2007-S John Adams Presidential Dollar Coin Proof : A Collector’s Guide

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
 

The 2007-S John Adams Presidential Dollar Proof is a Proof striking of the John Adams Presidential Dollar that was produced at the San Francisco Mint for inclusion in United States Mint collector sets offered that year. While the Adams coin is technically the second in the series, the Proof versions of the 2007 coins were sold in various sets. Across all product offerings, the Mint reported sales of 3,965,989 2007-S Presidential Dollar Proofs.

Naturally, the Presidential Dollar series started strong with the first four presidents–arguably among the most famous. Of the four, John Adams is the only one not from Virginia and the only one-termer. But while this may suggest that the Adams Administration was a failure, this is not the case. Adams was a significant president and an important statesman who had a major impact on the founding of the country and its defense.

John Adams’ Life and Legacy

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree (now part of Quincy) Massachusetts to farmer and church deacon John Adams, Sr. and his wife, Susanna Boylston Adams. An indifferent student in his youth, Adams Jr. nonetheless went to Harvard starting in 1751. By 1758, he had earned his law degree and began working as a lawyer in 1759. In 1764, Adams married his third cousin Abigail Smith, and over the course of their marriage had six children – including future sixth President John Quincy Adams.

Adams became a leader in colonial opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765, which was a direct tax on the colonists to pay for British troops on American soil, ostensibly to protect against the French. There were many legal and political problems with this, but the views of Adams and other activists can be reduced to the motto “No Taxation without Representation.” Amidst this growing British interference in American affairs, Adams began writing about colonial politics and newspapers.

Rising to the top of the legal field in Boston, Adams gained some notoriety by defending the British sentries accused of killing five American colonists in the Boston Massacre that took place on March 5, 1770. Despite his firm belief that Americans were being mistreated by the Crown, he thought that all men were entitled to a vigorous defense in front of a jury of their peers. Most of the soldiers were acquitted.

Over the next few years, Great Britain doubled down on its moves against colonial independence. While there were already radicals like his cousin Samuel Adams who advocated for full independence, reformers like John Adams were only radicalized by Parliament’s aggressive actions. After colonists dumped thousands of pounds of tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act of 1773–the famous Boston Tea Party–Adams wrote about the vandalism in glowing terms. And after the Intolerable Acts of 1774, John Adams served as a delegate from Massachusetts to the First Continental Congress. After the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, Adams understood that the time for reconciliation and compromise was over.

During the War for Independence, John Adams played a key role in the fight. He nominated George Washington to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the fledgling Army. He also organized and served on the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence and, while he deferred to Thomas Jefferson for the actual writing, it was Adams’ skills as a lawyer that won its adoption. To the point of exhaustion and beyond, Adams threw himself into the practical details of maintaining the Revolution.

When Washington became the nation’s first President in 1789, Adams became the country’s first Vice President. After Washington’s two terms in office, Adams was elected President in 1796, serving from 1797 through 1801. The election, the first in United States history to be contested, was vitriolic and partisan, with supporters of Jefferson and Adams exchanging nasty rhetoric at levels the average American believes is a more recent phenomenon. In office, Adams worked to stabilize the foundations of the new republic. Nevertheless, his administration is arguably best known for a disintegrating relationship with France and the Alien and Sedition Acts, which imprisoned people for criticizing the government. This attack on Liberty motivated Jefferson to voice the first sentiments of secession not even a decade after the Constitution was ratified.

After losing the 1800 election to Jefferson, Adams retired to his Massachusetts home. He refused to comment publicly on the new administration’s activities, establishing the tradition of former presidents not directly criticizing their successors. John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the same day as his rival but ultimately friend Thomas Jefferson.

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2007-S John Adams Presidential Dollar Coin Proof Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

The Mint offered collectible multiple ways to acquire the 2007-S John Adams Presidential Dollar Proof.

The most common ordering options were the 2007 United States Mint Clad and Silver Proof Sets, which featured one of every coin issued for circulation in 2007. The Sacagawea Dollar was housed alongside the Lincoln Cent, Jefferson Nickel (Monticello Reverse Resumed), Roosevelt Dime, and Kennedy Half Dollar Proofs in one plastic holder, while State Quarters for Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and Utah were housed in a second holder. The holder for the 2007 Presidential Dollars (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison) in the Proof Sets featured an oil painting backdrop of the U.S. flag and the Constitution. This same packaging was used on the standalone Presidential $1 Coin Proof Set, first offered for sale at $14.95 on June 15, 2007.

