Coin collectors and admirers of the 16th President of the United States will have one more chance to attend a release ceremony for a coin dedicated to the man. The U.S. Mint plans to hold a public launch for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential $1 Coin on November 19, 2010.
The public ceremony will be held at President Lincoln’s Cottage on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C. beginning at 10 AM (Eastern).
Lincoln spent much of his time at the cottage as President while deliberating many Civil War issues and was there when drafting the Emancipation Proclamation.
The ceremony comes one day after the coins are released into circulation through the Federal Reserve system and mark the final of four 2010 Presidential coin designs. The three appearing earlier in 2010 included coins honoring the 13th President, Millard Fillmore, the 14th President, Franklin Pierce and the 15th President, James Buchanan.
All of the coins are part of the circulating Presidential Coin series which honors four former Presidents annually with the strikes released in the order upon which the individual served in office. The U.S. Mint program debuted in 2007 with the George Washington Presidential $1 Coin and is scheduled to run through at least 2016.
When the Lincoln coin is released, it will mark the last of seven issued by the Mint over the last two years to honor him. A relative flurry of the coins were released beginning in 2009 to mark the bicentennial of the birth of Mr. Lincoln.
Altogether, the recent Lincoln coins now include five new Lincoln Cents (four 2009 Lincoln cents and the 2010 penny), one new Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar and this Lincoln Presidential Coin.
The Mint has hosted release ceremonies for most of them:
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2009 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commemorative Silver Dollar – Struck to both proof and uncirculated condition, these coins were released to the public from the US Mint on February 12, 2009, the exact bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. The coins proved quite popular with collectors and were sold out within several weeks.
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2009 Lincoln Birthplace Cent – A release ceremony for the first redesigned cent coin in fifty years from the US Mint was held in Hodgenville, Kentucky, also on February 12, 2009. The location was fitting because Lincoln was born near there in a log cabin which was represented on the reverse of the new coin.
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2009 Lincoln Formative Years Cent – Also known as the Rail Splitter Cent, this coin was released at Lincoln State Park in Indiana on May 14, 2009. The coin depicts a young Lincoln taking a break from rail splitting which he did while growing up near present-day Lincoln City, Indiana.
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2009 Lincoln Professional Life Cent – Marking the adult life of Lincoln who now lived in and near Springfield, Illinois, the coin shows Abraham in front of the Old State Capitol Building where he was known to have practiced law after training himself to become a lawyer. The penny ceremony was held on August 13, 2009, on the grounds of the Old Capitol Building.
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2009 Lincoln Presidency Cent – Showing an incomplete U.S. Capitol Building dome on its reverse, like it would have been during Lincoln’s presidency, this cent coin was ceremoniously released on November 12, 2009, on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.
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2010 Lincoln Union Shield Cent – Depicting a Union Shield on its reverse emblematic of Lincoln’s ability to preserve the Union, this coin had a ceremony marking its release once again in Springfield, Illinois at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on February 11, 2010. This design will remain on the cent coins for the indefinite future.
Typically following the ceremony, children 18 an under are given a free coin while adults are offered the opportunity to exchange cash for rolls of the strikes. However, no official comment on whether this will occur at the upcoming ceremony has been given by the Mint.
Those unable to attend the ceremony may also obtain the new strikes from their local banks or directly from the Mint. Beginning on November 18, the Mint will start selling rolls of 25 of the coins for $35.95 each. Buyers will have the choice of circulation quality strikes from either the US Mint’s facility in Denver or the U.S. Mint’s facility in Philadelphia.
A portrait of Abraham Lincoln will be found on the coin’s obverse as designed by Don Everhart. It will also show the inscriptions of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, IN GOD WE TRUST, 16TH PRESIDENT and 1861-1865.
The reverse will showcase an image of the Statue of Liberty that is found on the reverse of all of the Presidential Dollar Coins. It contains the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and $1 and was also designed by Don Everhart. An edge inscription on each piece indicates the year of minting and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
