In 2011, the United States Mint will issue gold and silver commemorative coins in recognition and celebration of the Medal of Honor and its recipients. Last week the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) met to discuss design candidates provided by the US Mint for the obverse and reverse of each coin. The meeting also included discussion of designs for the other 2011 commemorative coin program featuring the United States Army.
Previous article: 2011 United States Army Commemorative Coin Designs
2011 Medal of Honor $5 Gold Coin
The obverse design candidates for the 2011 Medal of Honor $5 Gold Coin were effectively the same, depicting the US Navy Medal of Honor as it was originally created in 1862. Most of the members favored design 2, primarily for its simplicity. The other three designs included other elements, an aspect that Heidi Wastweet indicated she liked as portrayed in design 1. A point of historical accuracy regarding how the Medal of Honor was worn was asked by Roger Burdette and answered by Kaarina Budow of the Mint: the original was pinned onto the recipient's uniform, whereas the modern versions are worn around the neck.
The first two of the four candidate designs for the reverse of the gold coin were more varied, and therefore drew more distinct comments. Mr. Burdette indicated that the use of Minerva, the Greek goddess of war and wisdom actually depicted on the Medal of Honor itself, was a positive aspect of design 2. This position was shared by Ms. Wastweet. Michael Olson noted that designs 1 and 2 did not depict any particular service, whereas design 3 was clearly a Navy enlisted man and design 4 shows Army personnel. He indicated support the first two designs over the second two, as did Dr. Doreen Bolger. The votes were cast, and obverse design 2 received 19 votes out of 27. Reverse design 2 narrowly beat out design 1, 13 to 11 out of 27.
Designs Recommended by CCAC for 2011 Medal of Honor $5 Gold Coin
Other Design Candidates for Gold Coin Obverse
Other Design Candidates for Gold Coin Reverse
2011 Medal of Honor Silver Dollar
The designs for the silver dollar were intended to represent the modern Medal of Honor, and as such all of the three modern versions for the Army, Navy and Air Force were depicted. Dr. Bolger noted that obverse design 2 properly depicted the Medal of Honor as it is worn today, rather than being separated from the neckband, as shown in design 3, or being both separated and the Army and Air Force Medals of Honor rotated outward from the Navy Medal of Honor, as shown in design 1. Several members, including Chairman Gary Marks, Mr. Burdette, Ms. Wastweet, and Dr. Bolger, said they felt emotion in reverse design 2, which depicts one soldier carrying a wounded comrade. The voting sent a strong message of support for the second designs for both the obverse and reverse, receiving 24 out of 27 votes cast.
Designs Recommended by CCAC for 2011 Medal of Honor Silver Dollar
Other Candidate Designs for Silver Dollar Obverse
Other Design Candidates for Silver Dollar Reverse
There were two members not voting for these designs, the more notable being Donald Scarinci, who was very clear that he considered the Medal of Honor coins too important to be rushed into decisions. The rush was due to the fact that over 2-and-1/2 hours of the 3 hours allotted for the meeting were consumed by the discussions over the U.S Army commemorative coin designs, leaving merely 20 minutes for these designs.
The final designs for the 2011 Medal of Honor Commemorative Coins will be selected by the Secretary of the Treasury following consultation with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
Les Peters publishes a coin blog titled Tales of a Lifelong Coin Collector that describes his experiences related to collecting coins.
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There are I think several hundred living Medal of Honor veterans. Why not ask them what they would like for their coins. Looking back at some of the committee choices (BSA) let the real people decide.
After the CCAC meeting, I spoke to three individuals from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Based on their comments, I believe their interests were represented by the designs. I also learned that there are 91 living recipients at the moment.
Those Silver Dollar Reverse designs are beyond awful. Do the people who make or choose these designs know the meaning of simple symbolism? Detailed, crowded illustrations does not make for great coin design. Many of the mint’s designs are going into “amateur” territory recently and it’s extremely disappointing.
REV 1 3RD ROW OBVERSE 4 2ND ROW WOULD BE QUITE THE COIN
Why not honor the first recipients? Jacob Parrot – 1st Living Recipient and Marion A. Ross – the first Posthumous Recipient respectively.
The reverse design (No.2) chosen is absolutely horrible! If that’s supposed to be Minerva or even a form of Lady Liberty, they’ve failed miserably; it looks more like a burlesque dancer coming down the stage! Reverse No. 1 is to me, clearly the better choice. What a disappointment!! I guess even trollops deserve recognition! – Larry
This is another outrageously overpriced mint offering. At the current price of gold ($1400/oz) there is $338.80 worth of gold in the gold coin. At the current price of silver ($33.86) there is $26.19 worth of silver in the silver coin. This makes the markup $111.15 on the gold proof coin and $28.76 on the silver proof coin. Don’t forget the $4.95 handling/postage. The mint can keep these for those over priced rates — I will buy bullion (much less mark up). Prices as of February 22, 2011.