Dec 27, 2007 | coin design, coins, commemorative, legislative, RCM, Royal Mint, state quarters, US Mint
Around the end of November or the beginning of December, the numismatic year begins to wind down and we start to look ahead to the new year. As 2007 has entered its final week, December was a buys and interesting month with the voting for the People’s Choice Award for Coin of the Year, to the release of the 10th Anniversary Platinum Eagles, the release of a plethora of Presidential $1 Coin products by the US Mint, and congress doing good and bad with our money. But with a week to go in 2007, everyone is getting ready for 2008.
Looking ahead, this is the last year of the 50 States Quarters for the states—the District of Columbia and the territories will have quarters issued in 2009. Designs have been announced with Arizona and Alaska having the potential to be very good looking coins.
Designs for the four Presidential $1 Coins have been announced. For 2008, the new dollar coins will feature James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. It is apparent that the Mint engravers are using official portraits and other art to base the coin designs. This makes makes the portraits very pleasing and worthy of being on coinage. Along with the Presidential coins, the First Spouse gold coins will include Elizabeth Monroe, Louisa Adams, Andrew Jackson’s Liberty, and Martin Van Buren’s Liberty. Both Jackson and Van Buren were widowed when they served as president.
Speaking of dollar coins, 2008 begins the Native American $1 Coin program. From 2008 through 2016, the reverse of the Sacagawea “Golden” Dollar will be changed yearly commemorate an aspect of history of the native American people. It will be interesting to see how the Mint will handle the design of this coin with the built-in bureaucracy prescribed by law.
The first commemorative for 2008 will be the American Bald Eagle Recovery and National Emblem Commemorative Coin to honor of the recovery of the Bald Eagle species, the 35th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Bald Eagle’s importance as a national symbol. I cannot help from thinking that Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey as the national symbol!
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing will release a redesigned $5 Federal Reserve Note with updated security features and a new purple color and a larger “5” on the reverse for the visually impaired. Sometime during 2008, BEP will introduce a redesigned $100 FRN with new security features and color. Because the BEP is not required to have its designs vetted by the Commission of Fine Arts, the new design will remain a secret until the BEP is ready to make their announcement.
Outside of the United States, the Royal Canadian Mint has started to introduce new non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) coins with new designs. The RCM is stressing new colors, designs, and the embedding of gemstones in their coins. Also, the 2010 Winter Olympics continues to be a significant theme of RCM coins.
Across the pond in the United Kingdom, the Royal Mint is advertising their new designs. New designs for legal tender coins are available from the Royal Mint whose sets include three commemorative coins honoring the 60th birthday of Prince Charles, the 450th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, and commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 4th Olympiad held in London.
Even The Perth Mint has issued its 2008 Silver Koala. This $1 NCLT silver coin is the second in the series of the Koala series introduced in 2007. The Perth Mint has also tried new coinage methods that includes moving parts and holograms.
It is going to be a very busy year and exciting year in numismatics.
Dec 12, 2007 | coin design, commemorative
Last week the US Mint announced the release of the designs for the 2008 American Bald Eagle Recovery and National Emblem Commemorative Coin. These commemorative coins are authorized under Public Law 108-486 [GPO: text/pdf], the American Bald Eagle Recovery and National Emblem Commemorative Coin Act, that authorizes the Mint to issue gold, silver proof, and uncirculated commemorative coins in honor of the recovery of the Bald Eagle species, the 35th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Bald Eagle’s importance as a national symbol.
According to the Mint:
The obverse of the $5 gold coin was designed by Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Master Designer Susan Gamble and sculpted by United States Mint Medallic Sculptor Phebe Hemphill. The design depicts young eaglets perched on a branch in their natural habitat. The coin’s reverse, sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart, depicts an image of the current Great Seal of the United States as engraved in 1903.
The obverse of the $1 silver coin, designed by AIP Master Designer Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart, depicts a mature eagle soaring majestically through the sky. The coin’s reverse, sculpted by United States Mint Medallic Sculptor Jim Licaretz, is based on a replica of the first Great Seal of the United States used between 1782 and 1841.
