All about the benjamins (Harrison, that is)

Call me a dork, but I'm a little excited about the presidential dollar coins that go into circulation next year. Much like the state quarters, we'll be getting four new presidential coins each year in order of election, meaning George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will be available in 2007. It's a new president every three months! And yes, Grover Cleveland gets two coins for his non-consecutive terms.

My dad was always the coin and stamp collector of the family, and he's put together all the state quarters for us kids. I'm sure he'll do the same with these, which is good, because collector or not, taking $40-something dollars out of circulation isn't something I'm likely to do on my own.

Outside of collecting, the ramifications are endless. People might actually know what Franklin Pierce looked like (and in his day, he was considered quite the hottie)! Ronald Reagan can finally get his own coin so certain deification-happy Republicans can leave the Roosevelt dime alone! And best of all, maybe these will generate enough interest that people will finally start using dollar coins. Seriously. I mean, if the U.K. can use a coin for a pound, which is worth a lot more than a dollar, why do we still predominantly use the weaker paper for such a relatively small unit of currency? On that same note, maybe my vending machine at work will finally start taking the things, too. The parking machine at New Jersey train stations always used to drive me nuts by dispensing $17 in change from them, leaving me stuck with them for days.

What should be interesting is seeing which president stops the cycle. The way it's set up, no president will be honored less than two years after his death, and it stops whenever we run out of presidents to honor.

Gerald Ford would have to live a few years past 100 to miss out, so it probably won't be him. Jimmy Carter would have to make it to 92, which is possible but still somewhat unlikely. George H.W. Bush is about the same age as Carter. Both are active, but health can be, pardon the expression, a flip of the coin at that age.

Bill Clinton is a likely candidate, as he'll be a wee lad of 70 in 2016. Still, he's already proven that he has a bum ticker, so I'm putting my money on our current president in ending the cycle. He's the same age as Clinton. Say what you will about him, but he does seem to be a pretty healthy guy. And wouldn't it burn some certain Republicans if there were Bill Clinton coins but no George W. Bush ones?