American Liberty High Relief gold coin, silver medal

By Paul Gilkes

Published: Mar 16, 2016, 6 AM

Whichever designs receive final approval from the Treasury secretary for the 2017 American Liberty High Relief .9999 fine gold $100 coin, the same designs will be used also for the .999 fine silver companion medal, except without the coin inscriptions.

Original images courtesy of U.S. Mint.

The CCAC recommends an obverse depicting a profile of Liberty as an African-American woman wearing a crown of stars, a nod to the Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol dome. The reverse the group likes depicts a bold and powerful eagle in flight, its eyes focused toward opportunity, with a determination to attain it.

Images courtesy of U.S. Mint.

Designs for the second American Liberty, High Relief gold $100 coin to be struck and issued by the U.S. Mint were recommended March 15 by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

The designs recommended for the 2017 .9999 fine gold coin will be replicated, without the coin inscriptions, on High Relief .999 fine silver companion medals.

The CCAC-recommended obverse for the 2017 release has a profile portrait of Liberty depicted as an African-American woman, wearing a crown of stars, an homage to the Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol dome. The 15,000-pound plaster model for the original statue is the centerpiece of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitors Center.

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The reverse design the CCAC recommends depicts a bold and powerful eagle in flight, its eye focused toward opportunity with a determination to attain it.

The 23 obverse designs and 14 reverse designs reviewed by the CCAC will be reviewed March 17 by the Commission of Fine Arts for their recommendations.

The 2017 gold coin is the second High Relief gold coin to be struck, with a 2015 coin being the first. Both were struck at the West Point Mint and bear the facility's W Mint mark.

2017 will be the second year for a companion silver medal to be issued.

For 2016, the U.S. Mint plans to strike two silver medals, one at the San Francisco Mint and one at West Point, each bearing the S or W Mint mark of the facility where the medal is struck. Designs for both 2016 silver medals will be the same as the obverse and reverse designs of the 2015-W American Liberty, High Relief gold $100 coin.

No silver medal was issued in conjunction with the 2015 High Relief gold coin.

Details for the release dates for the 2016 issues have not yet been announced by the U.S. Mint.

Keep reading our March 15 CCAC meeting coverage: