Key Takeaways

• The most valuable Presidential Dollars are those with minting errors, particularly missing edge lettering, which includes the phrase “E Pluribus Unum,” the mint mark, and the date.
• The most expensive Presidential Dollar coin is the 2009 SMS William Henry Harrison with missing edge lettering, graded 69/70, which can sell for up to $2,450.
• The least expensive among the top valuable coins is the 2007 SMS Jefferson dollar with missing edge lettering, graded 67, valued at $600.

One curiosity of the American currency system is that, until 2007, the US Mint had put only one former president on a circulating dollar coin – Eisenhower, from 1971 to 1978. Of course, they appear on other coinage, like Lincoln on the penny, Jefferson on the nickel, and Washington on the quarter.

Most of the other former presidents hadn’t really gotten their due until the debut of the Presidential Dollar Coins Program. Now that the program has concluded, there are several of the presidential dollars that have become quite valuable collectors’ items. So, here are the 10 most valuable Presidential Dollar Coins.

List of the Most Valuable Presidential Coins

Presidential Dollars were struck for circulation between 2007 and 2011, and for collectors only after that, in the same era that produced the most valuable modern quarters. Production for circulation stopped on 13 December 2011, when the Treasury found roughly 1.4 billion unwanted dollar coins already sitting in Federal Reserve vaults. The series ran on for collectors until 2016, ending with Reagan – 40 coins for 39 men, since Grover Cleveland’s two non-consecutive terms each got one. Somewhat surprisingly, all of the most valuable Presidential Dollars are drawn from the circulating coins produced during the prime years of the program.

The reason for their extraordinary value is due to a fairly common minting error that appeared on several of the coins. The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 put the inscriptions on the edge of the coin rather than the face: the year of minting, “E Pluribus Unum,” “In God We Trust,” and the mint mark showing where it was struck. Some coins left the press with the edge blank. Because “In God We Trust” was among the missing words, the press nicknamed the first of them – the 2007 Washington dollars – “Godless dollars,” and the publicity did as much for their value as the rarity did. Congress moved “In God We Trust” to the face of the coin from 2009 onward.

1. 2009 SMS Harrison Missing Edge Lettering

The most expensive coin of all pays tribute to President William Henry Harrison. Pres. Harrison’s lasting legacy is an unfortunate one, as he only served for a month in office due to his untimely death in April 1841. This coin, valued as much as $2,450 at auction, is part of a Special Mint Set (SMS), one of the collector finishes the Mint produced alongside the circulating strikes. What pushes this coin to the apex is its missing lettering on the edge and its near-perfect condition (69/70).

2. 2008 SMS Van Buren Missing Edge Lettering

The second-most valuable Presidential Dollar honors Harrison’s immediate predecessor, Martin Van Buren. The Van Buren presidency was a short and unhappy one. He had built the organizational machinery of the Democratic Party before taking office, but his own term is remembered mostly for the Panic of 1837, a depression that arrived within weeks of his inauguration and cost him reelection. An SMS version of his dollar that is missing its edge lettering and in pristine condition (68/70) has sold for $2,350 in the past.

3. 2007 Washington Missing Edge Lettering

Coins honoring lesser-known presidents occupy the top two spots for value, but the third-most valuable Presidential Dollar pays tribute to a president who needs little introduction. George Washington’s exploits are the stuff of legend in the US. The combination of missing edge lettering and excellent condition (66/70) yields a coin worth $1,500 – the first of three Presidential Dollars to be worth that amount.

4. 2009 SMS Harrison Missing Edge Lettering

The William Henry Harrison Special Mint Series coin makes its second appearance on the list here. The only difference between the two is a single number downgrade in condition, from 69 to 68. The ANA’s published standards do put rough numbers on that – no more than two small contact marks at 69, no more than four at 68 – but graders are not simply counting. Strike, luster and eye appeal all feed into the call, and where a mark sits matters as much as how many there are. Those two additional pinpoints are enough for the coin only to be worth $1,500, nearly $1000 off the top price.

