Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee Meeting Recap (April 2024)
KellenCoin
Posts: 1,195 ✭✭✭✭
My name is Kellen Hoard, and I currently serve as one of the Representatives of the General Public on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. I am an undergraduate student, and the youngest person to ever serve on the Committee. For those of you unfamiliar with the CCAC, it was established in 2003 by Congress to advise the Secretary of the Treasury on the themes and designs of all US coins and medals. The CCAC serves as an informed, experienced and impartial resource to the Secretary of the Treasury and represents the interests of American citizens and collectors.
This is the second installment of my updates about what the CCAC is doing at its meetings. I think it is critical that the collecting community have insight into and input to the CCAC, and will try to answer any questions you may have.
Here is my update for the CCAC meeting on April 16 and April 17, 2024.
Day 1
1. Dean Kotlowski, a former CCAC member, was given a Public Service Award by the Deputy Director of the Mint.
2. Candidate designs for the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal were discussed in consultation with a liaison for the program, Dr. Sheila L. Chamberlain from the Emmett Till Justice Campaign. The design below was selected by the CCAC for recommendation as the obverse. The CCAC also considered eight potential reverse designs, but decided that none merited recommendation to the Secretary at that time. Instead, the committee asked for the Mint to submit a second portfolio of potential reverse designs for consideration.
3. Candidate designs for the 2026 Native American $1 coin were discussed in consultation with multiple liasons for the program. The CCAC did not make a formal recommendation to the Secretary; rather, it asked to review at a later date a revised portfolio which included three designs - 01 with some design elements adjusted/enlarged; 03 with a revised power dynamic/design focus from George Washington to Polly Cooper; and 07. Those designs are below, in order.
4. Candidate designs for the 2025 American Liberty 24K Gold Coin and Silver Medal were discussed. This portfolio had particularly extensive discussion, given that there were 28 potential obverse designs and 22 reverse designs. The program is designed to facilitate the production of coins and medals with modern interpretations of Liberty, and the Mint worked diligently with artists of all stripes to come up with innovative designs. This portfolio included work by street artists, lowbrow pop surrealist artists, comic book artists, tattoo artists, and more, as well as artists who work more traditionally in numismatic mediums. For the gold coin in this series, the CCAC recommended the first two designs below. For the silver medal obverse, the CCAC recommended the third design below. The CCAC felt that no reverse fully complemented that silver obverse, and asked that the Mint develop new reverses for the CCAC's consideration. However, the CCAC noted that if the Mint production timeline does not allow for the development and consideration of a new portfolio of silver reverses, then the medal versions of the CCAC’s recommended gold coin obverse and reverse designs will serve as the default for the silver medal.
Day 2
1. Robin Salmon, a former CCAC member, was given a Public Service Award by the Deputy Director of the Mint.
2. Candidate designs for the United States Marine Corps 250th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Program were discussed in consultation with the liaison for the program, Major General James Lukeman of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. The program will include a clad half dollar, silver dollar, and gold $5. The CCAC approved the liason's preferences, which include a common reverse (pictured immediately below) and the following clad, silver, and gold obverses (pictured in order below). 
3. The single candidate design for the Janet Yellen Secretary of the Treasury Medal was discussed, and recommended with a minor revision to the inscription.
4. The single candidate design for the Ventris C. Gibson Director of the Mint Medal was discussed, and recommended by the CCAC.
Let me know if you have any questions about the work done in this meeting; I will try to answer as well as I can, but there are contraints on what I am able to share publicly. Please remember that the CCAC does not make the final decision; instead, it makes its recommendation (alongside the Commission of Fine Arts) to the Secretary of the Treasury. If you would like to watch the April meeting in full in order to see all of the deliberations, it is available on Youtube here and here.
CCAC Representative of the General Public
Columnist for The Numismatist
2021 Young Numismatist of the Year
Comments
Where do I start?
Thank you, Kellen, for the new information. I appreciate your work to include us.
Scratch Yellen, she's been instrumental in destroying the long term viability of our currency, and is at the same time clueless.
Like the Marines commemoratives. The robot statue of liberty looks like someone was high when they drew it.
