Next year the United States Mint will introduce America’s first curved coinage with the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coins in denominations of $5 gold, $1 silver and 50c clad.
Design selections are proceeding quickly for the commemoratives. Reverse (tails side) designs depicting a baseball officially made an appearance during Induction Weekend at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. And after looking at 16 finalists, committees responsible for reviewing American coin designs support an obverse (heads side) depicting a glove.
Reverse Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Design Selected
Created and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart, reverse designs for the three commemorative coins depict a baseball similar to those used in Major League Baseball®. Images of them follow.
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Inscriptions surrounding the design read UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM. Depending on the coin’s denomination, additional inscriptions include FIVE DOLLARS on the gold coin, ONE DOLLAR on the silver dollar and HALF DOLLAR on the clad coin.
Curved Shape for Both Sides of Baseball Coin
To more resemble a baseball, the three reverses will feature a convex shape and the three obverses will be concave in shape. A depiction of the curved shape was created by the U.S. Mint in an animation shown below.
Obverse Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Design Recommended
A national competition drew 178 design prospects for each of the coins’ obverses and these were narrowed down to 16 finalists. All sixteen were reviewed by the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) on July 18, 2013 and by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) on July 23, 2013. The committees unanimously agreed that a design depicting a 1960’s style glove best paired with reverses showing a baseball. A larger image of the recommended design is immediately below.
It appears that there will be a slight change to the glove since both committees suggested that the pair of wheat sheaves be removed. Inscriptions within the glove design read LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and 2014 for the year of release. The winning designer will also have his initials placed on the coin.
Shown here is an image with all 16 design finalists, including the one recommended.
Going forward, acting U.S. Mint Director Richard A. Peterson will make a final recommendation to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. The Secretary of the Treasury has the task of making ultimate coin design decisions, like he already did for the reverses. An announcement on his decision is expected on September 10, 2013. Since both committees recommended the glove design and it has the support of Hall of Fame officials, its selection is virtually guaranteed.
As outlined by the National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 112-152), the U.S. Mint can produce and sell up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins and 400,000 half-dollar clad coins. Eventual prices will include surcharges that are forwarded to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to help finance its operations.
