Washington — United States Mint Director David J. Ryder announced that Sculptor-Engraver Joe Menna has been named chief engraver of the United States Mint.
Menna joined the Mint in 2005, and he brings 32 years of professional experience and classical training to the position. He was the first full-time digitally skilled artist hired by the United States Mint. Menna was instrumental in the development of the United States Mint’s first digitally sculpted coins and continues to distinguish himself as a leader in this constantly evolving craft.
Prior to joining the Mint, Menna worked as a sculptor and instructor at the Johnson Atelier Fine Art Foundry in Mercer County, N.J., creating life-sized figures and working digitally on projects for a variety of clients. Concurrently, he pursued his own sculpting and created many works, notably a seven-foot-tall cupro-nickel statue for the Grounds for Sculpture and a temporary 30-foot-tall monument for the Hamilton train station in Hamilton, N.J.
His work has won multiple Krause Publications’ Coin of the Year awards in various categories. Menna has been honored both for coins he sculpted and designed, and for coins he sculpted from other artists’ designs. In addition to his work at the United States Mint, he maintains an active freelance career in toys and collectibles, and he is recognized as one of the world’s leading practitioners of digital sculpture.
Menna holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the University of the Arts, a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the New York Academy of Art, with post- graduate study at the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design in St. Petersburg, Russia. His continuing professional education includes studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Sculpture Center, and the Art Students League.
Menna’s full catalog of works are listed on the Mint’s website.
About the United States Mint
Congress created the United States Mint in 1792 and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including Proof, Uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.
Press release courtesy of the United States Mint.
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