The obverse of the half-dollar clad coin, designed by Susan Gamble and executed by United States Mint Medallic Sculptor Joseph Menna, depicts baby eaglets at about two to three days old, settled in a nest with an unhatched egg. AIP Associate Designer Donna Weaver designed the coin’s obverse, which features the legendary Bald Eagle “Challenger” with the American flag in the background. The design was executed by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Charles Vickers.
Line art versions of the approved designs are available on the US Mint’s website.
Dec 4, 2007 | coin design, coins, COTY
Numismaster, the online web resource for Krause Publications’ numismatic publications, has posted the nominations for Coin of the Year and a link to allow readers to vote for the People’s Choice Award. The choices are 2006 designs from 15 coins representing Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Poland, Singapore, and the United States. The 2006 Benjamin Franklin Founding Father Commemorative and the Nevada quarter represent the United States.
I have not voted, but I am leaning toward the Canadian “Imagine a World Without Breast Cancer.” Aside from being a coin that I own, the artist captured the essence of the theme. It is a very inspiring image and the enameled pink ribbon in the middle of the coin helps make it a powerful statement. However, another consideration is Poland’s 20 Zloty “St. John’s Night.” The design is compelling and worth a look. I will have to find a better example to see. What an excuse to visit the local coin store!
Although there is no deadline date mentioned, the poll appears under Numismaster’s “Weekly Poll” section. So to borrow a phrase from old Chicago: Vote Early, Vote Often!
Images from Numismaster.com
Dec 2, 2007 | coin design, coins, COTY
World Coin News, a Krause Publication and sponsor of the Coin of the Year (COTY) awards has added a new category for the “People’s Choice.” Readers and other interested parties may log into Numismaster, the Krause pricing and news portal, to vote for their choice of COTY. The People’s Choice award will be given in addition to the regular Coin of the Year award.
Voting is supposed to begin on December 1 at www.numismaster.com. However, as of Sunday, December 2, at 8:00 PM Eastern Time, the links for COTY could not be found. Hopefully, voting will be available on Monday!
Last year, the 2005 Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Silver Dollar was been named “Coin of the Year” The COTY award presented in 2008 will a competition of designs featured in 2006.
Nov 2, 2007 | bicentennial, coin design, dollar, halves, history, quarter
I know there has been a lot of news on the numismatic front. I know the spot price of gold closed at over $800 per ounce. But it is the weekend and it is time for some fun. Since this is my blog, I want to show off some recent finds—especially since I have not done that in a while.
In a previous post, I discussed competitive collecting 1976 coinage. These are the Washington Quarters, Kennedy Halves, and Eisenhower Dollars with the special reverse to commemorate the American Revolution Bicentennial. These coins are of great interest because they are the first change in coinage following my interest in collecting. In fact, I continue to search change looking for the Jack Ahr Drummer Boy design on the reverse of the Washington Quarter. Not including commemorative coinage, the change in location of mint marks, or a change in alloys, this was the first temporary change in coin design on a continuing series.
Aside from competitive collecting, I would like to put together a competitive exhibit for an ANA convention about the 1976 coinage. In order to do that, I need a few “wow” items. Sure, I have the history—including copies of the laws that authorized that various coins—but there has to be a real eye catcher. I think I found it. How about three PCGS slabbed, gem proof coins with the labels autographed by the artists who designed the reverses!
These are three beautiful coins with very deep cameos placed in the slabs with the reverse facing the front and the autograph of the artists on the label. After winning the quarter and half-dollar very easily in a Teletrade online auction, it had taken another three months to win the Dennis Williams designed dollar. But looking at this set, it was worth the wait!
This is the first coin find posts of this weekend. Have a good weekend and stay tuned for a few other items that fit my “oh neat” criteria.
Sep 27, 2007 | CCAC, cents, coin design
The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee met on September 25 to discuss the proposed reverse designs for the 2009 Lincoln cents. Enacted into law as part of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-145 [GPO: Text, PDF]), the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial 1-Cent Coin Redesign calls for four reverse designs to honor his birth and early childhood in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois, and his presidency in Washington, DC.
According to reports, the CCAC decided on two reverse designs for each category. These recommendations will be sent to the Commission of Fine Arts for their decision. Remember, the selection by the CCAC is their consensus recommendations. The CFA can, and has, overruled the CCAC and has recommended redesigns of the recommendations. It is this bureaucracy that has produced the unfocused three-element reverse of the Florida quarter and the hanging astronaut on the Ohio quarter.
