Coin Blog

The US Mint will soon offer the First Spouse Gold Coin honoring Julia Tyler, the second wife of President John Tyler. These coins will go on sale at the US Mint on August 6, 2009.

The coins are produced in both uncirculated and proof versions, both struck at the West Point Mint. Each Julia Tyler First Spouse Gold Coin has a composition of 24 karat gold and contains one-half ounce of gold. The high gold content is responsible for the heafty price tag, expected to be around $629 for the proof and $616 for the uncirculated coin. (The US Mint deteremines actual prices based on the range of the price of gold for the prior week.)

The obverse of the coin features a portrait designed by Joel Iskowitz. The reverse features Julia Tyler dancing with her husband during a White House event, also designed by Joel Iskowitz. The obverse and reverse sculptor was Don Everhart.

The First Spouse Gold Coins have been relatively slow sellers, but the US Mint has an ordering limit of ten per version per household, which will be effective for the start of sales.

Looking ahead to the next major gold coin launch by the United States Mint, there is the Letitia Tyler First Spouse Gold Coin. This continues the series of one-half ounce 24 karat gold coins created to honor the spouses of each President.

The new coin will represent an interesting twist for the series. President John Tyler had a first and second wife, while serving as President. As such, two first spouses will be honored for his presidential term. The Letitia Tyler coin is the first release for such an instance. John Tyler's second wife Julia Tyler will be honored on a separate coin this summer.

The Letitia Tyler First Spouse Coin features a portrait of the first lady on the obverse of the coin and the years that she served 1841 to 1842. The reverse of the coin shows her with two children on Cedar Grove Plantation. So far the series has released nine gold coins. The Letitia Tyler coin will be the tenth. The release date for the coin will be June 4, 2009. Coins will be available for sale direclty from the United States Mint.

The US Mint will soon offer the 2009 Anna Harrison First Spouse Coins. This will be the first release for the third year of the program created to honor the First Spouses of Presidents. In 2009 there will be a total of five First Spouse Coins issued since John Tyler had a first and second wife.

The Anna Harrison coin features an obverse designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Joseph Menna. The reverse was designed by Thomas Cleveland and suclpted by Charles Vickers. The obverse shows a portrait of the First Lady. The reverse shows Mrs. Harrison sharing her love of education and learning with a group of children.

The coins have been limited to a mintage of 40,000 coins and will be offered in both proof and uncirculated versions. The ratio of proof to uncirculated coins will be determined based on customer demand. The coins are expected to remain on sale for approximately one year or until the coins have sold out. The official release date is March 5, 2009.

Each coin contains one half ounce of 24 karat gold. The next spouse to be honored will be Letitia Tyler, which should be released during the spring.

The United States Mint has released the designs for the 2009 First Spouse Gold Coins. There will be five different coins released, instead of the usual four coins. This is because President John Tyler had a first and second wife while in office. First Spouses honored in 2009 will include Anna Harrison, Letitia Tyler, Julia Tyler, Sarah Polk, and Margaret Taylor.

Anna Harrison First Spouse Gold Coin - first release for 2009. The obverse was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Joseph Menna. The reverse was designed by Thomas Cleveland and sculpted by Charles Vickers

Letitia Tyler First Spouse Gold Coin - second release for 2009. The obverse was designed and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The reverse was designed by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Norman E. Nemeth.

Julia Tyler First Spouse Gold Coin - third release for 2009. The obverse and reverse were designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Don Everhart.

Sarah Polk First Spouse Gold Coin - fourth release for 2009. The obverse and reverse were designed and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.

Margaret Taylor First Spouse Gold Coin - fifth release for 2009. The obverse was designed by Phebe Hemphill and sculpted by Charles Vickers. The reverse was designed by Mary Beth Zietz and sculpted by Jim Licaretz.

Today the US Mint will release the next coin in the First Spouse Gold Coin Series, honoring Louisa Adams. This will mark the second release of 2008 for the series and the sixth coin release overall.

The coin will contain one-half ounce of 24 karat gold and is limited to 40,000 units.  The maximum units will be divided between proof and uncirculated versions of the coin based on demand.

The front of the coin features a portrait of the First Lady designed by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.  The back of the coin, designed and sculpted by Joseph Menna,  features Louisa Adams with her son Charles on a journey across Europe to join her husband.

The Mint has priced the coins at $619.95 for the proof version and $599.95 for the uncirculated version.  Ordering is initially limited to one per household per option.