Everyone now has a chance to see what the four 2014 First Spouse Gold Coins may look like. The United States Mint last week revealed a total of 42 different design candidates.
Even though the designs are spread throughout the obverse and reverse sides of the pending coins, that still averages to over ten designs per release.
2014 First Spouse Gold Coins scheduled for release next year include:
- Florence Harding Gold Coins, honoring the wife of Warren G. Harding
- Grace Coolidge Gold Coins, honoring the wife of Calvin Coolidge
- Lou Hoover Gold Coins, honoring the wife of Herbert Hoover
- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Gold Coins, honoring the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt
These four coins are the thirty-first through thirty-fourth in a series that honors spouses of former Presidents of the United States in the order in which they served. Shown on obverses (heads side) of spousal coins is a portrait of the First Lady. Reverses (tails side) include designs emblematic of their life.
Before the designs are pressed on coins, they must be created and reviewed. To that end, multiple design candidates are drafted for each obverse and reverse. These candidates are then submitted for review to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and the United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA).
The CFA reviewed the designs for the 2014 Spouse First Spouse Coins on Nov. 21, 2013 and the CCAC reviewed them on Nov. 22, 2013. These two bodies will officially submit their comments and the Secretary of the Treasury will eventually make the final design selections. Along with images of all the designs, the CCAC and CFA recommendations, without their comments, are offered below.
Images of 2014 First Spouse Gold Coins and Medal Designs
Now without further ado, to the design candidates for the 2014 First Spouse Gold Coins:
Florence Harding First Spouse Gold Coins and Medal Designs
For Florence Harding, the U.S. Mint submitted three obverse portrait design candidates and six reverse images emblematic of her life. The obverse designs include the inscriptions of FLORENCE HARDING, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, 2014, 29TH and 1921-1923.
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The CCAC recommended candidate design 2 and the CFA preferred design 3.
Reverse inscriptions are standard across all First Spouse releases and include UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, $10 and 1/2 OZ. .9999 FINE GOLD. As for the design candidates for the Florence Harding reverse, there are six.
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The CCAC recommended candidate design 6 and the CFA preferred design 4.
Grace Coolidge First Spouse Gold Coins and Medal Designs
Six obverse design candidates were unveiled for the Grace Coolidge Gold Coins. Each will contain the inscriptions of GRACE COOLIDGE, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, 2014, 30TH and 1923-1929.
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The CCAC recommended candidate design 2 and the CFA preferred design 3.
The chosen obverse design will be joined on the reverse by one of these five design candidates.
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The CCAC and CFA recommended candidate design 3. A motion to move "USA" on the reverse into open space was passed.
Lou Hoover First Spouse Gold Coins and Medal Designs
Four different design candidates were released for the Lou Hoover Gold Coins. These four images offer different perspectives of the former First Lady and include the inscriptions of LOU HOOVER, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, 2014, 31ST and 1929-1933.
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The CCAC recommended candidate design 4 and the CFA preferred design 2.
The reverse side of the coin will feature one of five proposed images emblematic of Lou Hoover’s life.
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The CCAC and CFA recommended candidate design 4.
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt First Spouse Gold Coins and Medal Designs
Seven obverse design candidates were unveiled for the Eleanor Roosevelt Gold Coins. Similar to the other coins of the series, the portrait will be surrounded by inscriptions to include ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, 2014, 32ND and 1933-1945.
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The CCAC and CFA recommended candidate design 4.
Reverse design candidates include a total of six different options for the Eleanor Roosevelt release.
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The CCAC recommended candidate design 3 and the CFA preferred design 6.
Gold Coin Compositions and Medal Designs
First Spouse Gold Coins are struck from one-half ounce of .9999 fine gold and are issued in both proof and uncirculated qualities for collectors. Bronze medal replicas of the gold coins are also produced by the U.S. Mint and sold to the public.
Release dates for the four 2014 First Spouse Gold Coins have not yet been announced. Coins of the program are typically issued in intervals throughout the year. Exceptions included those for 2012 and 2013 which were delayed due to production issues. The first of the gold coins for this year did not debut until Nov, 14, 2013.
The spouse series kicked off in 2007 alongside the related Presidential $1 Coin series and it is scheduled to run until at least 2016.
