The United States Mint has released the 2015 Mamie Eisenhower First Spouse Gold Coin. The coin honors the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
The obverse of the coin features a portrait of the First Lady surrounded by the inscriptions “Mamie Eisenhower”, the motto “In God We Trust”, “Liberty”, “2015 W”, the order of the Presidency “34th”, and the dates served “1953-1961”. The obverse was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Designer Richard Masters and engraved by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Joseph Menna.
The reverse features a woman’s hand holding up a political campaign button with the slogan “I Like Mamie,” referring to Mrs. Eisenhower’s popularity as first lady, her involvement in her husband’s presidential campaigns, and the popular campaign slogan “I Like Ike.” The inscriptions read “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, “$10″, and “1/2 oz. .9999 Fine Gold”. The reverse was designed by AIP Designer Barbara Fox and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Renata Gordon.
Each coin is struck in 24 karat .9999 fine gold with a weight of one-half troy ounce. The diameter is 26.50 mm and the thickness is 1.88 mm. Both proof and uncirculated versions are available with a combined maximum mintage of 10,000 pieces. The ratio of proof to uncirculated coins will be determined based on customer demand.
Initial pricing for the coins was established at $790 for the proof version and $770 for the uncirculated version. Price levels for the coins will be subject to potential weekly adjustments.
Additional releases of the First Spouse Gold Coin Program for this year will honor Jacqueline Kennedy and Claudia Taylor Johnson. The previous release of the series featuring Bess Truman was released earlier this year.
The portraits on the Presidential Dollars and First Spouse coins are embarrassingly terrible and poor in likeness. In the case of Mamie Eisenhower, she appears cartoonish or caricatured. When compared side by side with the new portrait of Elizabeth II, as can be seen in the Coin Update email, the US Mint artists come off as amateurish. Their designs lack dimensionality, life, and verisimilitude.
Mamie looks unfortunately like Wilma Flinstone on this coin.