On Thursday, Jan. 22, the United States Mint unveiled 82 design candidates for the upcoming one-ounce, .9999 fine 2015 High Relief Gold Coin and accompanying 2015 High Relief Silver Medal.
Potential eagle and liberty themed designs were given to the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) for their review on Thursday. The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) will take them up on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Limited details about the gold coin and silver medal are available at this writing. The concept for the pair was announced last year and given the go-ahead after the U.S. Mint confirmed it was not pursuing a new design for American Silver Eagles.
At that time, the discussion revolved around the possibility of ultra-high relief or high relief versions. It’s not certain which direction the U.S. Mint will take. The latter now seems more likely since "2015 High Relief 24K Gold Coin" and "2015 High Relief Silver Medal" are listed in the agency’s 2015 Product Schedule, with release dates "to be determined,"
Varying Design Inscriptions
For both, themes include Lady Liberty for obverses and an eagle for reverses. Forty-one design candidates for the 2015 High Relief Gold Coin were released. Another 41 bearing nearly identical designs were unveiled for the 2015 High Relief Silver Medal.
Differences between the groupings are mainly inscriptions and spacing. Gold coin designs carry obverse inscriptions of LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and 2015 while reverses have UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, .9999 FINE GOLD 1 oz., and either $75 or SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS.
Silver medal design candidates bear obverse inscriptions of the year 2015 with examples that include LIBERTY. Some of the reverse designs include UNITED STATES OF AMERICA while others lack an inscription.
2015 High Relief Gold Coin, Obverse Design Candidate Images
Here are the 25 obverse candidate designs for the gold piece:
2015 High Relief Gold Coin, Reverse Design Candidate Images
Here are the 16 reverse candidate designs for the gold piece:
A later article will talk about and include images of the proposed silver medal designs.
