The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 45, November 4, 2007, Article 15

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE QUOTES SCULPTOR SHERL JOSEPH WINTER

Dick Johnson writes: "An article in the Wednesday New York
Times (October 30, 2007) quotes sculptor and former Mint
Engraver Sherl Joseph Winter. The Times writer could have
devoted an entire article to this Philadelphia artist --
he is an unsung creator of coins and medals for the last
38 years.

"A prodigious medallist, Winter -- he prefers to be called
Joe, eschewing his first name -- was on the engraving staff
at the Philadelphia Mint for over a decade and a half.
Despite the fact he had been at the mint for a little over
a year he was named temporary Chief Engraver (even though
it was only for 120 days) upon the retirement of Frank
Gasparro and before Elizabeth Jones was named Chief Engraver
in 1981.

"He has created more medallic models for medals in series
than any but one or two other medallists. These series
were produced by both the United States Mint and for private
mints. These included, for the U.S. Mint, bullion medals,
Assay medals, Treasury Secretary and Treasury building
series. He created medals for Franklin Mint, Lincoln Mint,
Roger Williams Mint, Hoffman Mint, Olde Philadelphia Mint,
and Everest Mint (for which he was onetime chief sculptor)
and others.

"His first medal was created for Medallic Art Company in
1969. He worked on the reverse models for two coins at the
Philadelphia Mint, the 1986 Statue of Liberty Immigrant
half dollar and  1988 Olympic Games silver dollar which
won a CODY, coin of the year award of Krause Publications.
He designed and modeled the Philadelphia 119th ANA Convention
medal which was struck by Medalcraft.

"If I had to choose one word to describe this talented
medallist I would say Joe Winter is Versatile. Where he
rises above so many contemporary artists is his ability
to do lettering on a coin or medal. At the beginning of
his medallic career he studied cartography, the styles and
significance of letter forms. This is so important in coin
and medal models because of the small space for these glyptic
objects. Lettering supports the device and can make or
break such a small design.

"It is no wonder so many of American mints -- national and
private -- have called on Joe Winter's talents. His comments,
then, in the New York Times article are well founded. For
the Lincoln Cent he is quoted as saying: 'People usually
appreciate simplicity. You can't have a lot of detail in
a very tiny coin like you could have in a larger coin. You
see everything at once.'

"The article ends with another Winter statement. Mr. Winter
said there was no question of the significance of coin
design. A penny, he explained, is more than loose change.
“You're carrying around a little piece of sculpture all the
time,” he said."

To read the complete article, see:
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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