2009 Lincoln Commemorative Coin Designs Unveiled
Today the United States Mint unveiled the designs for the upcoming 2009 Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar. The unveiling took place at Soldier's National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was part of the annual Dedication Day Ceremony on the 145th anniversary of Lincoln's delivery of the Gettysburg Address.
The obverse of the coin features a portrait of Abraham Lincoln designed by Justin Kunz and sculpted by Don Everhart. It was inspired by a sculpture of Lincoln created by Daniel Chester which resides in the Lincoln Memorial.
The reverse of the coin prominently features the final words of the famous Gettysburg Address. The words are surrounded by a laurel wreath and Lincoln's signature is incused within a banner below the wreath.
The 2009 Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollars will be issued in a quantity of up to 500,000 coins and sold throughout 2009. Pricing and the official release date have not yet been announced.
Large size images of the 2009 Lincoln Commemorative design appear below:
Labels: Coin Designs, Commemorative Coins
posted by Mint News Blog @ 8:48 AM
5 Comments:
Are those pictures included somewhere on the US Mints website? They look like the vector images the US Mint offers on its kids website:
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/presidential/resourceCenter.cfm
These are available on the Mint's website here:
http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=Photo#2009ALCommem
What percentage of silver will be contained in this coin?
These will be 90% silver, 10% copper.
The reverse design of this coin is as dreadful as the obverse is magnificent.
While most Americans appreciate the prescience, concision, and historic significance of Lincoln's Gettysburg address, text makes for a disastrous design element and should never happen on a coin, except as peripheral legends and mottoes, etc.
Using text as a main design element on any coin is essentially throwing up the white flag of artistic surrender. I would suggest instead depicting the fields of Gettysburg where so many men gave their lives, or a long shot of Lincoln addressing the crowd, with a legend below stating "Gettysburg Address-1863," etc.
Still waiting for that "Artistic Infusion" to happen. Except for a few nice designs here and there all I see the Mint producing are design retreads from the early 20th. century.
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