Collecting Friends: Coin Revivals

Coin Revivals

Dennis: A seed was planted in American numismatics in the 1980s, and, to paraphrase the old saying, “from that little acorn a mighty oak has grown.” The seed was Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s “Striding Liberty” design from the old 1907–1933 $20 gold coin, updated slightly and put into use on the American Gold Eagle bullion coin launched in October 1986. It was followed a few weeks later with the return of Adolph Weinman’s “Walking Liberty” design—last seen on the silver half dollar a generation earlier, and repurposed for the American Silver Eagle.

These were the first revivals of classic U.S. coin designs in modern coinage programs. They were far from the last. Since then, this approach has brought back the 1913–1938 Buffalo nickel in the form of the 2001 American Buffalo silver dollar and the 24-karat American Buffalo gold coins (2008 to date). The 1907 Saint-Gaudens double eagle was again recreated in 2009, in a modern Ultra High Relief coin. In 2016 three classic designs—the Mercury dime, the Standing Liberty quarter, and the Liberty Walking half dollar—were brought back in gold versions celebrating their 100th anniversary.

Image: 2013 24-karat American Buffalo gold coin. [Courtesy U.S. Mint]

Sales have proven these born-again coins to be very popular. Collectors bought nearly 125,000 of the gold Mercury dimes, 92,000 of the gold Standing Liberty quarters, and 66,000 of the gold Liberty Walking half dollars.

Can this process of rebirth go too far? Will demand dry up if the Mint launches more revivals, or will collectors always be excited by the famous and popular classic designs? We’ll soon see when the Mint brings the Mercury dime, Standing Liberty quarter, and Liberty Walking half dollar back to the stage for another bow, in 2026, as part of its “Best of the Mint” program. Personally, I think collectors who missed the chance to get them in 2016 will jump at the new opportunity, and those who did buy the 2016 coins will want the 2026 versions, too, to keep their collections complete.

But what about the rebirth of a modern coin design? If the United States Marine Corps has its way, the revival won’t stop with the classics, but will expand into modern numismatics. In 2025 the Mint will issue commemoratives for the 250th anniversary of the USMC. Retired major general James Lukeman, president and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, has recommended designs for the 2025 silver dollar that are very similar to the 2005 commemorative silver dollar issued for the Corps’ 230th anniversary. The obverse will be the raising of the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima. The reverse will show the eagle, globe, and anchor emblem of the USMC. 

Image: The 2005 U.S. Marine Corps 230th Anniversary commemorative silver dollar. [Courtesy U.S. Mint]

Chief Engraver Joseph Menna points out that the Marine Corps coin made for 2025 will be vastly different from the one made in 2005, even if the design motifs are the same, thanks to modern sculpturing sophistication. He likens it to the 1968 Charles Portis novel True Grit. A movie version was made with John Wayne in 1969, considered an American classic. Then the Coen Brothers made a version released in 2010, thought by many critics to be even better than the 1969 film. In an April 2024 meeting of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, Menna said, “You will have a much richer and joyful, visually obviously different and more powerful sculpture than we did [in 2005], despite the fact that I think that was ‘Coin of the Year.’”

Image: The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s recommended designs for the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps 250th Anniversary commemorative silver dollar. [Courtesy U.S. Mint]

Some collectors might scoff at two silver dollars so similar in design. But I think many will delight in the chance to own both, hold them side by side, and compare their fine details, separated by twenty years and defined by different artistic sensibilities.

Steve, what are your thoughts on revivals of U.S. coin designs?

Steve: Dennis, it’s interesting in that I’ve been doing a lot of work lately with the artist Andy Warhol. Warhol made use of appropriation, which the Museum of Modern Art calls, “the intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of existing images and objects.” His work took pre-existing elements and images, sometimes with few alterations to the originals, and presented them in a new context. 

With U.S. coins, the most successful have been when the original designs get new life in their new form. The 2009 Ultra High Relief gold coin issued that revived Saint-Gaudens’ 1907 Ultra High Relief double eagle gold pattern comes to mind in that the original is unattainable to collectors, and the new format allowed it to be enjoyed by many people. I’d like to think that the sculptor would be pleased with how these 2009 issues turned out and that more than 100,000 people could celebrate his artistry in this beautifully-made piece. 

From my viewpoint, modern usages of classic designs are less successful conceptually, like the 2016-W “Winged Liberty Head” (Mercury) dime, Standing Liberty quarter dollar and Walking Liberty half dollar centennial issues struck in .9999 gold for collectors. They revived popular designs, but the designs were already accessible in their original formats, so the revivals didn’t provide new life or add any context to the original issues. 

Images: 2016-W “Winged Liberty Head” (Mercury) dime, Standing Liberty quarter dollar and Walking Liberty half dollar centennial issues. [Courtesy U.S. Mint]

Warhol was known as a Pop artist, and said, “Pop artists did images that anyone walking down the street would recognize in a split second—comics, picnic tables, men's pants, celebrities, refrigerators, Coke bottles.” Among collectors, the most-revived designs are also the most familiar, adding instant credibility to a new issue. The 2006 San Francisco Old Mint Centennial commemorative silver dollars and gold $5 issues are examples of how a design revival can add context to an issue in a meaningful way: the issue uses the reverse designs of the Morgan dollar and Coronet $5 half eagles struck at the Old San Francisco Mint. This reuse aligns with the issue’s purpose and history of the mint that it recognizes. At the same time, to me, the 2001 American Buffalo silver dollar commemorative program, while wildly popular, takes a design meant to be on a 5-cent piece, smooths it out, and uses it for a silver dollar, making it look like a silver round in the process. 

Be on the lookout for another installment of Collecting Friends next month or subscribe here and never miss a post! In the meantime, explore beautiful coins from the ANA's Edward C. Rochette Money Museum Virtual Exhibits.

About the Collecting Friends Blog

Hello! And welcome to the ANA’s blog series, “Collecting Friends.”

We decided to approach this much like a conversation between friends. One of us starts with a topic, then the other responds. Simple as that. Along those lines, we’ll keep the tone conversational as much as possible. 

We both write about coins professionally, and will keep our relative style guides in our writing. For Dennis, Publisher at Whitman Publishing, that means capitalizing “Proof” and italicizing Red Book and never saying anything bad about Ken Bressett, who’s awesome anyway. 

For Steve, who’s written with Coin World for 15 years, it means Winged Liberty Head dime instead of “Mercury” dime, and similar nuances and oddities. And, it means writing A Guide Book of United States Coins (better known as the “Red Book”). 

Both of us started collecting when we were little, introduced to coins by a chance encounter with an old coin that sparked our curiosity. One of Steve’s interests is coin valuation, and he gravitates towards the intersection of art and coins. Dennis enjoys medals and world coins, and studying modern U.S. coins in the context of older series, what came before.

We met in 2012 at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia at an event hosted by the Austrian Mint where there was both a Ben Franklin and a Betsy Ross impersonator. We’ve become great friends in the past decade. We even were appointed together to sit on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee starting in 2016, but Steve resigned soon after he was appointed to accept a full-time job at the Treasury Department while Dennis was re-appointed in 2020.

We taught a course together on numismatic publishing and writing a few years ago at the Summer Seminar, and while life has gotten in the way of us teaching another class, we jumped at our friend Caleb’s suggestion that we write a column. We hope you enjoy it! 

About the American Numismatic Association

The American Numismatic Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and encouraging people to study and collect coins and related items. The Association serves collectors, the general public, and academic communities with an interest in numismatics.

The ANA helps all people discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of educational programs including its museum, library, publications, conventions and numismatic seminars.