Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Images
Images of the upcoming Medal of Honor Commemorative Coins were recently posted on the US Mint's website. Until now, only the line-art images had been available.
The program was authorized by Congress to recognize and celebrate the establishment of the Medal of Honor, to honor its recipients, and to promote awareness of what the Medal represents and how ordinary Americans can challenge fate and change the course of history. The program includes a $5 gold coin with a maximum authorized mintage of 100,000, and a silver dollar with maximum mintage of 500,000.
The coins are scheduled to go on sale February 25, 2011.
The 2011 Medal of Honor $5 Gold Coin depicts the original Medal authorized by Congress in 1861 as the Navy's highest personal decoration. The reverse features an image of Minerva, holding a shield and Union flag. She appears on the central design of the original Army and Navy Medals of Honor. The obverse was designed by Joseph Menna and the reverse by Joel Iskowitz.Based on the mint marks present on the images, the proof coin will be struck at West Point and the uncirculated version at Philadelphia.
The 2011 Medal of Honor Silver Dollar depicts the three modern versions of the Medal for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The reverse carries a scene of an Infantry soldier carrying a wounded soldier to safety under enemy fire. This is intended to convey the courage and self sacrifice of Medal of Honor recipients. The obverse was designed by Jim Licaretz and the reverse by Richard Masters.The proof version of the coin will be struck at Philadelphia and the uncirculated version at San Francisco. One of the requirements of the legislation is that at least one facility shall be used to strike proof coins and at least one other facility shall be used to strike uncirculated coins.
Update on Buchanan's Liberty: The US Mint struck 13,000 coins before the close of the year based on demand forecasts. This suggests that around 1,000 uncirculated coins remain to be sold.
Labels: Commemorative Coins
posted by Mint News Blog @ 11:39 AM
28 Comments:
Both gold and silver Medal of Honor Commems are winners, I'm in!
1 of each for me !
Now that $5 MOH coin is a pure beauty. Depending on the issue price, I may just apportion part of my monthly S.S. check and buy one next month.~Grandpa
Issue prices should be:
449.95 gold proof
439.95 gold unc
54.95 silver proof
49.95 silver unc
For me the gold coins are far more beautiful than the silver coins.
I need to save up to get one.
I agree, this is one of the best $5gold commemorative coin designs I've seen in a long time. Will purchase at least 1 gold and a few silvers.
I really like the gold obverse. With the reverse, I would have left out the cannons and have Lady Liberty assume a larger prominence and look at bit more "warrior-like" striking a pose with flowing hair and the flag and shield. Sort of like Queen Elizabeth in the battle scenes in the movie "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." LOL!
I like the MOH coin especially the gold. I'll probably buy a gold proof as I screwed up in '08 and bought the unc $50 gold Buffalo sans the W mintmark. I guess I was too tight. Anyway I'm in for the MOH gold and the $50 Gold Buff proof this year. I'll join grandpa and spend some of my so-so security check on them.
Glad to see the positive comments coming back to this site. Awesome.
As far as the M.O.H. coins, I am in for at least 1 of each. These really are nice.
If you like all of the MOH coins but can only afford one gold and one silver, which ones would you recommend, the proofs or the uncirculateds? Any and all opinions are welcomed. Thanks.
LL
I'm definitely in for one of the GOLD proof , an outstanding looking coin.IMHO .
The $5 gold is really nice; the reverse features one of the best modern commem designs yet, kudos to Joel Iskowitz - I'm in for one of each type. It's so good in fact, I can't believe it actually will be minted on a US coin. The obverse isn't bad but doesn't really compare, though it's better than either side of the butt-in-the-face silver dollar counterpart, or any of the Army commem designs.
Getting OT - the Army reverses are good but the obverses are a real disappointment ... the $5 gold is the best of the lot but is way too comic-book aggro with the dude and his M-16 coming at you; should have faded him back with the other historical figures. The dollar is more PC BS and the clad piece is a complete disaster; what the hell is even going on there?? If I owned any of those coins (and I won't) I'd take them out of the case and flip them over permanently.
Was that 13,000 Buchanan coins or 13,000 planchets struck? If it is coins then that means they struck more but lost some due to wasted strikings.
Two commemorative releases within one month! The mint is on steroids. Maybe this is the way they intend to make sure that more time is given to insure sellouts during the year. Good designs I only wished they gave us more time to let our credit cards breathe in between issues.
By my calculation the gold content is .242 oz. Is that about right?
I agree the coins have an excellent design on them especially the gold one. I'll be buying one proof gold!
The Army commemorative that was just put out isn't as nice but I liked it enough to buy one just the same. I also got both half dollars as I have a complete set of Modern Half Dollars and want to continue that set.
Keep the good design work coming US Mint!
Yes, .24187 to be exact
I love the gold reverse...but it's a shame to be on such a small coin. A $10 gold coin with this design would be better. I'd really like to see it on the Silver Dollar...that would be a coin that would sell out!!
Yes, and $440 is pretty expensive for the $5 commems.
While the initial issue costs do appear to be high, please keep in mind that a portion of the proceeds from each coin represents a donation to one or more MOH foundations. I think this was discussed several weeks ago in the MNB thread related to these coins.
With that, the cost of the coin less the donation is $415. The cost of a $5 AGE Proof at today's spot is nearly identical. All things considered, a pretty good value for a unique commemorative issue!! I'm definitely in.
Separately, the figure on the back of the gold coin is Minerva, the Goddess of War. Michael had pointed this out in the initial thread, too. I do agree with some of the current thoughts, though; a larger presentation, even on a $10 gold coin, would have been AWESOME.
With all due respect...bottom line is what the gold coin will cost me out of pocket...I would prefer not to make a donation.
I sure wish that gold design was on a silver coin I could afford.
I plan on getting the gold proof, I got a feeling about it. I agree with those of you also about WOW if they would only put it on a larger gold or even larger silver coin. Sadly, they won't. How many times have there been good designs that are not used to our amazement? Off topic, have some of you been noticing that the 2009 UHR is continuing to build premiums? I was able to purchase one after market and did not go through the mess others did waiting for them from the Mint. Mine has Liberty with a navel or belly button and in all the images I have been able to find, none of them show this. Have some of you checked yours closely? Michael has this come up before?
Full figure Liberty, flag, cannon, etc., etc... just more remakes of the same, tired old early 20th c. designs. The silver $1 is far superior in terms of originality and visual balance and dynamics.
I think the gold design is awesome. I've noticed that anything Joel Iskowitz designs looks fantastic (IMHO).
Michael,
Who is this Joel Iskowitz dude?
He seems to rock and roll on everything. Maybe you and do a write-up on him if you think worthwhile. I'd be interested to see anything he designed that wasn't a "winner".
Anyone else wish the mint would make a special coin to be given to the family members of all those who have given their lives for our country. Gold would be ideal but silver would also work. I recently saw an ornate goblet that was given to a civil war soldiers family to thank them for his service. I wish I had bought it, it was amazingingly beautiful.
Here's a list of Joel Ikowitz's design credits:
http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/artisticInfusion/?action=designers#iskowitz
Thanks for the link on Ikowitz, the guy is an artistic genious!
I think the nice design of the Julia Tyler had to do with the high premiums (in addition to the low mintages). I'm in for the MOH gold because of the design. I'm not expecting them to ever fetch much of a premium
Funny, the same link, I discovered that the 100 year commemorative Scouting coin with a girl on the obverse was designed by a woman, Donna Weaver! Guess you can't blame her for trying to get a girl on the Boy Scout Commem.
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