The coin's obverse was designed by Charles E. Barber, Chief Engraver of the Mint, and the reverse by his assistant, George T. Morgan.

The coins were to be sold at a premium to finance the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial at Niles, Ohio, and were vended by the group constructing it.

The issue was originally proposed as a silver dollar; this was changed when it was realized it would not be appropriate to honor a president who had supported the gold standard with such a piece.

[4] With the aid of his close adviser Mark Hanna, he secured the Republican nomination for president in 1896, amid a deep economic depression.

He defeated his Democratic rival, William Jennings Bryan, after a front porch campaign in which he advocated "sound money", that is, the gold standard unless modified by international agreement.

As part of the peace settlement, Spain turned over to the United States its overseas colonies of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

Designed by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White, the Greek Classic memorial was built of Georgia marble and was dedicated in 1917.

Housing a museum, library, and auditorium, as well as a statue of McKinley and busts of his associates, it remains open to the public, free of charge.

[8] In February 1915, the association's head, Joseph G. Butler, Jr., met with Ohio Congressman William A. Ashbrook, chairman of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, to propose a silver dollar in honor of McKinley.

Ashbrook was willing, and the two men saw Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo and Acting Director of the Mint Frederic Dewey, who envisioned no difficulty.

[11] Asked a question from New York Congressman James W. Husted as to whether a gold dollar would be too small to be a souvenir, Butler responded, "No; I do not think so.

[13] Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding was present at the House committee meeting and spoke in favor of the bill, arguing that "this assistance on the part of the Federal Government will cost nothing more than the making of the dies".

The report indicated that the committee members "believe it is a deserved testimonial to the worth and service of a great man who lost his life while serving our Nation as its Chief Executive".

Numismatic author Q. David Bowers suggested that this was because Secretary McAdoo had sought non-employees to propose designs for the five Panama–Pacific coins along with those sketches prepared by Barber and his assistants, and the Mint's engravers had prepared only two of the five, and that because the artist assigned one, Evelyn Beatrice Longman, had fallen ill.[20] When the McKinley designs were submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts on March 31, 1916, it recommended changes, though Don Taxay, who so stated, does not say what they were.

[22] The earlier pieces had also been designed by Barber, and the later coins, according to Bowers, "present an image so different that the uninformed observer would not know that the same man was being depicted".

[24] Taxay agreed, opining that Barber's "chief concern seems to have been in making the portrait of McKinley as different as possible from that on the Louisiana Purchase coins".

"[26] The Philadelphia Mint struck 20,000 gold dollars in August and October 1916, plus 26 extra reserved for inspection and testing at the 1917 meeting of the United States Assay Commission.