US, new issue

[BC Numismatics]

Ginger,
  If I ever did beget a child or children,they'd be encouraged into collecting coins,as it would serve as both a geography & history lesson in one.

I can guess that you are collecting the States & Territory Quarters,commemorative Nickels,& the Presidential Dollars.If you are,then you would be feeling like a big kid as soon as a new commemorative Dollar,Nickel,& Quarter is issued.A lot of kids in America are collecting them,as are adults in both America & other countries.

In the case of the Presidential Dollars,they are teaching kids about which President of America served,& in what order they served.

Aidan.

[chrisild]

It would be terrible if the U.S. Mint does decide to use Design No. 4,as a half-built building has no relevence to the theme,which is commemorating President Lincoln.

And I thought it was Abraham Lincoln who endorsed and ordered the work on the Capitol dome to continue during the US Civil War. Whether he wanted it done as a symbol of the continuation of the Union, I don't know. But it sure is relevant in the context of Lincoln's life.

Now whether the "construction" design can and will be recognized by most people, I don't know. After all, a penny is hardly worth anything and is not really used as a means of payment - you get it in change and then trash it or put it in some jar, that's it ...

Christian

[ghipszky]

I think that is correct about the Dome. And I do collect all of those. When the first dollar came out I traded with someone else on another group a roll of quarters. I sent him the Denver Mint ones in a roll and he send me Philadelphia. So we both ended up with a roll from each mint.
Since I live so close the ANA museum it is easy to buy rolls of nickels and other coins straight from the mint. I have all but the state quarters for the rest of this year, then I will have the whole set of them.
I also collect Wheat Cents too. They are a huge part of this countries history!
Ginger

[BC Numismatics]

Ginger,
  Do you ever buy rolls of coins,just to search through them? I've heard of people who find coins from smaller countries,such as the Bahamas,Belize,& the Cayman Islands,in rolls.In the case of 1c. rolls,you can often find Canadian 1c. coins in them,considering that they are the same size as American 1c. coins.

Did you see the English Petition Crown exhibition at the A.N.A. ? There is a website at http://www.petitioncrown.com .

Aidan.

[ghipszky]

Aidan,
What I do is buy 500 cents at a time and search that for the ones I need, and the occasional Canadian cent. The what i don't need I put them in lots of 125 or so and sell them at a consignment store near my house. One lady probably bought 1000 of my coins to give to her young grandson and I thought that was very cool.
The Petition coin is a beauty, I will have to look at the site better after this headache leaves.
Ginger

[BC Numismatics]

Ginger,
 That is very cool to find Canadian coins in your rolls.

As for the English Petition Crown,the owner of the coin,Geoff Cope,is one extremely knowlegeable guy.I've seen his ads in Token Publishing's 'Coin News',which is an excellent numismatic magazine from England.It was through one of his ads that he mentioned that his example of the Petition Crown would be exhibited at the A.N.A.

Aidan.

[ghipszky]

Aidan,
I will have to drive over and see it.
Ginger

[Figleaf]

Mastering the penny
A UW-Oshkosh art professor updates the look of the longest minted coin in U.S. history
by Becky Thomas, of the Advance Titan

Every American is familiar with the penny. The little copper coin bearing a bust of President Lincoln resides in many a wallet and penny jar across the country.

Most Americans use coins every day, but they probably don't think about the process of designing and minting the coins.

Richard Masters, an art professor at UW-Oshkosh, was the same way for a long time. He said, "You know, when we were kids collecting coins, you never thought about the artist behind the design on there. You thought the coin gods are doing this, or somebody you never heard of. And when you see your own work on something like that it just seems to make the world smaller."

Masters is a master designer for the U.S. Mint's Artistic Infusion Program. Since 2004, he's been designing art for the faces on U.S. coins, and next year his work will grace the iconic penny.

On Sept. 22, the Mint unveiled the designs for the 2009 penny, which will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln as well as the 100th anniversary of the penny's inception into U.S. currency. The presentation, held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., revealed the four different designs for the reverse of the penny that chronicle the stages of Lincoln's life.

A large replica of the first design, symbolizing Lincoln's birth, depicts a log cabin and the year 1809, along with the initials of the artist who designed it: "R M" for Richard Masters.

Since his childhood in Iowa, Masters has been doing two things: collecting coins and drawing.

"I seemed to have a special talent for drawing," he said. "And it's just something I continued with, all the way through grade school, middle school and high school."

As a kid he picked up the hobby of coin collecting, or numismatics, and it stayed with him through the years.

He went to college at the University of Iowa, but not to study his passion for art. "I went the practical route," he said, but after two years of studying engineering he dropped out.

He didn't return to school until he was almost 30, but he came back with a vengeance, earning his bachelor's degree in studio art and a master of fine arts degree in design.