And yes thanks for the information.
I think Ill just keep my mouth shut for the most part. Some of the designs aren't terrible but the execution leaves much to be desired. Imho, our input is irrelevant anyway beacause you guys probably have to fall in line with the status quo. Regardless, thank you for the update Kellen.
Type Collector of U.S. Pre-33 Gold https://instagram.com/deplorable_dan Successful transactions with- @drfish, @Cladiator, @johnny010, @Pedzola, @PerryHall, @2windy2fish, @Ike1964, @JohnThePainter, @rpmsrpms, @REALGATOR
The last picture is the best one of all.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
Certainly a few head-scratchers in this bunch.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
That's kind of where I'm at. No one really cares what the potential customers think.
I'm with @DeplorableDan Let me also start by thanking you up front Kellen. We all know this takes a lot of work, time and effort. My very first thought: It all looks political! But I guess all coins are political from their inception. My second thought: They all look cartoonish and insulting.
FAIRNESS INTEGRITY TRUTH.........and a dog looking at some mountains! Really??
I don't get the connection!
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Thanks Kellen.
I'll refrain from going in depth. I have to say that our nation's motto, IN GOD WE TRUST, written in a graffiti font that is normally used to vandalize property does not vibe with me. Statue of Liberty, a symbol of our country looking like a robot?? Might as well add switchblades and colored bandanas on that design as well.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
BHNC #AN-10
JRCS #1606
Clearly in the minority here already, but I actually like the street-art style for the 2025 American Liberty silver medal. It's definitely not traditional, and it's a unique take on a style of art that is quite unexpected for something related to the US Mint. I really dig the eagle for the 24K Gold version too -- I personally think that's the best design of everything you shared.
Final thoughts regarding the street art style design -- at the end of the day, this isn't a circulating coin, it's a design for a silver medal. I don't think I'd be into this if it was on a normal circulating piece of coinage. However, I think there's always an opportunity for mint products to try and penetrate new audiences and that doing so is important, and this might prove to be a way to do that.
Despite the relatively thankless efforts from you and the CCAC, appreciate you sharing Kellen!
No, that’s a meerkat.
"lowbrow" bears negative connotations for those so described
was the issue with 26-NA-01 that washington wasn't recognizable? while it is a NA focused coin, a bit more detail there would be good
the snow on the "$1" is pure cheese.
would corn carried in the winter have that appearance?
save the street art for the street. there's going to be those that serve/served that going to feel it's disrespectful. i at least don't think it's appropriate for a medal or coin from and for the government.
so, even when there's only one of you, you're still considered a hoard?
can you provide the email again for public comments to the ccac?
Thank you. Some nice designs. I will hope we steer clear of the designs that look like graffiti.
Domo arigato Mr. Roboto
Thank you Kellen for your service to numismatics. The medal designs are meh, nothing compares to what the U.S. Mint produced prior to recent times. But then I am not surprised, nothing in America compares to what was made 200+ years ago , so who can be surprised to view this current crap
Yet more of exactly what I expected from our current government. Anyone know where one can purchase industrial grade vomit bags? Oh yeah, thanks for your report.
Having fun while switching things up and focusing on a next level PCGS slabbed 1950+ type set, while still looking for great examples for the 7070.
☹️
BHNC #248 … 108 and counting.
@Fraz @Slade01 @DeplorableDan @WillieBoyd2 @P0CKETCHANGE @Manifest_Destiny @OAKSTAR @mattniss @MsMorrisine @Some_of_it @GiveMeProof @RobertScotLover @Jacques_Loungecoque @Pnies20 @jacrispies
Thank you all for your comments, both positive and critical. They are genuinely useful for me moving forward with future designs as one of the Representatives of the General Public on the committee, and they are part of why I make posts like these.
Answers to a few of your initial questions:
@Slade01 Re: Yellen, every Treasury Secretary gets a medal, regardless of their politics or efficacy.
@DeplorableDan Just the opposite - collector input is highly relevant, especially because many of us are collectors ourselves. I encourage you to continue sharing your ideas, please.
