First Spouses

Ron Guth: First Spouse Bullion coins are golden counterparts of the Presidential Dollar series and each spouse appears on the same schedule as her husband. In cases where the President had no spouse, a coin with a figure emblematic of Liberty appears (for instance, Thomas Jefferson's "spouse" is the Draped Liberty Bust that appeared on coins issued during his tenure as the chief executive). First Spouse coins bear a face value of $10, far less than the value of the half-ounce of pure gold that each coin contains. The 99.99% purity of the First Spouse Bullion coins matches that of the American Buffalo coins.

Collectors responded favorably to the initial offerings of First Spouse Bullion coins, but not so strongly to later issues. The high price of gold became a factor and large quantities of these coins have been melted down. In the future, collectors may have a hard time obtaining certain issues because of the lack of survivors.