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Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee 801 Ninth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20220 CCAC February 2, 2015 The Honorable Jack Lew Secretary of the Treasury Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20220 Dear Secretary Lew: A public meeting of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (Committee) was held on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, at United States Mint Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Committee reviewed proposed obverse and reverse designs for the 2015 24-karat High Relief Gold Coin and Silver Medal. The Committee is unanimous in its position that this gold coin and silver medal program represents an important advancement opportunity for the execution of modern Liberty-themed coin and medal designs. The Committee also believes the program will be met with strong support from the numismatic community provided the designs are attractive and lend themselves well to production in high-relief. Prior to the review of designs the Committee discussed and acted on a series of six (6) motions the Committee believes will support and further program success. All six (6) motions received unanimous support from the Committee and include, • • • • • • Recommendation to use a 40.6 mm standard diameter planchet for the silver medal in order to balance maximization of the palette for eye appeal with the requirement for a one (1) ounce silver weight. Recommendation that the relief measurement of the silver medal be maximized to the fullest possible extent and in excess of the relief established for the obverse of the $1 American Silver Eagle. Recommendation that the gold coin utilize the denomination “One Union” historically envisioned to represent $100 on United States coinage. Recommendation that the United States Mint’s two (2) numismatic production facilities (i.e. San Francisco and West Point) be utilized to assure solid supply and interest for the collecting community. Recommendation that the edge of the silver proof medal be reeded to give the piece its best presentation. Recommendation that the Liberty-themed silver medal be an ongoing annual series in order to satisfy the anticipated strong reception in the collector community and to allow United States Mint artists to fully develop the multi-cultural aspects of the new, modern Liberty. For the gold coin and silver medal obverse design the Committee recommended design HR-O11. The design garnered a perfect score of 30 points through the Committee’s scoring process. Committee members expressed strong support for the design and commented that the design is appealing for both design and production considerations. From a design perspective, members noted that Miss Liberty’s face is rendered with multi-cultural features and, thus, achieves a major goal of the Committee in conveying a modern Liberty that is representative of the diversity of the nation. It was also noted that the design carries a distinct modern feel with the larger text for the word LIBERTY and with raised design elements (i.e. Miss Liberty and the flag) that move to the edge of the coin and medal. Numerous comments were made that Miss Liberty is presented as beautiful and elegant; which are important iconological attributes to portray Liberty personified. Members also noted that the design is nicely balanced between imagery and negative space. From a production perspective, comments and observations were made that the Mint’s ability to maximize the relief depth for both the coin and medal would be augmented due to the central placement of the vertical standing Liberty figure on the planchet and the resulting expanse of the bowl, or negative space, of the design. These attributes would allow more vertical metal flow upon striking and, thus, allow a deeper relief as compared to other design candidates. The Committee’s unanimous support with this design, as reflected in its perfect score of 30, emphasizes the strong recommendation members wish to convey concerning this design. The Committee was aware that the Commission on Fine Arts (CFA) made duel recommendations for obverse designs, inclusive of HR-O-03 and HR-O-11. The Committee joins its counterparts on the CFA in recommending HR-O-11 as detailed above. However, Committee members expressed concerns regarding HR-O-03. While the Committee supports the ethic depiction of Liberty in HR-O-03, members commented that the design’s balance between the raised images and negative space would not lend itself as well to as a high-relief design as compared to HR-O-11. With this design’s broader profile image the requirement for medal flow upon striking would be much greater than necessary for HR-O-11 and, therefore, would result in lower relief. Further, it was felt that the lack of comparable balance of images and negative space from a visual perspective, the unusual shortening of Liberty’s neck and the misplaced depiction of wheat stocks rather than the correct iconological image of olive branches in Liberty’s hair argues against HR-O-03. The Committee recommended that the inscriptions appearing on the obverse of the gold coin be adjusted by reducing the font size of the date “2015” and moving “In God We Trust” horizontally and stacked under the date. For the reverse of the coin and medal the Committee recommended HR-R-01 by collectively awarding the design with a perfect score of 30 points through the Committee’s scoring process. Members expressed strong support for the image of the eagle with comments that it offered a fresh depiction of the American Bald Eagle and that it would pair well with the recommended obverse design, HR-O-11. Members commented that the eagle image, which represents the concept of freedom in the established iconology of American coins and medals, was attractive, bold and strong. The Committee conveys its strongest possible support for reverse design HRR-01. The Committee recommended that the eagle on the silver medal be adjusted to match the rising orientation of the eagle as it appears on the gold coin. The Committee further recommended that the forward portion of the olive branch in the eagle talons be trimmed. Members commented that the pairing of the Committee’s two recommended designs would produce a distinctive coin and medal and would represent an important advancement in the modern depiction of “Liberty” personified and “Freedom” as conveyed through the image of an American Bald Eagle. Sincerely, Gary B. Marks Chair Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee 801 Ninth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20220 CCAC Feburary 2, 2015 The Honorable Jack Lew Secretary of the Treasury Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20220 Dear Secretary Lew: A public meeting of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (Committee) was held on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, at United States Mint Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Committee reviewed proposed obverse and reverse designs for the Jack Nicklaus Congressional Gold Medal. For the medal’s obverse design the Committee recommended design JN-CGM-O-04. The design garnered a perfect score of 30 points through the Committee’s scoring process. Committee members commented that the design provided an interesting and visually pleasing depiction of Mr. Nicklaus. For the reverse of the medal the Committee collectively assigned 29 of the possible 30 possible scoring points to design JM-CGM-R-02. Members noted that this design was the preference of Mr. Nicklaus and expressed support for his selection. Sincerely, Gary B. Marks Chair