U.S. currency changes not uncommon

While Americans probably would be supportive of a Reagan dime in general circulation, having one while the 92-year-old ex-president is still living would be unprecedented. There is no law, though, requiring a person to be dead to appear on U.S. currency. And changes in currency and coin are common.

Quarters honoring the entry of each state to the union have been wildly popular, for example. And two new 5-cent coins will be issued next year commemorating the Louisiana Purchase and the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello mansion will remain the “tails” side of the nickel. Jefferson’s profile will return in 2006.

In 1792, Congress required that all U.S. coins show on one side “an impression emblematic of Liberty, with an inscription of the word Liberty, and the year of coinage.”

The presidents who appear on the front side of U.S. circulating coins were selected by Congress. Here’s a look at other coin facts:

  • Abraham Lincoln was the first president on a coin, becoming the “heads” side of the penny in 1909.
  • George Washington has graced the quarter since 1932, when his likeness was selected to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first U.S. president’s birth.
  • Jefferson has been on the nickel since 1938.
  • Franklin Roosevelt was honored with the 10-cent coin because of his role in founding the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1937. Americans flooded the White House with $25 million in coins to fight polio in what was dubbed the “March of Dimes.” Roosevelt’s death prompted requests to honor the late president on a coin. Less than a year later, the Roosevelt dime was released to the public .
  • The assassination of President John F. Kennedy generated such an outpouring of public sentiment that President Lyndon B. Johnson sent legislation to Congress to authorize new 50-cent pieces. The first were minted Feb. 11, 1964.
  • Four men have appeared on a coin in their lifetime, but all were commemorative editions. Governor T.E. Kilby appeared on the 1921 Alabama Centennial coin; President Calvin Coolidge was on the 1926 Sesquicentennial of American Independence coin; Sen. Carter Glass was on the 1936 Lynchburg, Va., Sesquicentennial coin, and Sen. Joseph T. Robinson was on the 1936 Robinson-Arkansas Centennial coin.