[BuckeyeOhio]

Not positive on this but doesn't the person on the coin have to be - well - dead?

I know they have to be dead for 10 years before they can be put on a stamp.

[siunevada]

doesn't the person on the coin have to be - well - dead?

He's dead weight. Close enough.

[dead]

You don't have to be dead. Neil Armstrong is on the back of the Ohio quarter, though I don't know why. He was probably the first astronaut to walk in Ohio or something.

[Ignatius J Reilly]

"Not positive on this but doesn't the person on the coin have to be - well - dead?"

The idea here is to make coins of all US presidents (4 per year) in order of their service. from the article:

"When the time comes to honor contemporary presidents, such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and their successors, their likenesses are to be minted whether they are living or dead.

That means by 2018 or so -- when Bush and Clinton would be in their early 70s -- the United States could break a long-standing tradition that money only honors the deceased."