2010-W Mary Todd Lincoln First Spouse Gold Coin

The Mary Todd First Spouse Gold Coin will be the final release of the year and the seventeenth release overall for the First Spouse Gold Coin series. The release date for the coin has not been announced by the United States Mint, but it will likely be in December 2010.

Mary Todd Lincoln was the First Lady of the United States during the Presidency of her husband Abraham Lincoln. The obverse of the coin will carry her portrait along with the required inscriptions of the series. This includes her name, order of the Presidency “16th”, years as First Lady “1861-1865″, “In God We Trust”, “Liberty”, and the date of issue and mint mark.

The reverse design for the coin will feature an image of Mary Todd Lincoln visiting wounded Union soldiers, bringing books and flowers. Inscriptions will appear surround the image reading “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, “$10″, and “1/2 oz. .999 Fine Gold”. The reverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.

Alternate designs prepared by the United States Mint as candidate designs included a scene of the President and Mrs. Lincoln greeting visitors at a public reception and a scene of her bandaging a wounded soldier. A member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee questioned whether the scene of her bandaging a soldier was historically accurate.

The Mary Todd Lincoln First Spouse Coins will be available in both proof and uncirculated versions. The coins are expected to have a maximum mintage of 20,000 coins across both options and will remain available for sale until the maximum is reached or for one year from the release date.

2010-W Mary Todd Lincoln First Spouse Coin Specifications

• Year: 2010
• Mint Mark: W
• Edge: Reeded
• Weight: 0.5000 troy oz. (15.554 g)
• Composition: 0.9999 Gold
• Diameter: 1.041 inches (26.49 mm)
• Thickness: 0.074 inches (1.88 mm)
• Mintage: maximum 20,000

2010-W James Buchanan’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Coin

James Buchanan’s Liberty Gold Coin will mark the sixteenth release of the First Spouse Gold Coin series. It will also represent the fourth and final coin in the “Liberty” subset, which has been the focus of some collectors. The coins are expected to be released in September 2010.

Because James Buchanan served as the 15th President without a spouse, an image from a circulating coin of his era is used to portray the concept of Liberty. The First Spouse Coins for the three previous Presidents who served without spouses were Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren.

The obverse design for the James Buchanan’s Liberty Gold Coin will be taken from the Liberty Head $2.50 Gold Quarter Eagle, originally designed by Christian Gobrecht. This coin was produced for circulation from 1840 to 1907. Modifications to the design have been made for the series, including the placement of inscriptions “15th Presidency”, “In God We Trust”, the dates of the Presidential term “1857 1861″ and the date of issue “2010″.

The reverse design of the coin features an image of James Buchanan in his early youth when he worked as a bookkeeper in a small country store owned by his family. Reverse inscriptions include “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, the face value “$10″, and the weight and fineness of the gold coin “1/2 oz. .999 fine gold”. The reverse was designed by David Westwood and sculpted by Joseph Menna.

The coins will be issued in proof and uncirculated versions. The maximum mintage will be set at 15,000 coins, across both versions. US Mint sales remain open for approximately one year or until the maximum has been reached.

James Buchanan’s Liberty Gold Coin Specifications

• Year: 2010
• Mint Mark: W
• Edge: Reeded
• Weight: 0.5000 troy oz. (15.554 g)
• Composition: 0.9999 Gold
• Diameter: 1.041 inches (26.49 mm)
• Thickness: 0.074 inches (1.88 mm)
• Mintage: maximum 15,000

2010-W Jane Pierce First Spouse Gold Coin

The Jane Pierce First Spouse Gold Coin is expected to be released in June 2010, as the overall fifteenth issue of the First Spouse coin series. It will represent the second of four releases for the year.

Jane Pierce was the wife of President Franklin Pierce and was First Lady from 1853-1857. The obverse of the coin will bear her portrait along with inscriptions of her name “Jane Pierce”, the order of the Presidency “14th”, the years spent as First Spouse “1853-1857″, “Liberty”, the motto “In God We Trust”, and the date of issue and mint mark. The obverse was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Don Everhart.

