Letter
Dear Ms. Gibson:
In its public meeting of 18 April conducted by videoconference, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed alternative designs for the 2025 American Liberty gold coin and the associated silver medal. The Commission was pleased to consider the preferences of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and provided the following comments and recommendations.
Consistent with the CCAC, the Commission members recommended obverse alternative O-12 for the coin and medal, using the image of a sunflower to symbolize the need for citizen stewardship of American liberty; they recalled the inspirational botanical symbol of the bristlecone pine for an earlier coin and medal in this series. For the reverse, they recommended alternative R-15 as a skillful depiction of an eagle in flight; they said this alternative is superior to the CCAC’s preference for reverse R-12A, whose dynamic and unusual composition may convey a sense of alarm and has the undesirable effect of severing the eagle’s head from its wings. For both obverse O-12 and reverse R-15, they recommended coordination and refinement of the fonts and detailing, with the goal of unifying the design and eliminating the overlapping of pictorial elements with the text.
The Commission members agreed with the CCAC that the graffiti aesthetic of obverse alternative O-02 is a promising design approach; however, they concluded that the single submitted alternative in this style is not well executed, and they suggested developing multiple alternatives for future coin programs. In their support of the program’s broad multi-year theme of modern representations of American liberty, they encouraged the Mint to give careful consideration in selecting a range of artists and artistic styles to reflect the diversity of our nation, while also focusing the submission on a more manageable number of alternatives to allow for more detailed discussion of the design merits of each. The members of the Commission would be pleased to consult further with the Mint in working toward this goal.
As always, the staff is available to assist you with future submissions.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Ventris C. Gibson, Director
United States Mint
801 9th Street, NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20220