Obverse. Photo © United States Mint
  • 1 Dollar 2015, KM# 609, United States of America (USA), Presidential $1 Coin Program, Lyndon B. Johnson
  • 1 Dollar 2015, KM# 609, United States of America (USA), Presidential $1 Coin Program, Lyndon B. Johnson
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: August 18, 2015.

Obverse

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969. On November 22, 1963, Johnson succeeded Kennedy as President following the latter's assassination. He ran for a full term in the 1964 election, winning by a landslide over Republican Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. He is one of four people who have served as President and Vice President, as well as in both houses of Congress.

Johnson escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the power to use military force in Southeast Asia without having to ask for an official declaration of war. The number of American military personnel in Vietnam increased dramatically, from 16,000 advisors in non-combat roles in 1963, to 550,000 in early 1968, many in combat roles. American casualties soared and the peace process bogged down. Growing unease with the war stimulated a large, angry antiwar movement based especially on university campuses in the U.S. and abroad.

Johnson faced further troubles when summer riots broke out in most major cities after 1965, and crime rates soared, as his opponents raised demands for "law and order" policies. While he began his presidency with widespread approval, support for Johnson declined as the public became upset with both the war and the growing violence at home. In 1968, the Democratic Party factionalized as antiwar elements denounced Johnson; he ended his bid for renomination after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary.

Designer and engraver: Michael Gaudioso (MG).

LYNDON B. JOHNSON
MG
IN GOD WE TRUST 36th PRESIDENT 1963 – 1969

Reverse

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.

★★★★★★★★★★ 2015 D ★★★ E PLURIBUS UNUM

Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Manganese Brass
Weight 8.1 g
Diameter 26.5 mm
Thickness 1.8 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mints
Denver Mint (D)
Philadelphia Mint (P)
San Francisco Mint (S)

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