Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 1 Dollar 2009, KM# 450, United States of America (USA), Presidential $1 Coin Program, William Henry Harrison
  • 1 Dollar 2009, KM# 450, United States of America (USA), Presidential $1 Coin Program, William Henry Harrison
Description

The United States is honoring Nation's Presidents by issuing $1 coins featuring their images in the order that they served. The Program began in 2007. Four coins are to come out each year until all former presidents (non-living) have been minted. Only one depiction for each president will be made — no matter how many terms they served — with the sole exception of Grover Cleveland, who will receive a different depiction on 2 separate coins since he served 2 non-consecutive terms.

Issue date: 19.02.2009

Obverse

Depicts a portrait of William Henry Harrison surrounded by the inscriptions.

William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) was the ninth President of the United States (1841), an American military officer and politician, and the last President born as a British subject.

During a distinguished Army career, Harrison served as secretary of the Northwest Territory and governor of the Indiana Territory. He gained national fame and the nickname “Old Tippecanoe” from victories at the Battle of Tippecanoe and the Battle of the Thames against American Indians led by Shawnee chief Tecumseh.

In 1840, the Whig party tapped Harrison to run against incumbent President Martin Van Buren, who had become unpopular because of a lingering economic depression. "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" (John Tyler was the vice-presidential candidate) became the first and still one of the most memorable of presidential campaign slogans. Harrison defeated Van Buren in a landslide. At 68, Harrison was the oldest president to have served in the office up until that time.

In a bracing March rainstorm, Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech in U.S. history, lasting an hour and 45 minutes. Wearing neither hat nor coat, he caught a severe cold from the long exposure to the elements. Shortly thereafter, he developed pneumonia. He died exactly one month after his inauguration, becoming the first president to die in office, serving the shortest tenure in United States presidential history.

Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison, later became the 23rd President of the United States.

Designer and engraver: Joseph Menna (JFM)

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
JFM
IN GOD WE TRUST 9TH PRESIDENT 1841

Reverse

Depicts a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty, a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York City, in the United States. The Statue is the work of sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who enlisted the assistance of engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower.

The Statue of Liberty was completed in 1884 in France and shipped to the United States in June 1885, having been disassembled into 350 individual pieces that were packed in over 200 crates for the transatlantic voyage. In four months’ time, it was re-assembled in New York Harbor, standing just over 151 feet from the top of the statue’s base to the tip of the torch her right hand holds high above the waters of New York Harbor.

Originally intended as a gift to celebrate the American Centennial in 1876, the Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a symbol of the friendship forged between the new American government and the government of France during the American Revolutionary War.

Designer: Don Everhart (DE).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$1
DE

Edge

Inscribed along the edge of the coin is the year of minting or issuance of the coin, the mint mark, 13 stars, and also the legends E Pluribus Unum. E Pluribus Unum — Latin for "Out of many, one" — is a phrase on the Seal of the United States. Never codified by law, E Pluribus Unum was considered a de facto motto of the United States until 1956.

Position A: edge lettering reads upside-down when the president's portrait faces up.
Position B: edge lettering reads normally when the president's portrait faces up.

★★★★★★★★★★ 2009 D ★★★ E PLURIBUS UNUM

Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Manganese Brass
Weight 8.1 g
Diameter 26.5 mm
Thickness 2 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mints
Denver Mint (D)
Philadelphia Mint (P)
San Francisco Mint (S)

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