Dear Mr. Peterson:
In its meeting of 19 June, the Commission of Fine Arts confirmed its recommendation from its expedited review of the alternative designs for a Congressional Gold Medal to honor Shimon Peres, the president of Israel. The Commission members, in agreement with the preferences of Mr. Peres's liaison, preferred obverse #1 and reverse #1. Reverse #1 was preferred because the text is arranged along the arc of the perimeter and not grouped in several lines at the bottom as shown on reverse #2, in which the text appears to be an object within the grasp of the bird's talons.
As always, the staff is available to assist you with future submissions.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Richard A. Peterson, Deputy Director
United States Mint
801 9th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20220
cc: April Stafford, U.S. Mint