The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) will meet starting at 10:00 AM on September 21 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. For numismatiscs, the CFA has two items on the agenda that may be of interest. First, the commission will review the final design for the Congressional Gold Medal to the Tuskegee Airmen. The other is to review the design of the medal for Secretary of the United States Treasury, John W. Snow.
As part of Public Law 109-213 [text or pdf], congress will award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Tuskegee Airman “in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces.” The law requires one gold medal to be minted and provided to the Smithsonian Institute to be “displayed as appropriate.” Bronze duplicates will be made for collectors to purchase.
Since 1881, the Mint has produced a medal for each Secretary of the Treasury including prior Secretaries. The obverse uses a portrait of the Secretary and the reverse featues the Treasury seal and other emblems or words that represent the Secretary’s term. The approval of the design for former Secretary Snow will formally complete his term.