First Spouse Coins: Bargain-Priced?

I WAS TALKING to a friend at a New Year’s Day brunch, when the topic of coins came up. As you would expect, virtually everyone knows that I’m a “coin person.” Anyway, my friend reminded me that several years ago I had told him that North Carolina quarters taken from circulation would never be worth more than face value. As over a billion were minted, I feel sure they’re still worth only a quarter each.

Apparently, he was undeterred from saving them and now has quite a few. From this, the conversation drifted into the presidential dollar series, which he seemed to be only dimly aware of. I then mentioned an issue that he had never heard of: the First Spouse series.

Now, these are definitely worth more than their $10 face value, as they contain half an ounce of 24-karat gold. Issued to correspond to the Presidential dollar series, the First Spouse series was produced from 2007 to 2016 at the