The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coin and Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Bronze Medal on March 18, 2010, at noon Eastern Time (ET).

The one-half ounce 24-karat gold coin, struck at the United States Mint at West Point, will be available in proof and uncirculated conditions.

Pricing for the coins will be based on the United States Mint’s pricing structure for precious metals products. Click Here For current pricing information. The bronze medals, which bear a likeness of the gold coin, will also be available for $5.50 each.

The coin’s obverse (heads side) features a portrait of Abigail Fillmore by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill. Inscriptions on the obverse are ABIGAIL FILLMORE, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, 2010, 13th and 1850-1853, the period during which she was the spouse of the President.

The coin’s reverse (tails side), by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Susan Gamble, depicts Fillmore shelving books in the library she established at the White House. Inscriptions on the reverse are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, $10, 1/2 OZ. and .9999 FINE GOLD.

The maximum mintage for the Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coin is 15,000 across all product options. Customer demand will determine the ratio of proof coins to uncirculated coins produced within the total maximum mintage.

Abigail Powers Fillmore was born in 1798 in Saratoga County, New York. She developed a passion for learning early in life. Financial circumstances forced her to begin working at the age of 16 as a teacher while she continued her own education.

While teaching at the New Hope Academy in Sempronius, New York, she met future husband, Millard Fillmore. (more…)

The United States Mint today announced that it will begin accepting orders for the 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Silver Dollar beginning at noon Eastern Time (ET) on February 25, 2010.

The American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 110-277) authorizes the United States Mint to mint and issue silver one-dollar coins in commemoration of disabled American Veterans. The mintage limit for the 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Silver Dollar is set at 350,000 coins across all product options. Available options include proof and uncirculated versions of the coin, struck in 90 percent silver.

Special Introductory Pricing for the 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Silver Dollar is available until March 29, 2010, after which regular prices will apply:
Proof Silver Dollar – Introductory Pricing $39.95 – Regular Pricing $43.95
Uncirculated Silver Dollar – Introductory Pricing $33.95 – Regular Pricing $35.95

The coin’s obverse (heads side) was designed and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart. The design features the legs and boots of three disabled veterans, which pays tribute to the service and sacrifice of our disabled veterans. The inscription THEY STOOD UP FOR US is in the banner along the coin’s upper rim. Additional inscriptions on the obverse are IN GOD WE TRUST, 2010 and LIBERTY.

The coin’s reverse (tails side) was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Thomas Cleveland and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Joseph Menna. The design depicts a forget-me-not flower at the base of a wreath wrapped in a ribbon that cradles and supports clusters of oak branches. The oak branches represent strength, while the forget-me-not is a widely accepted symbol of remembrance for those who sacrificed their lives for our country. The inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Take This Moment to Honor Our Disabled Defenders of Freedom, and ONE DOLLAR.

Surcharges from sales of the commemorative coin are authorized to be paid to the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation to support the construction of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C., authorized by Congress in 2000. (more…)

NGC recently authenticated a 2009 D Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 coin bearing the date 2010 D on its lettered edge.

NGC has certified a Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 coin that bears the date 2010 D. The Zachary Taylor coin was the fourth Presidential dollar released in 2009 and should correctly bear the date 2009, not 2010. This is the first time that the wrong date has been reported on an edge-lettered US dollar.

The date on each Presidential $1 coin appears on its edge and is applied by an edge lettering die after the obverse and reverse are struck with a blank collar. Because edge lettering is an additional and subsequent step, it has been the source of several types of novel mint error coins. Most common among these errors is partial edge lettering, which occurs when a coin gets hung up in the edge lettering machine and part of the edge lettering is not impressed. Another error is missing edge lettering; that error occurs when a coin misses the edge lettering step entirely. A third error type that has been encountered is doubled edge lettering, which is created when a coin passes through the edge lettering machine twice.

While there are many possible explanations for how this incorrect date error may have occurred, its story is seemingly revealed by the coins that accompanied it. This error coin was included in a roll of 2010 D Native American $1 Coins that were purchased using the US Mint’s Direct Ship Program. Since only this lone Zachary Taylor $1 was found in the roll, one can speculate that the same machinery was used to strike 2010 D Native American dollars after completing a run of 2009 D Zachary Taylor dollars. A coin was left behind somewhere between striking and edge lettering became mixed with Native American dollars headed for the edge lettering process, and was thus inscribed with the wrong date.

Because of where this coin was found, it does not suggest that a large run of error coins were made and, therefore, this type of error coin may remain a significant rarity. (more…)