Commemorative 2009 Abraham Lincoln Silver Dollar Coin designs were revealed by the United States Mint on Wednesday during the annual Dedication Day Ceremony at Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The silver dollar will join four newly designed circulating pennies to celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 2009.
The ceremony occurred on the 145th anniversary of the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic Gettysburg Address in 1863 and also where United States Mint Deputy Director Andrew Brunhart unveiled the commemorative Lincoln coin designs to the public.
"It is my great honor to represent the United States Mint on the 145th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address," Deputy Director Brunhart said. "It is also my great privilege to introduce the designs for the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar to the American people."
The coin’s reverse design by Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill features a laurel wreath encircling the final 43 words of the Gettysburg Address: WE HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE THAT THESE DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN – THAT THIS NATION, UNDER GOD, SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM – AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH. Below is Lincoln’s signature.
The obverse, or "heads" side of the coin portrays Lincoln, which the Mint said was inspired by Daniel Chester French’s famous sculpture of the President inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Justin Kunz and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart.
The Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act calls for up to 500,000 uncirculated and proof silver dollars to be struck at the Mint’s Philadelphia facility. $10 surcharges for each silver dollar sale will be paid to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) to further its work.
[Editor’s update: For a more detailed Lincoln article that includes history, prices, images and additional bicentennial collector offerings, follow 2009 Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollars. To go directly to the Mint’s online store to order, follow these proof and uncirculated links.]
