The presidential dollar coin has fallen victim to Washington's cost cutting efforts.

The White House said Tuesday it is stopping nearly all production of the coins, which carry the likeness of every deceased president. The effort will save taxpayers $50 million a year in production and storage costs.

In 2005, Congress passed the Presidential $1 Coin Act, which mandated that the United States Mint issue four new coins each year from 2007 to 2016.

But as it turns out, there just wasn't much demand.

"Surprising, to my shock and dismay," Vice President Joe Biden said jokingly Tuesday as he announced plans to stop production.

The United States Mint had been producing between 70 and 80 million coins per deceased president. But the lack of demand has resulted in nearly 1.4 billion coins -- or 40 percent of those produced -- being returned to the Federal Reserve.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said simply: "That costs money."

The White House says the coin surplus will more than meet the demand for the coins for at least a decade. And the Mint will still be required by law to produce a small number of coins for collectors.

The announcement is part of a White House campaign to cut back on government waste.

To read the complete article, see:White House cuts production of presidential coins(www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/12/13/white_house
_cuts_production_of_presidential_coins/)

More than 40% of the coins that are minted are returned to the government unwanted, the Treasury said. The rest apparently sit in vending machines�"one of the few places they are widely used�"or in the drawers of coin collectors.

What the coins don't do is get around much. In fact, the Mint has never had much luck with dollar coins. The Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979-1981, revived for one year in 1999) never caught on; some people said it was too close in size to the quarter. Neither did the Sacagawea Golden Dollars (2000-2008) or its successor, the Native American $1 Coin, which has the same front but a different back.

But that didn't discourage Congress. In 2005, it mandated that the Mint make $1 coins with the likenesses of the presidents, four each year between 2007 to 2016. So far, the Mint is up to James Garfield, the 20th president. Next up: Chester A. Arthur.

"And as it will shock you all, the call for Chester A. Arthur coins is not there," Mr. Biden said at a Cabinet-level meeting of a White House campaign to cut government waste.

Arthur fans needn't fret. The Mint will keep producing the presidential $1 coins on schedule, but will only make enough to meet collector demand and no longer attempt to circulate them. By law, 20% of all dollar coins produced have to be Native American coins, so production of them will be reduced too.

David Ganz writes:

To read the complete article, see:The Buck Stops Here: $1 Coins to Be Curtailed(online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204
336104577096893162350800.html)