PRESIDENTIAL COINS DEBUT NEW FACES

George Washington is no longer going it alone. John Adams arrived in May, followed by Thomas Jefferson in August, with James Madison scheduled for this month. The U.S. Mint's new dollar coins series will continue to roll out new presidential

U.S. Mint Director Edmund Moy is banking on success for the series for several reasons, according to the Associated Press: 1) the presidential coins are following on the heels of the 50state quarter program - the most popular coin series in history; 150 million Americans are involved in collecting them; 2) dollar coins are ideal fodder for vending machines, which rack up $1 billion in maintenance costs due to paper jams; and 3) the strategy of rotating visage designs on the coins keeps interest high and provides an opportunity for Americans to brush up on presidential history. A recent survey commissioned by the Mint shows that Americans need to do so: Only 7 percent could name the nation's first four presidents in order.

Moy appointed a task force to pinpoint solutions to initial distribution glitches with the new coin series, such as confusion among banks about how to reorder the coins. The Federal Reserve ordered 700 million presidential coins into circulation in the first eight months of the program.