On Wednesday, March 29, the United States Mint announced that it will begin selling its 2017-dated American Liberty $100 gold coin on April 6.

The next day, Thursday, March 30, the Mint unveiled a beautiful new set of silver medals based on the designs of the gold coin. The medals were unveiled in a revolving turntable display in theMint's impressive exhibit at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo, held in the Baltimore Convention Center.

Each of the .999 fine silver medals will be struck at a different mint facility-Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, or West Point-and each sports a distinctive finish: Uncirculated ("Burnished"),Proof, Reverse Proof, or Enhanced Uncirculated. This is similar to the set of silver Kennedy half dollars struck to mark the 50th anniversary of that coin in 2014.

I spoke with James Pressley, the Mint's retail sales manager, at the Baltimore Expo. He told me that mintage and household ordering limits aren't being publicized yet. Stay tuned for moredetails.

"Show us 21st-century Liberty," said CCAC member Donald Scarinci in support of the chosen design. "Show us Liberty in a new and contemporary way, and let's shed these Civil War symbols, thesehundred-year-old symbols that really don't have the emotional impact to contemporary Americans that they did 100 years ago." Scarinci praised the Mint for moving forward, beyond rehashing old classiccoinage designs. "Weinman and Saint-Gaudens are dead; let's get over it," he said. "It's as impossible for them to do contemporary designs as it is for contemporary artists to redo their designswithout looking trite and imitative, so let's not. We don't need to. We need to find Liberty in a new and modern way for the 21st century."

Committee member Jeanne Stevens-Sollman thanked the Mint's artists for their work. "I want to talk about the obverse and I also want to compliment the Mint staff artists that presented thisportfolio, because it is just really outstanding for the most part and I was very happy to see the diversification that you gave us. It's very wonderful. Thank you."

Committee member Robert Hoge observed, "I have to say I think this is one of the most beautiful suites of images that I've seen in any presentation. I'm excited that we have so many new, wonderfulimages of Liberty, and I wouldn't be disappointed with any of these. I do have to say I think Number 8 is my favorite, along with a lot of the rest of you. We've talked about whether or not theseimages are neoclassical or classicizing. Really there are only a few that are not. I think we probably need to accept that, because the whole idea of Liberty actually is a classical concept, so Iwouldn't worry about it."

To read the complete article, see:
EXCLUSIVE! New 2017 American Liberty Silver Medals Unveiled at theWhitman Baltimore Expo (http://news.coinupdate.com/exclusive-new-2017-american-liberty-silver-medals-unveiled-at-the-whitman-baltimore-expo/)