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Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee
801 Ninth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20220

C
CAC

Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee
Public Meeting
Tuesday, November 13 2007
United States Mint Headquarters
801 9th Street, NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC
In attendance:
John Alexander
Michael Brown
Bill Fivaz
Arthur Houghton
Rita Laws (by telephone)
Gary Marks
Richard Meier
Mitch Sanders (chair)
Donald Scarinci
S. Joseph Winter
1. The chair called the meeting to order at 9:20 A.M.
2. The committee considered proposed designs for the 2009 Abraham Lincoln
Commemorative Coin Program. As specified by Public Law 109-285, the United
States Mint shall issue $1 silver coins that shall be emblematic of the life and
legacy of President Abraham Lincoln.
3. Kaarina Budow of the United States Mint presented proposed designs to the
committee. She explained that in developing the designs for Lincoln’s image on
the obverse, artists were asked to consider depicting Lincoln as in his last studio
photograph portrait taken by Alexander Gardner in 1865, or during his delivery of
the Gettysburg Address, or as depicted by Daniel Chester French’s statue of
Lincoln located in the Lincoln Memorial.
4. Ms Budow also explained that the coin’s reverse is intended to reflect President
Lincoln’s life and legacy as depicted through his words and ideals. Artists were
asked to consider the idea of democracy Lincoln expressed in the closing to the
Gettysburg Address.
5. After a question from Mr Scarinci, Ms Budow clarified that the instructions to
artists were expressed as suggestions, not as requirements.
6. Ms Budow indicated that for the coin’s obverse, the Abraham Lincoln
Bicentennial Commission preferred design LC-O-06, which is a rendering of the

Gardner studio portrait from 1865. According to Ms Budow, the Lincoln
Commission felt that this design best captured the physical strain Lincoln
experienced during the war, and also had a slight hint of an enigmatic smile.
7. Mr Scarinci then moved that the CCAC should reject all of the designs presented.
Mr Scarinci argued that the designs before the committee, which were based on
pre-existing images of Lincoln, were not consistent with Mint Director Moy’s call
for a Neo-Renaissance of American numismatic art.
8. After some discussion, the committee voted 9-1 to table Mr Scarinci’s motion.
9. The committee then proceeded to discuss proposed obverse designs. As part of
the discussion, several members expressed a belief that designs LCO-O-06 or
LCO-O-07 would work well on the upcoming (2010) Presidential Dollar
portraying Lincoln.
10. At the conclusion of the discussion, it was decided that the committee would
proceed to discuss the proposed reverse designs before voting on the obverse.
11. Ms Budow indicated that design LCO-R-02, featuring the final 43 words of the
Gettysburg Address, was the preference of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission.
12. The committee’s discussion of the proposed reverses focused on the two designs
with an extended quotation from the Gettysburg Address: LCO-R-02 and LCOR-09. Many members considered Lincoln’s powerful words to be a highly
appropriate design for the coin’s reverse. Other members expressed concern that
a reverse dominated by words would be lacking in artistic merit, though Mr
Alexander suggested that the words themselves were a form of art.
13. Members rated designs using a numerical scale from zero to three, where zero
represents the lowest rating, and three represents the highest rating. The design
receiving the highest point total is the committee’s recommendation. With nine
members voting (one member was present but did not vote), the maximum
possible total is 27 points.
14. For the coin’s reverse, the CCAC recommends design LCO-R-09, which received
18 points out of a maximum of 27. This design features an extended quotation
from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address along with allegorical figures from the
Soldiers Monument at Gettysburg. The committee’s second choice, with 13
points, was design LCO-R-02, and also carries the same quotation.
15. For the coin’s obverse, the CCAC recommends design LCO-O-06, which
received 12 points out of a maximum of 27. Design LCO-O-06 displays a
forward-facing image of Lincoln from the 1865 photograph by Gardner.
Members generally considered this design to be a powerful and evocative image
of Lincoln. The committee’s second choice was design LCO-O-04, which
received 9 points, and which shows an upward view of the statue of Lincoln
located in the Lincoln Memorial.
16. After a break for lunch, the committee had some preliminary discussion of its
Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2007, in preparation for a fuller and more specific
discussion at the committee’s next meeting.
17. There being no further business, the chair adjourned the meeting at 12:50 PM.