2013-P William McKinley, NIFC

Philadelphia struck 4,760,000 William McKinley dollars in 2013, the first design of the year's four-issue calendar (McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson) and the opening Philadelphia issue of the second Not Intended For Circulation program year. The Mint launched the McKinley dollar on February 19, 2013, with a ceremony at the McKinley Presidential Library in Canton, Ohio. The obverse legend WILLIAM McKINLEY, 25TH PRESIDENT, 1897-1901 captures both terms of a presidency cut short by McKinley's assassination in September 1901, which brought Theodore Roosevelt to the White House and made Roosevelt the second 2013 issue. Phebe Hemphill designed and sculpted the obverse portrait, paired with Don Everhart's Statue of Liberty reverse and the standard incused edge inscription. The P mintmark sits on the edge rather than the obverse, a Presidential-series convention; roughly half of any random handful will read right-side up relative to the obverse and half upside down, which is normal and not a variety.

Strike quality on the Philadelphia McKinley is generally crisp through the central portrait, with the high points of the hair and the lapel of McKinley's coat the first areas to soften under die wear. The reverse torch flame is the most common weak spot collectors flag. Plain-edge errors, where a finished planchet bypassed the third-strike edge-lettering press, surface on 2013 NIFC dollars at far lower rates than on the 2007 Washington issues that triggered the original "Godless dollar" coverage; when authenticated by PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, or NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company, they command three- and four-figure premiums. Manganese-brass tones aggressively, and bright lemon-yellow surfaces on a 2013 coin almost always indicate cleaning rather than original mint state.

The 2013-P McKinley sold only through Mint products: 25-coin rolls, 250-coin boxes, and the annual Mint Set. Original Mint-wrapped rolls remain available at modest premiums and are the efficient cherry-picking path for upper-end Mint State coins. The 4,760,000 Philadelphia figure outpaces the 3.37 million Denver McKinley by roughly 1.4 million pieces, an unusually wide P-over-D spread for the program. MS68 is the legitimate condition-rarity tier. For broader background on the December 2011 NIFC cutover, see the Presidential Dollar series history.