadelphia in 1787. 

He also worked on the Federalist Newspapers, which helped New Yorkers say yes to the Constitution, and Madison also helped write the Bill of Rights, the first ten rules added to the Constitution to protect human rights.

The Time as President (1809–1817)

When Madison was president, there were many problems with Great Britain and France, and the main thing that happened during his time was the war of 1812 with Great Britain, the “Second War of Independence,” because Madison did not want to start a war, but he had to. 

This was a very difficult period for the new country, and in 1814 the British army burned down part of Washington, D.C., including the White House, but despite the fact that the war ended after the signing of the peace agreement, victory in the Battle of New Orleans allowed the country to feel strong and free again.

The Look and Technical Facts of the Coin 2007

The Front Side

On the front of the coin, there is a clear picture of James Madison’s head, created by Joel Iskowitz and cut into the metal by Don Everhart

• Words:
  • «JAMES MADISON» 
  • «4TH PRESIDENT»
  • «1809–1817» 

The Back Side

The back side of the coin is the same for every coin in the Presidential Series, and it shows a strong picture of a national symbol.

• Picture: There is a large picture of the Statue of Liberty.
• Words:
  • «UNITED STATES OF AMERICA» 
  • «$1» 

The Edge of the Coin

The most different thing about the Presidential Series, including the Madison coin, is that the words are on the thin edge — a new way to keep the front and back of the coin looking simple and clean. 

On the edge of the Madison coin, you can find these important words and numbers:

1. The Year and Mint Mark: The year the coin was made (2007) and the letter showing where it was made (P for Philadelphia, D for Denver, or S for San Francisco for special collector coins).
2. «E PLURIBUS UNUM» 
3. «IN GOD WE TRUST»

Coin Facts

• Metal: Copper, Zinc, Manganese, and Nickel
• Weight: 8.1 grams
• Size: 26.5 millimeters
• Thickness: 2.0 millimeters

Making and Numbers of the James Madison Coin

Even though they made many of these coins, like the other Presidential Series coins, the Madison coin did not become popular with regular people, and most of them were not used for buying things. 

Many of the coins that were made just sat in the banks of the government, and this finally led to the whole program being changed later on.

Value for Collectors and Special Coins

The Missing Edge Word Mistake

The most famous and important mistake in the Presidential Dollar series is when the words are not on the edge because after the front and back were made, the coins had to go through another machine to put the words on the edge.

But sometimes the coin would miss this step and go out with a smooth edge, without the year, the mint mark, or the sayings like «E Pluribus Unum».

• Madison Coin with Missing Edge Words (2007): It is harder to find a Madison coin with the missing words than the earlier George Washington coin mistake.

The Double Edge Word Mistake

In some cases, a coin might have gone through the machine that puts the words on the edge two times, or the machine might have put the words on crookedly and made the words on the edge look doubled or unclear.

Special Collector Coins: San Francisco Mint S

The coins made in San Francisco (S) are very shiny and clear and were only sold in special boxes for collectors, meaning they are not used for buying things, but they are always worth more than common ones.

What This Means for Coin Collectors

Even though the Presidential Dollar Series did not help people use coins instead of paper money, it tells a story about history, and, most importantly, has special mistakes on the edge.

What People Thought and What Happened to the Program

It Did Not Work for Buying Things

The James Madison coin, like all the other coins in the series, faced the same problem as all American dollar coins before it: people did not want to use it and liked the one-dollar paper money better. 

Most Americans kept using paper dollars, and the coins quickly went out of use and were stored away — the “hoarding effect.”

They made over 100 million Madison coins, but they did not take the place of the paper money, and because of this, by the year 2011, the Federal Reserve Bank had saved up more than a billion dollar coins that no one wanted to use.

The Change to Only Collector Coins (2012)

Because the government spent too much money making and keeping all the coins that people did not want, the Congress decided in 2011 to stop making the Presidential Series dollars for general use.

So after 2012, all the new coins in the series were made in very small numbers and sold only to collectors in special sets — this change made the later coins very rare, but it means that the coins made before 2011, like the Madison coin, are much more common to find.

The Importance Learning History

The coin made people think about Madison’s time as president, which is often forgotten amid more high-profile stories about presidents, and the image on the coin always reminds people that he was the “Father of the Constitution” who gave us the Bill of Rights.

The inscriptions on the edge, despite the fact that they sometimes made mistakes, indicated that the mint had tried a new way of making coins.

While the rest are focused on more popular coins, you can set a local trend for these tokens. 

They are not so popular among newcomers to numismatics, but in any case, sooner or later you will come across this coin at auction and regret that you do not know anything about it and have no idea what list of errors it has.  

Therefore, do not forget to constantly study new types of coins and mistakes, even if they are not particularly popular now — the market is too unpunished and what is sinking now can become very valuable in 10 years.