In the image to the right, the bottom two drawings were recommended for the design representing Lincoln’s birth and early childhood. The drawing on the upper-left is one of the recommendations for the design representing Lincoln’s formative years. The upper-right drawing is one of the recommended designs representing his professional life in Illinois. Without seeing the other designs, I am not sure what to think about them.
Although the CCAC is a government committee, obtaining the designs for public examination are difficult, if not elusive. Images are not published on the CCAC or CFA websites. The CCAC does make some of the images available to the media who chooses not to publish them. The image published here is from the Associated Press as published in the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I appreciate their publication of of this image. I will be sending a note to the CCAC requesting these images. Stay tuned!
Sep 21, 2007 | coin design, dollar, legislative, US Mint
The White House announced that President Bush signed H.R. 2358, the “Native Americans $1 Coin Act.” Now the law, it will require the US Mint to issue Sacagawea Dollars with new reverses in commemoration of Native Americans beginning in 2009.
Between the Presidential Dollar coins and the new Sacagawea reverse designs, these coins will continue to be a curiosity to the general public and another entry into collections while the $1 Federal Reserve Note continues to be printed. It is time for the United States to join the rest of the world and eliminate the paper-based unit currency to allow the less expensive coinage to take its place.
Although many understand and accept the reason for discontinuing the $1 note, it will not happen. I will explain why in a future posting.
Sep 12, 2007 | CFA, coin design, coins, legislative, state quarters, US Mint
In the final step before becoming a law, congress presented the president with H.R. 2358, Native American $1 Coin Act, for his signature. Introduced in the House of Representatives by Dale Kildee (D-MI 5th), and expected to be signed by the president, the bill calls for the reverse of the Sacagawea Dollar be redesigned every year to commemorate “of Native Americans and the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the development of the United States and the history of the United States.” The obverse will continue to have the Sacagawea design.
The bill calls for the denomination to be inscribed as “$1,” making it consistent with the Presidential dollars. The bill also calls for the same edge lettering used by the Presidential dollars to include the date and mint mark along with the inscriptions E Pluribus Unum and In God We Trust. As for the reverse designs, the bill calls for the Mint to consult the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Congress of American Indians, along with the usual bureaucracy of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee to vet the coin design. With the burden of this bureaucracy, the bill changes the start date to January 1, 2009 if enacted after August 25, 2007.
An interesting clause in the bill says that the design are to be issued “in the chronological order in which the Native Americans lived or the events occurred.” Since there is no specific end date to the program, it appears that the bureaucratic hurdles the Mint is being asked to jump for this program will need the extra year to determine a schedule. And if that was not enough, congress, who is not shy in making its own design suggestions, included the following potential designs in the bill:
- the creation of Cherokee written language
- the Iroquois Confederacy
- Wampanoag Chief Massasoit
- the “Pueblo Revolt”
- Olympian Jim Thorpe
- Ely S. Parker, a general on the staff of General Ulysses S. Grant and later head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
- code talkers who served the United States Armed Forces during World War I and World War II
In addition to these new reverses, change to the circulating coinage will include new reverses on the Lincoln cent and Presidential Dollars with the reverses honoring, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor. Non-circulating legal tender coins will include the Abraham Lincoln and Louis Braille commemoratives, special 2009 cent with the original copper composition, and the First Spouse gold coins honoring Anna Harrison, Letitia and, Julia Tyler, Sarah Polk, and Margaret Taylor. Finally, if H.R.392 is passed in the Senate (it passed in the House last January), the 50 State Quarters program will be extended to include the District of Columbia and the five territories.
It looks like 2009 could be a great year in numismatics!
Apr 17, 2007 | coin design, legal, US Mint
The U.S. Mint announced that they have set the final rule to limit the exportation and melting, or treatment the cent nickel coins in order “to safeguard against a potential shortage of these coins in circulation.”
