A ceremonial striking of the Proof 2024-W Harriet Tubman Bicentennial $5 gold commemorative coin was held Nov. 30 at the West Point Mint in New York, adjacent to the U.S. Military Academy.

The .900 fine gold commemorative coin is limited to an output of 50,000 coins in Proof and Uncirculated versions combined, both being produced at the West Point Mint.

Guests attending the ceremony were:
➤ Woodrow “Woody” Keown: president and chief operating officer, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
➤ Stephanie M. Lampkin: curator, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
➤ Bishop Dennis Proctor: presiding prelate, North Eastern Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Zion Church.
➤ Daren Jaime: pastor of People’s A.M.E Zion Church, Syracuse, NY.

Representing the U.S. Mint were:
➤ U.S. Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson.
➤ Special advisor Betty Birdsong.
➤ Chief of staff, Todd Baldau.
➤ Rosa Williams.
➤ Jill Westeyn, public affairs specialist, photographer and social media manager.
➤ Rosa Matos.
➤ Ellen McCullom, superintendent of the West Point Mint.
➤ Keith B. Adams, associate director of sales and marketing.
➤ Press operator Javan Turner, whose official title is “metal forming machine operator.”

The ceremonial strikes were executed on a Graebener GMP 360 coinage press with the dies oriented to strike vertically, the obverse serving as the hammer die and the reverse as the anvil die. Each Proof-polished planchet received three strikes from the obverse and reverse dies, with machinery set at a striking pressure of 68 to 72 metric tons per strike.

The production dies exhibit mirror-polished flat fields contrasted against design elements that are laser-frosted to create a frosted finish on those raised elements on the coin. The planchets were placed one at a time into the coinage chamber by Turner, who used tongs and wore cotton gloves on his hands.

Those striking a coin pushed two buttons simultaneously to engage the coinage press. The protective security gate lowered, and the obverse and reverse dies came together three times as the reeded edge and edge device was imparted by the third die, the collar die, before ejection of the coin from the coinage chamber.

According to signage on the coinage press, “Postive air pressure must be maintained in presses to keep contaminants out. (Air blows outward when window opens.)”

After each participant in the ceremony had an opportunity to strike one of the Proof gold coins and the struck coin was ejected from the coinage chamber, the struck coin was removed from the coinage press with tongs.

Each struck coin was individually placed into a paper coin flip marked with the name of the person striking the coin and the numerical order in which the coin was struck.

According to U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White, “The coins will be held until we start shipping to customers, at which time everyone who struck a coin can purchase the coin they struck.” Should any of those who struck a coin chose not to purchase it, those coins will be returned to the Mint’s inventory for packaging and sale, without designation as having been struck at the ceremony.

Designs

The $5 coin’s obverse was designed by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program designer Chris Costello and sculpted by U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Joseph F. Menna.

Its obverse features a portrait of Harriet Tubman from her years following the Civil War, looking confidently into the distance, toward the future.

The reverse, designed by AIP designer Ben Sowards and sculpted by Mint Medallic Artist Eric David Custer, depicts both arms of an individual, with hands firmly clasping the arm and hand of another individual, symbolizing the aid and care that Harriet Tubman offered to others throughout her life. Encircling the central design are inscriptions of Harriet Tubman’s seven core values, including FAITH, FREEDOM, FAMILY, COMMUNITY, SELF-DETERMINATION, SOCIAL JUSTICE, and EQUALITY.

The denomination is rendered as $5.

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