Proposed designs for a Best of the Mint Silver Companion Medal Program to be executed by the United States Mint for the nation’s 2026 Semiquincentennial celebration were considered July 16 by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee during the second day of the panel’s two-day teleconference on YouTube.

The medals for the program are thematically tied to five classic U.S. coins, deemed iconic by collectors, that the Mint plans to strike and issue as .9999 fine gold coins in 2026.

According to U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White, the finish used both for the gold coins and companion silver medals will be Uncirculated, and not a Proof finish.

Designs of the pieces to be offered in the Best of the Mint program were the consensus of 29,000 participants, many of them collectors, in a public online poll in late 2023. The list was pared down from a roster of 21 coins proposed by the Mint.

Four of the five 2026 gold coins celebrating the Mint’s roll in American history were originally produced by the Mint in silver alloys. The five 2026 gold coins are:
➤ A tenth-ounce gold coin using the designs from the 1916 Winged Liberty Head silver dime.
➤ A quarter-ounce gold coin using the designs from 1916 Standing Liberty silver quarter dollar.
➤ A half-ounce gold coin using the designs from the 1916 Walking Liberty silver half dollar.
➤ A 1-ounce gold coin using the designs from the 1804 Draped Bust, Class I silver dollar.
➤ A 1-ounce .9999 fine gold coin using the designs from the 1907 Saint-Gaudens, Roman Numerals (MCMVII), High Relief gold $20 double eagle.

1916 Winged Liberty Head dime

The Winged Liberty Head dime series was the first of two by sculptor Adolph A. Weinman introduced in 1916 (the other being the 1916 Walking Liberty half dollar series).

Weinman’s dime obverse has a bold central motif: a head of Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap, symbolizing freedom of thought.

“From this design element, the coin would come to be known as the ‘Mercury dime,’ hearkening to the winged helmet of Mercury, the messenger of the ancient Roman gods,” according to the Mint’s design narrative.

“The reverse features another symbol from ancient Rome, the fasces — a bundle of rods bound around a battle axe. According to Weinman in a letter to the editor of the American Numismatic Association’s journal, The Numismatist, the dime represents ‘strength which lies in unity” and “preparedness to defend the Union.’ The fasces are wrapped in an olive branch, ‘symbolical of our love of peace.’ The Winged Liberty Head dime was a workhorse coin of American commerce by the time the United States entered the Great War in 1917. It served the nation through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and World War II,” having been minted in the billions at three different U.S. Mints.

The proposed design pair supported by the CCAC for the 2026 companion silver medal “recall the period of 1916 through 1945, when the Mercury Dime was in circulation, representing years of great change and upheaval, both foreign and domestic, for the United States. Observing that during this period the United States would enter two world wars, the artist depicts Liberty in both defensive and offensive positions. The obverse design extends to the reverse with rays emitting from the tip of the sword, symbolic of hope at the end of conflict. The Great Depression is represented by the ‘Hooverville’ shacks and the Dust Bowl by the swirling waves in the background.”

1916 Standing Liberty quarter dollar

Sculptor Hermon A. MacNeil’s Bare Breast design of a nurturing Liberty on the 1916 Standing Liberty quarter dollar and initially on quarter dollars of 1917 was modified later in 1917 by chain mail covering Liberty’s chest, a suitable change in attire as the nation prepared for war.

Liberty retained her firm grip on both the shield and olive branch on the modified obverse. In 1917, the quarter dollars produced for circulation were released as the United States entered World War I.

The favored design pair for the 2026 companion silver medal to the 2026 Standing Liberty quarter-ounce gold quarter dollar coin illustrates “a windswept Liberty [as she] turns to offer a distant eagle the olive branches in her hand. The reverse shows a closeup of the olive branches in the eagle’s talons that Liberty was holding up on the obverse,” according to the Mint’s description.

1916 Walking Liberty half dollar

Designs for the Walking Liberty half dollar reflect Weinman’s second win in 1916, from the Treasury Department’s design competition to succeed the Seated Liberty designs of the half dollar.

His new design shows a full-length view of Liberty wrapped in a flowing American flag, walking toward the rising sun and gesturing toward the dawn of a new day. The laurel and oak branches she carries are symbolic of the nation’s civic and military glory. On the reverse, an impressive eagle stands on a rocky crag, unfolding its wings. The eagle and a tenacious sapling of mountain pine growing from the rock represent America.

The favored proposed design pair for the 2026 companion silver medal for the gold Walking Liberty half dollar “reimagines the elements from the Liberty Walking Half Dollar as a single scene across the obverse and reverse, illustrated in the art deco style that succeeded Weinman’s neoclassical style.

Class I 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar

None of the nine known examples of original Class I 1804 Draped Bust dollars were struck at the Philadelphia Mint during the calendar year that appears on their obverse.

All of the known examples were struck circa 1834 or 1835 for inclusion in Presentation Proof sets for distribution to diplomats in the Far East as a means of opening trade channels

The favored designs for the 2026 companion silver medal, according to the Mint’s design narrative, “draw inspiration from elements in the 1804 silver dollar’s design and its mission. The flowing ribbon in Liberty’s hair is reflected in the flowing, ribbon-like hair in [the favored obverse]. The clouds arced above the eagle on the historic coin appear in the braid encircling Liberty’s head on the obverse and around the globe on the reverse, symbolic of the diplomatic journey of the famed 1804-dated silver dollars.”

1907 Saint-Gaudens, High Relief $20 gold coin

As conceived, American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ vision for a $20 gold double eagle was to be produced in a higher relief than had ever been executed before.

According to Mint narrative, “The chosen obverse design, a front-facing Liberty striding forward, was partly based on a monumental statue that Saint-Gaudens was simultaneously working on: General William Tecumseh Sherman on horseback being led by Victory, which now stands at the corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue in New York City. As originally conceived, the double eagle would be struck in much higher relief than other coins to date, and experiments were conducted at the Philadelphia Mint to realize this vision. In the end, it was deemed impractical to strike the coins for circulation in such high relief. The coins eventually issued retained the beauty and dynamism of Saint-Gaudens’ design but were of a lower relief. Sadly, Saint-Gaudens died of cancer before the first double eagles were released.”

The CCAC-favored designs for the 2026 gold $20 coin’s companion silver medal, according to the Mint narrative, “interpret elements of the 1907 $20 Gold Coin through a reimagined view of Saint-Gaudens’ Liberty carrying a torch and the eagle’s wings as an American flag in a new vision of strength and pride.”

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