2010 First Spouse Gold Coins

The United States Mint has released the final design selections for the 2010 First Spouse Gold Coins. Next year's coins will feature Abigail Fillmore, Jane Pierce, James Buchanan's Liberty, and Mary Todd Lincoln. The latter two coins are expected to draw broader collector interest.


The 2010 Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coin will feature her portrait on the obverse and a scene of her shelving books in the White House Library on the reverse. The obverse was designed and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The reverse was designed by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Joseph Menna. Other potential reverse designs had included a scene of Abigail Fillmore with famous White House guests such as Charles Dickens.


The 2010 Jane Pierce First Spouse Gold Coin features the First Lady's portrait on the obverse paired with a scene of her watching a Senate debate from the visitor's gallery. The obverse and reverse were designed by Donna Weaver. The obverse was sculpted by Don Everhart and the reverse was sculpted by Charles Vickers. Other potential reverse designs for the Jane Pierce coin had included a scene during a thunderstorm where the Pierces met in college and a scene of her reading a book on White House grounds.


The 2010 James Buchanan's Liberty Gold Coin will feature a reproduction of the Liberty Gold Quarter Eagle obverse, originally designed by Christian Gobrecht. This $2.50 gold coin had been produced from 1840 to 1907. The reverse design of the coin will feature an image of a young James Buchanan working as a bookkeeper in the family store. The reverse was designed by David Westwood and sculpted by Joseph Menna. Other potential reverse designs included an image of James Buchanan serving as the US minister to Russia, and Buchanan and his niece who served as the White House hostess.

The Buchanan's Liberty Gold Coin will represent the fourth and final issue in the "Liberty" subset of the First Spouse Gold Coin series. Many collectors have chosen to collect these coins, which reproduced classic US coin designs, in lieu of the entire series. The three other coins of the Liberty subset are Thomas Jefferson's Liberty (Draped Bust Half Cent), Andrew Jackson's Liberty (Capped Bust Lettered Edge Half Dollar), Martin Van Buren's Liberty (Liberty Seated Dime).


The 2010 Mary Todd Lincoln First Spouse Gold Coin will feature the First Lady's portrait on the obverse. The reverse depicts a scene of her visiting wounded Union soldiers, bringing flowers and books. The obverse was designed and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The reverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. Other potential reverse designs included an image of Mary Todd Lincoln and her husband greeting White House visitors and an image of her bandaging a wounded soldier, which was questioned for historical accuracy by a CCAC member.

The Mary Todd Lincoln coin is expected to draw increased interest since she is one of the better known First Ladies and the wife of President Abraham Lincoln. During 2010, the new design of the Lincoln Cent will debut and the 2010 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Dollar will be issued, creating a nice lead up to the release of the Mary Todd Lincoln coin in December 2010.