Proposed designs for a gold $25 coin and silver and bronze medals to mark 75th anniversary of the end of World War II were recommended Jan.16 by the Commission of Fine Arts.

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee was  scheduled to consider Jan. 21 the same 10 proposed obverse and 14 proposed reverse designs.

The U.S. Mint plans to issue a half-ounce .9999 fine gold $25 coin. Mint officials have not disclosed additional specifications, such as diameter, surface finish and mintages.

The Mint will also produce a 0.9-ounce .999 fine silver medal and a bronze medal. Details of specifications have not yet been disclosed.

The designs selected for the medals will replicate those that appear on the coin except without the denomination and mandated inscriptions for coinage.

The CFA-recommended obverse, according to the Mint’s narrative description, “features a close up of an eagle in flight grasping an olive branch in his right talon. The design is inspired by the 1945 version of the Great Seal of the United States where the eagle was turned to face towards the olive branches and toward peace.”

A press release issued after the new design was recommended noted, “the Eagle not only faces to its right — the direction of honor — but also toward the olive branches of peace which it holds in its right talon. Formerly the eagle faced toward the arrows in its left talon — arrows, symbolic of war.”

Reverse recommendation 

The proposed reverse design recommended by the CFA features “a V for victory, combined with the image of the American flag. Design set 11 includes a palm branch representing victory, and an olive branch representing peace.”

The surrender of the Germans on May 7, 1945, brought an end to World War II in Europe. Hostilities between the United States and its Allies against Japan ended with the Sept. 2, 1945, signing of surrender papers aboard the USS Missouri.

The formal end of World War II was recognized with the 1951 signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, also called the Treaty of Peace with Japan, which re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations to officially end hostilities and to seek redress for actions up to and including World War II.

The treaty was officially signed by 49 nations on Sept. 8, 1951, in San Francisco at the War Memorial Opera House.

The coin and medals for the World War II anniversary are being issued under discretionary authority granted to the Treasury secretary.

The U.S. Mint pursued the recognition since no commemorative coin legislation introduced to mark the same 75th anniversary was gaining any traction toward passage in Congress.

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