Letter
Dear Ms. Gibson:
In its public meeting of 20 June conducted by videoconference, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed alternative designs for a Congressional Gold Medal honoring the American hostages held in Iran from 1979 to 1981. The Commission provided the following comments and recommendations.
The Commission members were pleased to take into consideration the preferences of the Mint’s liaisons and of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC). However, they recommended a different pairing than the presented preferences, using alternatives O-02 for the obverse and R-01 for the reverse. They cited the graphic simplicity of alternative O-02, compared to the distracting busyness of the large numerals “444” featured in the composition of alternative O-01A. They also noted the appropriateness of pairing O-02 with R-01, which provides a better treatment of “444 Days” as a reference to the duration of the hostage crisis, and which includes oak leaves as a subtler symbolic reference than the oak tree trunk and ribbon seen in many of the alternatives.
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