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Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee Public meeting May 23, 2006 United States Mint Headquarters 801 9th Street, NW Washington, DC In attendance: John Alexander Leon Billings Bill Fivaz Rita Laws Mitch Sanders Donald Scarinci Ken Thomasma S. Joseph Winter Chairman Mitch Sanders called the meeting to order at 10:00 A.M. Kaarina Budow of the United States Mint presented proposed designs for the 2007 issues of the First Spouse Gold Bullion Program. As specified by the Presidential Dollar Coin Act of 2005, $10 gold bullion coins will be issued each year honoring the spouses of the Presidents portrayed on that year’s circulating dollar coins. The obverses are to carry an image of the First Spouse, with a design emblematic of the First Spouse’s life and work on the reverse. Bronze medals are to be issued with the same designs, but without the coinage inscriptions required by law. Members rated designs by assigning 0, 1, 2, or 3 points to each. With eight members present and voting, the maximum possible rating was 24 points. For the obverse, the committee first considered the proposed portraits for each issue, and in a separate process, recommended a single arrangement of wording and other design elements. For the Martha Washington obverse, the committee recommends the portrait from design MWO-05. This was the clear first choice of the committee, receiving 22 of a possible 24 points. Portrait MW-O-04 was a distant second, with six points. Members generally considered it important to select an image of Martha Washington during her time as First Spouse, and preferred the three-quarter view of MW-O-05 to the profile view of MW-O-04. For Abigail Adams, the committee recommends the obverse portrait from design AA-O-01, which received 19 of a possible 24 points. The only other portrait to receive significant support was AA-O-04, which received 11 points. Because Thomas Jefferson did not have a spouse during his time as President, the issue for his Presidency will portray on the obverse an image of Liberty from a coin issued during his administration. Ms. Budow indicated that for each of four such Liberty designs, artists had created drawings representing a new rendition and a replica of the original. Ms. Budow, along with Cynthia Meals and Greg Weinman of the United States Mint, noted that to the extent permitted by technology, a replica design for the First Spouse program would be based on the original materials used in the design of the original coin. Several members considered this historical connection to be an appealing element of the First Spouse program. For the obverse design of the Jefferson issue, the committee recommends design JL-O-04, with a replica of the “Draped Bust” design. JL-O-04 received 21 of a possible 24 points. There was also some support for JL-O-03 (based on the same original as JL-O-04), and for JL-O-08, both of which received 12 points. There was little support for any other proposed designs. The committee was somewhat more divided about the obverse portrait of Dolley Madison. The committee recommends the portrait from design DM-O-05, which received 15 of a possible 24 points. The committee’s second-most preferred portrait was DM-O-02, which received 10 points. Design DM-O-01 received seven points. The committee then discussed the arrangement of obverse inscriptions. The committee unanimously voted to recommend that the issues showing First Spouses (that is, excepting the Jefferson issue) should have the required inscriptions arranged as in design DM-O-02, with the following alterations: the positions of “Liberty / 2007” and “In God We Trust” should be reversed, and there should be a tilde (~) between the order of the presidency and the dates of service. There followed a discussion about the relief of the designs on the First Spouse coins and medals. The CCAC voted unanimously to recommend that the medallic versions of the First Spouse issues should be in higher relief than the coin versions. The committee also voted unanimously to recommend that the gold coins of the First Spouse bullion series should be produced in high relief to the extent practical. The committee then turned to a discussion of proposed reverse designs. The narratives for these designs are included with these minutes. For the reverse of the Martha Washington issue, the CCAC recommends design MW-R-06, which features Martha Washington draping a blanket over a soldier. Design MW-R-06 received 16 of a possible 24 points. The committee further recommends that the horse and rider in the background of MW-R-06 should be omitted. There was some question among members about the historical accuracy of the design, but it was noted that the Mint’s historical consultants had no objection to the image. CCAC members also considered the design to be symbolically appropriate, given Martha Washington’s support of the Continental Army. The committee’s second choice was design MW-R-02, based on the same theme, which received nine points. No other design received significant support. The committee recommends design AA-R-05 for the reverse of the Abigail Adams issue. This design received 18 of a possible 24 points. The recommended design portrays Abigail Adams composing a letter to her husband John, and presents a quotation from March 31, 1776: “Remember the Ladies.” Members generally appreciated the importance of the correspondence between Abigail Adams and John Adams, and in particular, the historical importance of her advice to “Remember the Ladies” in the establishment of the new nation’s political system. The committee’s second choice was design AA-R-01, based on the same theme, which received seven points. The reverse of the Jefferson issue is to carry a theme emblematic of Thomas Jefferson’s life and work. The committee recommends design JL-R-07, which received 17 of a possible 24 points. This image presents Jefferson’s grave marker at Monticello, along with the epitaph he composed for himself. Members noted the significance of this design, as Jefferson’s own statement of his life’s achievements. The committee’s second choice was design JL-R-06, which received seven points. For the reverse of the Dolley Madison issue the CCAC recommends design DM-R-05, which received 17 of a possible 24 points. The theme of this design, based on Madison’s work for orphans, was considered by members to be particularly important. The only other design to receive significant support was DM-R-06, which is based on the same theme as DM-R-05 and which received nine points. The committee then received an update on pending coin and medal legislation from Brendan Adams of the United States Mint. The chair requested that members begin preparing for discussions about the committee’s upcoming Annual Report, and there was also a brief discussion of the planned forum to be held in August at the American Numismatic Association convention in Denver. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2 PM. The next CCAC meeting is scheduled for June 15, 2006.
