What an exciting year 2016 has been for coin enthusiasts ?!! In April we saw the release of the Mercury Dime Centennial Gold coin and it became unavailable within an hour. More about that here. The second in line this year was the Standing Liberty quarter designed in 1916 by Hermon Atkins Macneil. It has been honored with the Standing Liberty 2016 Centennial Gold coin released on Sep 8th 2016. Each coin has one-quarter troy ounce of 24-karat gold symbolic of the denomination of the original quarter dollar.

1916 Standing Liberty quarter - The History and design

Robert W. Woolley, Director of the Mint in 1915, set in motion the redesign of the Dime, Quarter and the Half Dollar. (Read more about how that influenced the design of the American Silver Eagle here.) Woolley had asked the Chief Mint Engraver Barber to redesign the coins for the Dime, Quarter and Half Dollar. When Barber submitted his designs, it wasn't favorably viewed by the Commission of Fine arts.They selected sculptors,Adolph Weinman, Hermon MacNeil and Albin Polasek for submitting designs for the three coins. Weinman's designs were selected for the Dime and the Half Dollar. MacNeil's design was chosen for the Quarter.When Woolley announced that his designs were rejected, Barber was unhappy and wasn't very cooperative with the new designers.

MacNeil's design shows a majestic bare-breasted(right) Liberty facing in the direction of the European War. Her 'stars and stripes' shield also faces east. She seems to be striding through a gate in a wall with the inscription 'IN GOD WE TRVST' (The U shaped as a V). She holds an olive branch in her right hand. MacNeil suggested that Liberty was 'stepping forward in... the defense of peace as her ultimate goal.'[1]

In 1917,MacNeil was advised to provide some revisions to the design he submitted earlier in 1916. Maybe due to the United States entering into war with Germany that year, MacNeil covered the bare right breast with chain-mail. As commented by Numismatist Ray Young, 'If Liberty was going to stand up to her foes, she should do so fully-protected not 'naked to her enemies'[1]

2016 Standing LibertyCentennial Gold coin

The 2016 Standing Liberty Centennial Gold coin was released with a household order limit of 1 and a set price of $485.Each coin contains one quarter troy ounce of 24karat gold, symbolic of the coins denomination.

The obverse features the original design of MacNeil's Liberty holding a shield and olive branch as she strides through an opening in a wall bearing 13 stars. It has the inscriptions of LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, AU 24K, 1/4 oz., and 2016.The reverse shows an eagle in flight flanked by 13 stars. It has the inscriptions of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, and QUARTER DOLLAR.The coin was struck at West point mint with a mintage of 100,000. MacNeil's initial 'M' can be seen above and right of the 6 in the date, right of the star.

 

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_Liberty_quarter

This entry was posted in Gold coins on September 15, 2016 by lavanya kannan