Well, it’s not quite time for goodbye. But soon.

With all the press about the George Washington dollar, I’m not sure that most people realize that the US Mint has already stopped producing them. That’s right, they’ve already begun production of the second Presidential $1 dollar coin, the coin for John Adams.

The Patriot Ledger in Boston has a really nice article on the new coin, and on John Adams.

There has been so much coverage about the errors on the new George Washington dollar coins that demand for the coins has been surprisingly high. Unfortunately for collectors, I think this means that the market is flush with them which may mean no significant appreciation for the George Washington version.

Personally, I expect that the excitement about the dollar coins to die down rapidly as they march through the Presidents. In many ways, you want demand to be low at the time of issuance, since that means fewer people will be stashing them away. That leads to higher prices down the road.

The US Mint has scheduled the release of the John Adams dollar coins for May, so there is still some time to get your George Washington dollars.

One nuance that is worth noting – it’s only for the 6 weeks after release that the Mint will be providing boxes of dollar coins for a single President. So come May, you won’t be able to go to the bank and get a box of George Washington dollar coins any more. You’ll either be able to get a box of the John Adams’ dollar coins, or a mixed box of golden dollar coins – Sacajawea, Washington, etc.

Update (5/17/2007):  The John Adams dollar coins have been released!  Read more here.

Update (5/24/2007): For a limited time only, I am now carrying unopened, original John Adams Presidential Dollar coin rolls in my eBay Store. Click here to buy them on eBay Express. If you are interested in the other rolls I am carrying, click here for all the coins I am currently selling.