Coin Blog

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.

The fourth First Spouse Gold Coin of the year went on sale yesterday. This year there will be a total of five different coin designs released, so another one is coming in the winter months. This release was the Sarah Polk First Spouse Gold Coin.

Sarah Polk devoted much of her marriage to furthering the political career of her husband, James K. Polk. After he was elected President, she served as his personal secretary, the only First Lady to take on this capacity. The reverse of the coin depicts her working with her husband in the White House.

The coins are minted in 24 karat gold and contain one-half ounce of gold. They are minted in uncirculated and proof version at the West Point Mint. The coins were priced at $654 for the proof coin and $641 for the uncirculated coin. This was an increase over the recent prices for the coins due to the higher market price of gold.

Mintage for the recent First Spouse coins have been dwindling, which might make this series more interesting in the long run.

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.