Letter
Dear Mr. Moy:
In its meeting of 21 February, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed a third submission of alternative designs for the reverse of the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin, depicting the fourth aspect of Lincoln's life in his years as U.S. President. In its previous review of 17 January, the Commission had recommended an image of the completed Capitol dome which was not among the submitted alternatives. It is regrettable that the Mint was unable to develop this straightforward recommendation for the ongoing redesign of this reverse.
The Commission commented that the new proposed designs were overly complex for the small scale of the coin and reiterated their previous comment that the reverse should not include an image of Lincoln, as the obverse will continue to feature his portrait. The Commission expressed a preference for a simple composition, recommending that Lincoln's figure be omitted from Design #LC-R4-07 and his signature featured as the primary element of the design.
The Commission continues to encourage the Mint to provide more thoughtful and appropriately scaled designs for the nation's coinage. The Commission concluded by requesting that the Mint report promptly on the final designs selected for the U.S. coin and medallic issues. As always, the staff is available to assist you with future submissions.
Sincerely,
/s/
Thomas E. Luebke, AIA
Secretary
Edmund C. Moy, Director
United States Mint
801 9th Street, NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20220
cc: Kaarina Budow, U.S. Mint