@OAKSTAR The dog looking at the mountains was by personal request of the Mint Director for her medal; it is her dog.
@jacrispies We had an interesting and robust discussion during the meeting about street art and its intersections with and divergences from illegal activity. It's worth watching that section of the meeting on Youtube or reading the transcript, because I personally found it pretty interesting. FWIW, there is a significant and growing movement of officially-authorized street art in that style, which is what I believe the artist was hoping to emulate as they thought about modern depictions of liberty.
@MsMorrisine "Lowbrow" is the word the Mint used itself to describe the style in our meeting, and is a well-recognized term for the specific artistic movement. The issue with 01 was that we were worried the background characters might get lost in the background on a small coin, yes. We didn't need it to make Washington recognizable, but we wanted to make sure all the design elements were clear in production. The public comment email is info@ccac.gov, but I also take your comments on here into account personally.
CCAC Representative of the General Public
Columnist for The Numismatist
2021 Young Numismatist of the Year
those would be some tiny soldiers and i could hear some jokes about die chip confusion
thanks for taking the time to do this and for representing
we often complain about the use of shading on submitted drawings because the coins won't have it.
keeping the above dime in mind, if, for proofs, they use the old frosting techniques, then perhaps we'd see some hints of shading. i know the ccac is design focused, but maybe that could be tossed around to up the art game.
Kellen - thanks for including the 100% sized images not just the blow-ups - those make clear what is sometimes lost - a great pencil drawing makes a lousy coin. Best example is the snow on the $1 ... it looks great in the blow-up, but in the 100% it's like - die chip or mechanical doubling or ...
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Here's the US Mint page on the CCAC meeting:
https://www.usmint.gov/news/ccac-meetings/2025-american-liberty-gold-coin-silver-medal-obverse
The following design could be interesting for the next generation of collectors. Reminds of the robots.
So the Yellen and Gibson medals are basically participation trophies?
Yep.
I think they are worth having, especially if they connect collectors to the Mint and Treasury.
I met Ventris at the at the US Mint table at a CSNS last year which would make it more meaningful to me.
Sure, I can see it now. Kids (or adults for that matter) flocking and running to become coin collectors after seeing these.
😂
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Let's be honest. He got stuffed into more than one locker in high school.
He doesn’t write in cursive either:
He survived.
Joe Menna needs to be on a medal. If treasury secretaries and mint directors are on medals, the chief engraver (or digital artist) deserves a medal, there have only been 13. It would make a good series to honor the chief engravers, whose "emblematic of liberty" art has been seen worldwide since the U.S. Mint inception.
I like the use of lowbrow on one or two examples. It emerged during the 1960's in California without a name at the time, but the subculture art became "officially-authorized" on the great rock concert posters and rock album covers of the late 1960's, it was all about an expression of freedom.
Coins could look better if the artists were involved with the die finishing process, this would help with better finished surfaces (including the mentioned shading) and more chiseled definition, as coins once had.
Kellen, thanks for the update.
The graffiti!!!! I knew it!!!!! My eyes are dying!
May the worst design win!!!!
P.S. Graffiti is still illegal.......right?
Cheers, and God Bless, CRHer700
Do unto others what you expect to be done to you.
Reminds me of the Beatles album, Rubber Soul for some reason. Maybe its the balloon lettering.
You should see what the Secretary of Agriculture gets. A handcrafted cow patty bust!
Having fun while switching things up and focusing on a next level PCGS slabbed 1950+ type set, while still looking for great examples for the 7070.
Kellen! Thanks for your dedication and time spent.
He looks like Francis's father from "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure."
Throw a coin enough times, and suppose one day it lands on its edge.
The design.....
The guy who voted in favor of the design.....
Throw a coin enough times, and suppose one day it lands on its edge.
Look at the small image and now imagine it as a coin - it will be a muddy mess.
Kellen, it's time to get the mint onboard with modern technology. Take the design, mill it actual size, throw that into a polishing machine, and tumble it for half an hour. It won't give a perfect rendition, but it would show the gross defects of the design.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
The Till medal is moving and tasteful IMO. I had to look up the facts, I was unaware. Thanks for posting.