The United States Mint announced the new design that Americans will see on the reverse (tails side) of Native American $1 Coins next year.

The design, based on the theme “Government – The Great Tree of Peace,” depicts the Hiawatha Belt with five arrows bound together, with the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $1, Haudenosaunee and Great Law of Peace. The United States Mint will commence issuing these coins in January 2010, and they will be available throughout 2010.

The Hiawatha Belt is a visual record of the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, with five symbols representing the five original Nations. The central figure on the belt, the Great White Pine, represents the Onondaga Nation with the four square symbols representing the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca Nations. The bundle of arrows symbolizes strength in unity for the Iroquois Confederacy. The design is by Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Thomas Cleveland.

Featured on the obverse (heads side) of the 2010 Native American $1 Coin is the familiar “Sacagawea” design by sculptor Glenna Goodacre, first produced in 2000. Inscriptions on the obverse are LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. Like the Presidential $1 Coins, the Native American $1 Coins are minted in the distinctive golden color with the year, mint mark and E PLURIBUS UNUM edge-lettered on the rim.

Authorized by the Native American $1 Coin Act (Act) (Public Law 110-82), the United States Mint is minting and issuing the $1 coins to recognize Native Americans for their contributions to the development and history of the United States. The agency will issue the coins to the maximum extent practicable, in the chronological order in which the Native Americans depicted lived or the events commemorated occurred, until the end of the Presidential $1 Coin Program. (more…)

Coin features first new reverse design in multi-year series with mintage limited to 8000

The United States Mint announced that it will begin accepting orders for the 2009 American Eagle One-Ounce Platinum Proof Coin at noon Eastern Time (ET) December 3, 2009. Orders will be limited to five units per household.

The reverse (tails side) of the 2009 American Eagle One-Ounce Platinum Proof Coin features the first design in a new six-year program that commemorates the core concepts of American democracy by featuring the six principles of the Preamble of the United States Constitution. Themes for the reverse designs in the new series of American Eagle One-Ounce Platinum Proof Coins are inspired by narratives prepared by the Chief Justice of the United States, John G. Roberts, Jr., at the request of the United States Mint. Coin designs reflecting the remaining principles of the Preamble will be released as follows: To Establish Justice (2010); To Insure Domestic Tranquility (2011); To Provide for the Common Defense (2012); To Promote General Welfare (2013); and To Secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Posterity (2014).

The 2009 design depicts four faces representing the diversity of our Nation, with the clothing and hair weaving together symbolizing the principle, To Form a More Perfect Union. A new design element, an American Eagle “privy mark,” has been added to the reverse of the coin. The privy mark is from an original “coin punch” identified at the United States Mint at Philadelphia. The reverse was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Susan Gamble and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill. (more…)

The United States Mint will accept orders for rolls of Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 Coins at its online catalog, http://www.usmint.gov/catalog, beginning at noon Eastern Time (ET) on November 19, 2009. Each roll, priced at $35.95, contains 25 circulating quality $1 coins from either the United States Mint facility at Philadelphia or Denver. The coins are wrapped in packaging that displays the mint of origin (P or D), the face value of the contents ($25) and the United States Mint logo.

United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart designed and sculpted the obverse (heads side) and the reverse (tails side) of the Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 Coin. The obverse features Taylor’s dramatic portrait with the inscriptions ZACHARY TAYLOR, IN GOD WE TRUST, 12TH PRESIDENT and 1849-1850. The reverse features a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty, with the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the coin’s face value. The inscriptions 2009, E PLURIBUS UNUM and the mint of origin are incused on the coin’s edge.

Customers may also order the Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 Coins by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may call 1-888-321-MINT (6468). A shipping and handling fee of $4.95 will be added to all domestic orders. As an added convenience, customers may enroll in the United States Mint’s Online Subscription Program to receive future rolls of Presidential $1 Coins as they are released. Visit http://www.usmint.gov/catalog for more information about this convenient ordering method.

Zachary Taylor was born in 1784 in Virginia. Shortly after his birth, his family relocated to Kentucky, where he spent his youth. Taylor enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 23 and acquired the nickname “Old Rough and Ready” during his long military career. A national hero of the Mexican-American War, Taylor was an attractive presidential candidate, but he was also an independent thinker who did not always follow party lines. He became ill after attending a long ceremony at the Washington Monument on a hot Independence Day in 1850. He died five days later, having served only 16 months in office. (more…)