5. 2009 SMS Tyler Missing Edge Lettering

Another SMS coin worth $1,500 is the one commemorating John Tyler, William Henry Harrison’s vice president who took over after Harrison’s death shortly after the latter took office. Tyler’s presidency was more consequential than his low profile suggests: he was the first vice president to succeed a president who died in office, and by claiming the full powers of the office rather than acting as a caretaker he set the precedent later written into the 25th Amendment. He was also the only president ever expelled from his own party, and he signed the annexation of Texas into law. His family line is remarkable too – Tyler was born in 1790 and died in 1862, yet his grandson Harrison Ruffin Tyler lived until May 2025. Whether that trivia contributes to the value of his SMS dollar with missing edge lettering and a 67 grade is a matter for conjecture.

6. 2007 Washington Missing Edge Lettering

As is the case with the Harrison dollars, George Washington’s coin with missing edge lettering  is still one of the ten-most valuable even if you take away a number grade. This coin, graded at 65 out of 70, is worth $1,200 to investors.

7. 2007 Washington Missing Edge Lettering

The next grade down is valuable, too. A 64-grade Washington dollar missing edge lettering is worth $1,000 at auction.

8. 2009 SMS Harrison Missing Edge Lettering

The third SMS Harrison dollar with missing edge lettering on this list, graded at a 67, is the lowest-graded coin of the bunch on this list. However, don’t misunderstand – the imperfections and separations between these three coins are all but imperceptible to anyone outside of coin experts. Unfortunately, those folks are the ones doing the grading, and a Harrison dollar in this condition will fetch no more than $800 at auction.

9. 2010 Pierce Missing Edge Lettering

The penultimate Presidential Dollar on the most valuable list pays homage to a man generally considered to be one of the worst presidents in American history. Franklin Pierce’s term, from 1853 to 1857, has not aged well. A New Hampshire Democrat of the kind contemporaries called a doughface – a northerner who sided with southern interests – he signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, repealing the Missouri Compromise line and setting off the violence in Kansas that hastened the country’s slide toward war. Still, a coin honoring a random president in near-mint (68/70) condition and sporting a lack of edge lettering is worth as much as $740 to the interested buyer.

10. 2007 SMS Jefferson Missing Edge Lettering

The last Presidential Dollar coin to promise significantly higher sales prices than its face value is the coin honoring one of the country’s Founding Fathers. In fact, Thomas Jefferson may have been the most impactful statesman of them all. He was the principal drafter of the Declaration of Independence, working as one of a Committee of Five, and he secured the Louisiana Purchase, which covers all or part of 15 present-day states. A 67-grade Special Mint Series Jefferson dollar that is found without edge lettering is worth $600.

The Presidential Dollar Coin Design and Composition

The Presidential Dollar Coin Program was born in response to the poor circulation of the dollar coin introduced in 2000. Congress said so plainly in the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, which set out to copy the 50 State Quarters formula – a circulating coin whose design changes regularly – in the hope of driving demand. The Mint resolved to strike bust images of each president into the obverse of their respective coins in larger and more dramatic style.

Unlike almost every coin newly designed and issued, the reverses on the Presidential Dollars are uniform across all coins and feature the Statue of Liberty and the face value of the coin.

Each Presidential Dollar is a pure copper core clad in manganese brass, which works out to 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese and 2% nickel overall. Each one weighs 8.1 grams and measures 26.5 mm across.

What Makes a Presidential Dollar Coin Valuable?

The determination of a coin’s value hinges on a few key elements.

• Condition: Coins are graded on the Sheldon scale, which runs from 1 to 70. How that grade gets assigned matters more here than on most coins, because a single point is worth hundreds of dollars on these.
• Mintage: A coin from a lower production year is rarer and usually more valuable.
• Errors: Minting errors like missing edge lettering, die chips, doubled dies, and off-center strikes can add significant value – the same dynamic that drives the market in state quarter errors.

Conclusion

Presidential Dollars can be a fun target for a collector. They are able to be captured in a complete US Mint coin set, they are recent enough to still turn up in circulation, and they sit at the boundary between bullion and numismatics – worth more for what they are than for what they contain. If you go looking for one, it is worth knowing where to buy rare coins before you start.

Finally, some of them may come with errors that could be worth outsized gains to the savvy investor. One warning if you think you have found one: do not clean it. Cleaning is the fastest way to turn a four-figure error coin into a common dollar, and it cannot be undone. Get it professionally graded first.