A job opportunity for his wife brought Masters to Oshkosh in 1990, and he was a self-professed "Mr. Mom" for their children until his wife, who was working for the Oshkosh art department, was hired at Kimberly-Clark and Masters filled her position.

"It sort of evolved into something more than that," he said. Now he has taught most illustration and design courses for the art department and has been on tenure track since 1998.

His artistic talent found a new outlet in 2003 while reading a publication called "Numismatic News."

"There was this little article about the U.S. Mint and how they were going to open up a call for artists," he said. "I thought, 'Well, I like art, I'll give it a try.'"

He printed the application, sent it in and promptly forgot about it. He said he never thought the federal government would accept him as a coin designer, but a few months later, the call came in.

"That was really incredible," he said. "That was probably the biggest high I've had since I've been a part of this. Just finding out I was accepted was unbelievable."

Masters became part of the Mint's new Artistic Infusion Program, which currently consists of 16 artists from all over America. According to the U.S. Mint Web site, the program aims to provide "the Nation's artists the opportunity to contribute beautiful designs to coins that will be enjoyed by all Americans."

He immediately started working on assignments, following exact procedures laid out by the Mint. Assignments vary from changes to traditional coinage to special editions commemorating events and organizations. All the artists in the program are sent packets outlining the assignment. A narrative outlining the desired effect is included as well.

"Sometimes it can be very straightforward, like a portrait of somebody," Masters said. "Sometimes it's more open-ended where it's more abstract and unfinished."

Masters said the designers usually get about three to four weeks to work on a particular assignment.

"We draw our image by hand; we're all traditional artists in that sense, using pencil," he said. He draws on a sheet of plain paper inside a circle eight inches in diameter, scans it into the computer and adds text to the coin.

All the designers assigned to a particular coin are in competition to have their design accepted and eventually minted.

"Since the beginning it's always been the same; we're given the assignments and we all work independently of each other," he said. "So it's like somewhat of a friendly design competition."

After completing four designs, Masters created a "winning" look with his design for the reverse of the Nebraska state quarter in 2006.

It depicts a covered wagon driving past Chimney Rock. Masters attended the commemorative ceremony in Lincoln, Nebr., but he wasn't the guest of honor. In fact, he didn't even get free quarters.

"I'm like anyone else," he said.

Masters received the assignment for the 2009 penny back in April 2007. There will be four reverses released every three months or so, and Masters was assigned to the first design symbolizing Lincoln's roots. He said the narrative hinted at the use of a log cabin.

"Of course it's been American lore for a long time that Lincoln was our log cabin president, born of very humble beginnings in a log cabin who rose up to become not only a president, but one of our greatest presidents, considering the time period in which this country was at war with itself," he said.

He decided to work from a late-19th century photo of a log cabin that had long been considered to be the place where Lincoln was born.

Although that was disproved fairly recently, "It's sort of the one that everyone thinks of as his cabin," he said.

He submitted his design in early summer, and it went through various revisions. Masters pointed out that many people don't know the complex process of creating a new coin design.

"It's all mandated through Congress and signed into law by the president," Masters said of the schedule for creating new coins and special editions.

Then the various designs go to different advisory committees for suggestions, and the designs selected have to be approved by the mint and the treasury secretary. Then the design is sent to the Mint's sculptor-engravers to be made into a coin.

Masters' simple log cabin design went through all those steps before he got the call in May of this year confirming that his design would grace millions of pennies that will circulate throughout the U.S.

"And of course I couldn't tell anybody," Masters said with a laugh. "Only immediate family, anyone that I knew would not talk to the press," since the mint is very cautious about information getting out before they reveal it to the public.

Masters said people have been asking him about it, but the local newspapers haven't covered it and a lot of people still haven't heard.

"It trickles out slowly," he said. "You can kind of find out who reads the papers and stuff, because I don't say anything."

His humility is common among coin designers. He considers coins to be in the realm of public art; the object is recognizable but the creator is not.

"If I told you, 'Felix Schlag, what does that name mean to you?'" he said, pointing out that it's not a household name. "Well, you've been carrying his nickel around for the last 70 years."

But Masters has no desire for fame, and the extra $2000 he gets paid for an accepted design isn't exactly a fortune.

"It's kind of fun to be sort of anonymous, just be incognito, just be a member of the public and enjoy it.," he said. "It's not about us, it's about the designs."

So far this year the Mint has produced more than 4 billion pennies, and last year it reported producing more than 7 billion.

Masters said the Mint is predicting a large demand for the special pennies, so it may be producing more and cutting down on nickels, dimes and quarters.

Director of the U.S. Mint Edward Moy said, "This is a momentous occasion in the history of our Nation's coinage because these designs represent the first change in the Lincoln cent in half a century."

Masters' designs will be released into circulation Feb. 12, 2009. Masters said he plans to continue designing for the Mint "as long as I'm invited back."

While his art is carried in pockets and purses across America, he'll be on campus teaching class and in his office, working on the next coin design.

Source: Advance-Titan