Dear Sun Spots: I love Sun Spots. It’s the first thing I read. Very informative.

Would you please advise the dates the Presidential gold dollars will be released? Also, I would like the address for the show, “Survivor.”

Lastly, I would like to know how the contestants on the show “The Price Is Right” are chosen.

Thank you. — No name, no town

Answer:  According to the United States Mint, the first presidential gold $1 coins were released Feb. 15, 2007, featuring George Washington.

The coins, honoring our nation’s presidents, will be issued in the order presidents served, at a pace of four presidents per year. In 2007, coins featuring Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were released. In 2008, coins for James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren were released. This year, William Henry Harrison was issued on Feb. 19; John Tyler was issued May 21; James Polk will be issued Aug. 20; and Zachary Taylor will be issued Nov. 19. The program is scheduled, at least right now, to run through 2016, up to and including coins honoring Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

The flip side of each coin will feature a design of the Statue of Liberty, an edge-incused inscription of the year of minting, the words “E Pluribus Unum” and the mint mark. Starting this year, “In God We Trust” will also appear on the face side of each coin. 

Presidential coins are available at most banks and credit unions, but, if not, you can ask your bank to order the coins through the Federal Reserve Bank.

The address for the CBS “Survivor” TV reality show is: Survivor, Survivor Entertainment Group, 9899 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90121. 

The show, featuring the cast in Samoa, will premiere at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17.

And, according to gameshows.about.com, contestants for “The Price Is Right” are chosen from among the ticket holders for each taping, so in order to get on the show you must first get to the show.

You can order up to four tickets online at gameshow.about.com, which is easy because you can check availability and print out your tickets immediately. You can also order up to 10 tickets by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your request for the taping date and time you wish to attend to: The Price Is Right Tickets, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. Or, you can just go to the ticket booth on Beverly Boulevard and wait in an enormous line.

The show tapes at 1 and 4 p.m. and there is no charge for the tickets.

Once you have a ticket, audience members are brought into the studio in small groups and “screened” by the staff, which looks for interesting, enthusiastic people to “come on down” and play the longest-running game show on TV.

Sound easy? Only nine contestants are selected from among the 325 audience members. Of those nine, only six make it past Contestant’s Row to play the game.

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