WASHINGTON — The United States Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing – the sole producers of our Nation’s legal tender coins and paper currency – are pleased to announce the release of the Making American History Coin and Currency Set on August 7 at noon Eastern Time (ET). The set, which marks the United States Mint’s 220th anniversary and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s 150th anniversary, includes one 2012 American Eagle Silver Proof Coin and one Series 2009 $5 note.
The 2012 American Eagle Silver Proof Coin honors the artistry and design of our Nation’s coins and the heritage of coin production at the United States Mint at San Francisco. The coin’s obverse (heads side) features a modern rendition of sculptor Adolph Weinman’s “Walking Liberty” design, originally prepared for the circulating half–dollar in 1916. The coin’s reverse (tails side), by former United States Mint Sculptor–Engraver John Mercanti, features a design reminiscent of the heraldic eagle as it appeared on earlier coins. It bears the “S” mint mark, representing its minting at the United States Mint at San Francisco.
The Series 2009 $5 note commemorates the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s century–and–a–half of service with a serial number beginning with “150.” It bears the signatures of Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios, and the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank designation. The face of the Series 2009 $5 note features the portrait of President Lincoln engraved in 1998 by William Fleishell III and Thomas Hipschen. The back of the note features a vignette of the east façade of the Lincoln Memorial, also engraved by Hipschen in 1998.
The Making American History Coin and Currency Set is priced at $72.95 each. Orders will be accepted at the United States Mint’s Web site, http://www.usmint.gov/catalog, and at 1–800–USA–MINT (872–6468). Hearing– and speech–impaired customers with TTY equipment may order at 1–888–321–MINT (6468). A shipping and handling fee of $4.95 will be added to all domestic orders placed on the Internet or by phone. It will also be available for sale at the American Numismatic Association’s annual convention in Philadelphia August 7 – 11; the United States Mint Headquarters sales counter and Union Station kiosk in Washington, D.C.; the stores at the United States Mint facilities at Philadelphia and Denver; and the two Bureau of Engraving and Printing stores located in Washington and Ft. Worth, Texas. There is no household order limit for this set.
On April 2, 1792, the United States Mint was created by an Act of Congress to produce the Nation’s legal tender coinage. The bureau operates six facilities across the country, each having unique functions. These are the Headquarters in Washington, D.C.; the production facilities in Philadelphia, West Point, N.Y., Denver, and San Francisco; and the United States Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Ky. On July 11, 1862, an Act of Congress empowered the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase equipment and hire employees to engrave and print currency notes in the Department of the Treasury. This operation later became the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. From a small operation in the basement of the Treasury building, BEP now occupies more than two square blocks in downtown Washington and 100 acres outside Fort Worth.
Note: To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, orders placed prior to the official on–sale date and time of August 7, 2012, at noon ET, shall not be deemed accepted by the United States Mint and will not be honored. For more information, please review the United States Mint’s Frequently Asked Questions, Answer ID #175.