Joseph F. Menna, a member of the U.S. Mint’s engraving staff for the past 14 years, is the 13th chief engraver of the United States Mint. He was named to the post Feb. 4 by U.S. Mint Director David J. Ryder.

The chief engraver’s position was removed from presidential appointment under 1996 Mint reform legislation. The legislation also changed the positions of assayer and superintendent at the Denver, Philadelphia, San Francisco and West Point Mints to career positions from being five-year presidential appointments.

The last chief engraver to be presidentially appointed was Elizabeth Jones, the 11th, who retired in 1991. The chief engraver’s post officially remained vacant for 15 years after Jones’ retirement. 

In 2006, then U.S. Mint Director Edmund C. Moy named John Mercanti as the 12th chief engraver, a position defined as supervisor of design and master tooling development specialist.

In his new assignment, Menna will have chief supervisory responsibilities for the members of the U.S. Mint’s engraving staff — currently sculptor-engravers Phebe Hemphill, Renata Gordon and Michael Gaudioso — as well as the ancillary U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program.

The members of the engraving staff design and sculpt their own work, and also sculpt designs by the AIP artists that are selected for use. 

The engraving staff is down two sculptor-engravers following the March 31, 2016, and July 31, 2017, retirements, respectively, of sculptor-engravers Charles L. Vickers and Donald Everhart II.

U.S. Mint officials have not disclosed any plans being undertaken to fill those vacancies.

Joins the Mint

Menna, who joined the Mint’s engraving staff at the Philadelphia Mint in 2005 as a medallic artist, now brings 32 years of professional experience and classical training to his new position. Menna was the first full-time digitally skilled artist hired by the United States Mint. Menna was instrumental in the development of the Mint’s first digitally sculptured coins and continues to distinguish himself as a leader in this constantly evolving craft, according to U.S. Mint officials.

Prior to joining the Mint, Menna worked as a sculptor and instructor at the Johnson Atelier Fine Art Foundry in Mercer County, New Jersey, creating life-sized figures and working digitally on projects for a variety of clients.

Concurrently, he pursued his own sculpting and created many works, notably a seven-foot tall copper-nickel statue for the Grounds for Sculpture and a temporary 30-foot-tall monument for the Hamilton train station in Hamilton, New Jersey.

Menna’s work has won multiple Krause Publications’ Coin of the Year awards in various categories. Menna has been honored both for coins he sculptured and designed and for coins he sculptured from other artists’ designs.

Menna’s full catalog of works for the Mint are listed below:

Design, Sculpting Credits

The secretary of the Treasury selected these designs by Menna for use on a coin or medal. Menna also executed the sculpts required to produce these coins and medals.

??2018 World War I Centennial silver medals (Marine Corps) — reverse

??2018 World War I Centennial silver medals (Air Service) — reverse

??2017 Bob Dole congressional gold medal — obverse

??2016 National Park Service 100th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar obverse

??2015 Presidential $1 Coins — Dwight D. Eisenhower obverse

??2014 Presidential $1 Coins — Franklin Roosevelt obverse

??2014 Shimon Peres congressional gold medal — reverse

??2013 Presidential $1 Coins — Theodore Roosevelt obverse

??2013 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine reverse

??2013 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Mount Rushmore National Park reverse

??2012 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Frances Cleveland (Term 2) reverse

??2011 Fallen Heroes of 9/11 congressional gold medals — Flight 93 obverse

??2011 Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Program — gold half eagle reverse

??2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program — Commonwealth of Puerto Rico reverse

??2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program — U.S. Virgin Islands reverse

??2009 Presidential $1 Coins — William Henry Harrison obverse

??2008 Code Talkers recognition congressional gold medal — Cherokee Nation reverse

??2008 Code Talkers recognition congressional gold medal — Seminole Nation reverse

??2008 Presidential $1 Coins — James Monroe obverse

??2008 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Louisa Adams reverse

??2007 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Martha Washington obverse

??2007 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Abigail Adams obverse

??2007 50 State Quarters Program — Utah reverse

??2007 Presidential $1 Coins — George Washington obverse

??2007 Presidential $1 Coins — Thomas Jefferson obverse

??2006 Dalai Lama congressional gold medal — reverse

Design Credits

The secretary of the Treasury selected these designs by Menna for use on a coin or medal:

??2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Yosemite National Park reverse

??2008 Code Talkers recognition congressional gold medal — Kiowa obverse and reverse

Sculpturing Credits

Menna also executed the sculpts required to produce these coins and medals:

??2019 American Legion Commemorative Coin Program — half dollar reverse

??2019 American Legion Commemorative Coin Program — gold coin reverse

??2018 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Voyageurs National Park reverse

??2018 World War I Centennial silver medals (Air Service) — obverse

??2017 Office of Strategic Services congressional gold medal — obverse

??2017 Filipino Veterans of World War II congressional gold medal — reverse

??2017 Lions Clubs International Centennial Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar obverse

??2017 Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar obverse and reverse

??2016 Presidential $1 Coins — Ronald Reagan obverse

??2016 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Nancy Reagan obverse

??2016 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Cumberland Gap National Historical Park reverse

??2016 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) reverse

??2016 Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Program — gold half eagle reverse

??2015 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Kisatchie National Forest reverse

??2015 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Blue Ridge Parkway reverse

??2015 U.S. Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar reverse

??2014 American Eagle Platinum Proof Coin Program — reverse

??2014 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Everglades National Park reverse

??2014 Native American $1 Coin — reverse

??2014 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Florence Harding obverse

??2013 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Edith Roosevelt obverse

??2013 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Victims congressional gold medal — reverse

??2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar reverse

??2013 5-Star Generals Commemorative Coin Program — gold half eagle reverse

??2013 5-Star Generals Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar obverse and reverse

??2012 Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Program — gold coin obverse and reverse

??2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Acadia National Park reverse

??2011 Native American $1 Coin — reverse

??2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Vicksburg National Military Park reverse

??2011 United States Army Commemorative Coin Program — gold half eagle reverse

??2011 United States Army Commemorative Coin Program — half dollar reverse

??2011 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Lucy Hayes reverse

??2011 September 11 National Medal — reverse

??2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Program — Hot Springs National Park reverse

??2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar reverse

??2010 Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin — Preservation of the Union reverse

??2010 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Abigail Fillmore reverse

??2010 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — James Buchanan’s Liberty reverse

??2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin — Presidency in Washington reverse

??2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Program — silver dollar reverse

??2009 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program — Anna Harrison obverse

??2008 50 State Quarters Program — Arizona reverse

??2008 Bald Eagle Commemorative Coin Program — half dollar obverse

??2008 Code Talkers recognition congressional gold medal — Tonto Apache Tribe obverse

??2008 Code Talkers recognition congressional gold medal — Tlingit Tribe obverse

??2008 Code Talkers recognition congressional gold medal — White Mountain Apache Tribe obverse

??2008 Arnold Palmer congressional gold medal — reverse

??2006 San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Program — gold half eagle obverse.

In addition to his work at the U.S. Mint, he maintains an active freelance career in toys and collectibles, and he is recognized as one of the world’s leading practitioners of digital sculpture. Among his works are numerous statues of comic book characters.

Menna holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture from the University of the Arts, a master of fine arts degree in sculpture from the New York Academy of Art, with post-graduate study at the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Menna’s continuing professional education includes studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Sculpture Center, and the Art Students League. 

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