Basics have not changed from the interim rule (and press release): melting of one-cent and five-cent coins is prohibited; individuals may carry $5 of coins out of the country; and dealers may ship up to $100 of numismatic coins out of the country. The civil fine will remain at $10,000 per incident, incarceration of up to 5 years in a federal prison, or both. Details are published in the Federal Register [PDF]
Apr 11, 2007 | coin design, quarter
The Great Depression was taking its toll on the nation in 1931. Desperate economic times were gripping the nation, a severe drought created the Dust Bowl across the Great Plains. In order to try to lift the spirits of a nation, congress authorized the formation of the George Washington Bicentennial Commission to celebrate the 200th birthday of the nation’s first president in 1932. To be part of the celebration, the US Mint and the Department of the Treasury proposed to issue a circulating commemorative half-dollar honoring Washington. Congress agreed and requested that Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon work with the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) and the Washington Bicentennial Commission to begin a design competition.
One of the rules of the design competition was that the proposals must be based on the famous bust of Washington by sculpture Jean-Antoine Houdon, considered the most accurate depiction of the first president. During the competition, congress was convinced to change the denomination to the quarter under the assumption that more people would have access to quarters than half-dollars. Although this meant the end of the popular Standing Liberty design by Hermon MacNeil, there was little opposition to this change.
At the end of the competition the CFA chose the design of Laura Gardin Fraser, medal designer and wife of James Earl Fraser. But Secretary Mellon had his own ideas of artistic value. Mellon was well known as a collector of fine art who later went on to donate his collection and money to create the National Gallery of Art. Mellon also did not like the idea that a woman could win this type of competition over a man. With his chauvinism intact, Mellon asserted his authority and selected the work of sculptor John Flanagan for the design. Although most agreed that Fraser’s designs were better, Mellon justified his selection noting that Flanagan was noted for his period-style (e.g., bland) designs and being a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Shortly after the selection process, Ogden Mills became Treasury Secretary when Mellon was appointed to become ambassador to Great Brittan in 1932. Mills was not interested in the design process although the CFA and the Mint were him lobbying for a change. Mills noted that work had begun on the master dies and ordered that the Mint continue to use the Flanagan design.
The coin was very well received by the public. With the letters and acclaim from the public, Mint Director Robert J. Grant impressed upon Secretary Mills to request that congress extend the one-year issue to be a regular issue. But it was the height of the Great Depression, an election year, and the Democratic challenger, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was campaigning hard against the incumbent President Herbert Hoover. Hoover was not interested in sponsoring “frivolous” legislation and ignored the requests from Grant and Mills. Hoover was being accused of allowing the country to slip deeper into the depression by the Roosevelt campaign—Hoover did not want to give Roosevelt more fodder for the bitter campaign.
Roosevelt won and Hoover became a lame duck. At that time, the new president would not take the oath of office until March. From the November election until March, Hoover and the Roosevelt transition team did not communicate. Hoover was honorable in defeat and would have done anything to help the transition. But the lack of communication created real political gridlock. No bills were introduced and no laws were passed during that time. Statistically, it began the worst six months of the depression. It was this situation that prompted the passage of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution that changed the date of the presidential inauguration to January 20th.
Two weeks prior to his inauguration, FDR asked his old friend and Wall Street executive William H. Woodin, to be the Secretary of the Treasury and help implement a new monetary policy. Woodin rushed to Washington to work with Ogden Mills in order to understand the issues. On the day of FDR’s inauguration, Mills resigned and voluntarily stayed in Washington to help Woodin with various policy changes. Woodin and Mills worked together on the gold recall and the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Once the Gold Reserve Act was passed, Mills left Washington and Ogden set about implementing the policy he created for Roosevelt. One of his tasks was to recommend a Mint director. Woodin recommended that FDR appoint Nellie Tayloe Ross as the first female Director of the Mint.
When Ross took over at the Mint, they were operating at a lower capacity and mostly minting cents in order to keep people employed. Ross began to revive the Mint and proposed to keep the popular Flanagan design for the Washington quarter in order not spend the money on a redesign. Woodin agreed to allow the continuation of the Washington Quarter. Treasury officials and Congress agreed that the Secretary had the authority to continue with the design. Coin production picked up in 1934 with the Washington Quarter Dollar as a regular issue coin.
It can be said that the 1932 Washington Quarter was the first coin minted as a circulating commemorative. Starting with 1934, the Flanagan design was used as a regular issue including the modified design that is used as part of the 50 State Quarters® Program today.
Image of the Washington Bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon from the Boston Athenæum.
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