The reverse of the coin features an image of Jane Pierce in the visitor’s gallery of the U.S. Capitol Building. She is known for listening to the Senate debates on the issue of slavery. Reverse inscriptions include “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, the face value “$10″, and “1/2 oz. .999 Fine Gold”. The reverse was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Charles Vickers.

Alternate reverse designs prepared by the United States Mint as candidates had included a scene during a thunderstorm where the Pierces met in college and a scene of her reading on White House grounds. The final design was selected by the Treasury of the Secretary.

The Jane Pierce First Spouse Gold Coins will be offered in uncirculated and proof versions, with pricing determined based on the average weekly price of gold plus a mark up. First Spouse Coins generally remain available for one year following the release date and are offered in proof and uncirculated versions. The maximum authorized mintage will be 15,000 across both versions of the coin.

Jane Pierce First Spouse Coin Specifications

• Year: 2010
• Mint Mark: W
• Edge: Reeded
• Weight: 0.5000 troy oz. (15.554 g)
• Composition: 0.9999 Gold
• Diameter: 1.041 inches (26.49 mm)
• Thickness: 0.074 inches (1.88 mm)
• Mintage: maximum 15,000

2010-W Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coin

The Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coin was the first release of 2010 for the ongoing series of 24 karat gold coins honoring the First Ladies of the United States. The coins went on sale at the United States Mint on March 18, 2010.

The obverse of the coin features a portrait of Abigail Fillmore. She served as the First Lady during the Presidency of her husband Millard Fillmore. Obverse inscriptions include “Abigail Fillmore”, “In God We Trust”, “Liberty”, the order of the Presidency “13th”, years of the term “1850-1853″, and the date of issue. The obverse was designed and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.

The reverse depicts Abigail Fillmore placing books on the shelf of the White House Library which she established. With $2,000 in funds appropriated for the project, she acquired several hundred volumes to start the collection. Inscriptions include “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, the denomination “$10″, the weight and fineness of the bullion “1/2 oz. .999 Fine Gold”. The reverse was designed by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Joseph Menna.

The Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Coin was produced by the West Point Mint facility in proof and uncirculated versions. The United States Mint set the maximum authorized mintage across both versions of the coin at 15,000. This was a reduction from the 40,000 limit that had been used for all prior releases of the First Spouse Gold Coin series. The Abigail Fillmore coin will remain available for sale at the US Mint for approximately one year or until the maximum authorized mintage has been sold, whichever occurs first.

Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Coin Specifications

• Year: 2010
• Mint Mark: W
• Edge: Reeded
• Weight: 0.5000 troy oz. (15.554 g)
• Composition: 0.9999 Gold
• Diameter: 1.041 inches (26.49 mm)
• Thickness: 0.074 inches (1.88 mm)
• Mintage: maximum 15,000

In 2007, the First Spouse Gold Coin series began. The series was created by the same law which authorized the Presidential Dollar series. Each President’s spouse would be honored on a one half ounce 24 karat gold coin. This marked the first time the United States Mint has featured women on a consecutive series of coins.

The 2007 First Spouse Gold Coins were launched on June 19, 2007 when the US Mint offered the coins honoring Martha Washington and Abigial Adams. Originally, there had been plans to offer each year’s coins in multi-coin sets, but early enthusiastic resposne to the program caused the US Mint to switch to individual offerings for each coin. The coins featuring Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty and Dolley Madison went on sale later in the year on August 30, 2007 and November 19, 2007.

Individual Coin Information:

Martha Washington First Spouse Coin
Abigail Adams First Spouse Coin
Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty First Spouse Coin
Dolley Madison First Spouse Coin

The first three releases of the series managed to sell out on the opening day of sales. Each offering reached the maximum authorized mintage of 40,000 coins despite household ordering limits, which had been lowered to one coin per option per household by the third releases. The fourth release of the series did not sell out, as some of the early enthusiasm for the series dissipated.