Coin Blog

The second commemorative coin program of 2010 will be issued for American Veterans who became disabled for life. Their enormous personal sacrifices made for their country will be honored with a silver dollar commemorative coin.

The 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Silver Dollar has an obverse design which features the legs and boots of three veterans. One is noticeably on crutches. An inscription above reads "They Stood Up for Us". The reverse of the coin features a wreath of oak leaves and branches with a forget me not flower at the base. The central inscription reads "Take this moment to honor our disabled defenders of freedom."

The 90% silver dollar coins will be issued in a maximum quantity of 350,000. A surcharge added to the cost of the coins will be for the construction of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington DC. The coins are expected to go on sale at the US Min in February 2010.

This year the United States Mint will have two different commemorative coin programs. One of them will celebrate the centennial of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America. A silver dollar will be issued with a maximum mintage of 350,000 coins.

The 2010 Boy Scouts Centennial Silver Dollar features an obverse design of three scouts saluting. This includes one cub scout, one boy scout, and one female venturer. The inclusion of the female has frankly caused confusion for many people at first glance since the topic of the coin is the Boy Scouts. The female is part of the venturing program, which allows both males and females to join. The reverse of the coin features the universal logo of the Boy Scouts of America.

The coins will be minted in proof and uncirculated with a composition of 90% silver and 10% copper. The maximum mintage is 350,000 coins. The expected release date is March 2010.

The United States Mint has released the designs for the upcoming 2010 First Spouse Gold Coins. These issues will cover the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Presidencies of the United States. The coins will feature three First Ladies and one of the "Liberty" designs issued for James Buchanan who did not marry.

The three spouse coins feature a portrait of the First Lady on the obverse paired with a reverse design featuring a scene or image emblematic of their lives or work.

Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Coin
13th Presidency
1850-1853

The Abigail Fillmore gold coin reverse features an image of her shelving books in the White House Library. She had purchased the first volumes for the White House collection with an appropriation received from Congress. Designer of the obverse was Phebe Hemphill with the reverse by Susan Gamble.

Jane Pierce First Spouse Coin
14th Presidency
1853-1857

The Jane Pierce First Spouse Gold Coin features an image of the First Lady watching Senate debates within the US Capitol Building. She is known to have sat to listen to the heated debates on the topic of slavery. The obverse and reverse designs are by Donna Weaver.

James Buchanan's Liberty Gold Coin
15th Presidency
1857-1861

The James Buchanan's Liberty coin features the image of Liberty used for the Liberty Head $2.50 Gold Quarter Eagle, originally designed by Christian Gobrecht. This represents the fourth coin in the Liberty sub set of coins, issued for Presidents who served without a spouse. The reverse features a young James Buchanan working as a bookkeeper in the family store. This was designed by David Westwood.

Mary Todd Lincoln First Spouse Coin
16th Presidency
1861-1865

The final First Spouse release for the year 2010 will feature Mary Todd Lincoln. This is expected to be a popular issue, as she was the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, a figure popular in history and numismatics. The reverse depicts the First Lady visiting some wounded Union soldiers bringing flowers and books. This was designed by Joel Iskowitz. The obverse was designed by Phebe Hemphill.

The final release of the First Spouse Gold Coin series came last week, when the US Mint released the coin honoring Margaret Taylor. The one half ounce 24 karat gold coins were released on December 3, 2009.

Margaret Taylor was the wife of the 12th President Zachary Taylor. For 30 years, she followed her husband during his military career, even going to hardship outposts and living in tents, cabins, and forts.

The obverse of the Margaret Taylor First Spouse Coin features her portrait, the order of the Presidency, and the years she was First Spouse. The reverse of the coin depicts the First Lady in her younger years as she nursed wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield during the Seminole War.

The coins carried the high issue price of $654 for proof coins and $641 for uncirculated coins due to the higher price of gold. Recent coins in the series have sold only 11,000-12,000 coins across both options. Some collectors believe the low mintages will eventually translate into higher values.

On November 19, the final Presidential Dollar coin of 2009 was released. This coin honors the 12th President Zachary Taylor. The coin release also marked the start of sales for the US Mint's Philadelphia and Denver Mint 25-coin rolls. These rolls come in specially prepared wrappers and contain uncirculated coins.

The obverse of the Zachary Taylor Dollar features a portrait of the President and inscriptions with his name, order of presidency, dates of his presidential term, and the motto "In God We Trust". The reverse features the Statue of Liberty and inscriptions "United States of America" and the denomination as "$1". The coin was designed and sculpted by Don Everhart.

Five days later on November 24, the US Mint hosted the official launch ceremony for the coin. This was held in Taylor Park in Orange, Virginia. The ceremony coincided with the 225th anniversary of Zachary Taylor's birth and was part of Zachary Taylor Appreciation Day. A ceremonial coin pour took place along with special performances.