Today, the Presidential $1 Coin Proof Sets typically sell for under $10 each, although sales have been reported for as little as $4 (face value!). While it’s true that collectors can find individual (loose) Proof coins for around $2 to $2 each, it’s still a better value to buy the coin as part of a set since the surfaces of the coin are quick to show signs of mishandling.

Collectors could also purchase the coin as part of the Presidential $1 Coin Historical Signature Set, which was produced in cooperation with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) and included an intaglio-printed copy of Adam’s signature provided by the White House Historical Association. This set was offered for sale on May 13, 2008, at an issue price of $19.95; they sell for about $12 in 2025.

As for the certified market, several thousand 2007-S John Adams Presidential Dollar coins have been graded by NGC and PCGS, where the coins typically grade Proof 69 or Proof 70 Deep Cameo. Generally speaking, modern Proof coins certified Proof 69 trade for little more than their raw counterparts, with the cost of certification being more than the retail value of the coin. This is a problem with the economics of modern coin certification that we discuss with our concept Terminal Grade. Proof 70 Deep Cameo is the only viable grade for market makers.

Most 2007-S John Adams Presidential Dollars were certified during the post-release window when excitement for the new series was at its highest. Today, these coins sell for $20 and under – which again is less than the cost of submission at the standard rates. Bulk submitters likely get a deal that puts the coin close to breaking even. As a result, no new 2007-S John Adams Presidential Dollars in Proof 70 have been added to the PCGS or NGC census since at least September 2024.

Top Population: PCGS PR70DCAM (1,533, 1/2025), NGC PF70UCAM (9,122, 1/2025), and CAC N/A (0, 1/2025).

• PCGS PR70DCAM #83878595: eBay, December 28, 2024 – $22.50. Presidential label. Buy it Now.
• PCGS PR70DCAM #41537321: eBay, December 21, 2024 – $22.50. Presidential label. Buy it Now.
• NGC PF70UCAM #3082939-055: eBay, December 15, 2024 – $10.50. 9 Bids. Presidential label.
• PCGS PR70DCAM #15482266: eBay, December 2, 2024 – $32. “Ltd Edition Series” Presidential label with facsimile signature. Buy it Now.
• NGC PF70UCAM #3138068-006: eBay, November 27, 2024 – $14.99. Presidential label. Buy it Now.

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Design

Obverse

Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) artist Joel Iskowitz adapted American artist John Trumbull’s 1793 portrait of Adams, in which the then-sitting Vice President covered his bald head with a powdered wig. Powdered wigs were slowly losing favor by the late 18th century but remained common amongst the older gentry. Iskowitz gives the top of Adams’ head more detail than exists in the Trumbull painting. So too, with Adams’ shirt.

As is standard for the early Presidential Dollar designs, the inscription at the top of the design is the President’s name, while the inscriptions at the bottom read the ordinal number of the Presidency and the dates of the administration. For the Adams Dollar, these inscriptions read: JOHN ADAMS | 2nd PRESIDENT | 1797 – 1801. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Charles L. Vickers sculpted Iskowitz’s design. Iskowitz’s designer initials JI appear on the cloth of Adam’s right shoulder (viewer’s left) and Vicker’s CLV initial appears on the cloth of Adam’s left shoulder.

Reverse:

Mint Sculptor-Engraver (now retired and an Artistic Infusion Program participant) Don Everhart’s reverse design features an ant’s-eye view of the Statue of Liberty offset to the left. On the coin, Liberty occupies the bottom right quadrant of the coin, her extended elbow being the coin’s center point. The design is framed by a thin inner circle, which separates the graphic design from the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Beneath Liberty’s extended torch-bearing arm is the denomination $1. This is the common reverse design for all Presidential Dollar coins.

Edge:

The edge of the Presidential Dollar is lettered and features the mottos IN GOD WE TRUST and E PLURIBUS UNUM, the year of issuance, and the mintmark S for San Francisco.

Coin Specifications

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