MINT UNVEILS 2017 AMERICAN LIBERTY SILVER MEDALS

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 14, April 2, 2017, Article 15

In a March 31, 2017 Coin Update article, Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publications -Editor

On Wednesday, March 29, the United States Mint announced that it will begin selling its 2017-dated American Liberty $100 gold coin on April 6.

The next day, Thursday, March 30, the Mint unveiled a beautiful new set of silver medals based on the designs of the gold coin. The medals were unveiled in a revolving turntable display in the Mint’s impressive exhibit at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo, held in the Baltimore Convention Center.

Each of the .999 fine silver medals will be struck at a different mint facility—Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, or West Point—and each sports a distinctive finish: Uncirculated (“Burnished”), Proof, Reverse Proof, or Enhanced Uncirculated. This is similar to the set of silver Kennedy half dollars struck to mark the 50th anniversary of that coin in 2014.

I spoke with James Pressley, the Mint’s retail sales manager, at the Baltimore Expo. He told me that mintage and household ordering limits aren’t being publicized yet. Stay tuned for more details.

Next, the article quotes comments on the design from the March 15, 2016, meeting of the Citizen's COinage Advisory Committee (CCAC). -Editor

“Show us 21st-century Liberty,” said CCAC member Donald Scarinci in support of the chosen design. “Show us Liberty in a new and contemporary way, and let’s shed these Civil War symbols, these hundred-year-old symbols that really don’t have the emotional impact to contemporary Americans that they did 100 years ago.” Scarinci praised the Mint for moving forward, beyond rehashing old classic coinage designs. “Weinman and Saint-Gaudens are dead; let’s get over it,” he said. “It’s as impossible for them to do contemporary designs as it is for contemporary artists to redo their designs without looking trite and imitative, so let’s not. We don’t need to. We need to find Liberty in a new and modern way for the 21st century.”

Committee member Jeanne Stevens-Sollman thanked the Mint’s artists for their work. “I want to talk about the obverse and I also want to compliment the Mint staff artists that presented this portfolio, because it is just really outstanding for the most part and I was very happy to see the diversification that you gave us. It’s very wonderful. Thank you.”

Committee member Robert Hoge observed, “I have to say I think this is one of the most beautiful suites of images that I’ve seen in any presentation. I’m excited that we have so many new, wonderful images of Liberty, and I wouldn’t be disappointed with any of these. I do have to say I think Number 8 is my favorite, along with a lot of the rest of you. We’ve talked about whether or not these images are neoclassical or classicizing. Really there are only a few that are not. I think we probably need to accept that, because the whole idea of Liberty actually is a classical concept, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

I wasn't aware of the silver versions of this design and missed seeing them at the Baltimore show Thursday even though I was within several feet of the booth on multiple occasions. They look nice. But the multiple mint mark versions reminds me of our dog, who can't get enough belly rubs. "Now you're just milking it, Max," I tell him. The gratuitous product versions make no numismatic sense - the Mint marketeers are just milking the revenue cow. -Editor