Coins for generals

This article was originally printed in the latest issue of Numismatic News.
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America’s five 5-star generals will be commemorated in 2013 by an issue of gold $5, silver dollar and clad half dollar coins.

The new coins were authorized Oct. 8 when President Barack Obama signed into law the Five Star Commemorative Coin Act.

Authorized are up to 100,000 $5 gold pieces, 500,000 silver dollars and 750,000 clad half dollars.

The designs of the three coins will include the portraits of Generals George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry “Hap” Arnold and Omar N. Bradley – all who served their country during World War II and are alumni of the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., which was founded in 1881.

2013 is the year the college will celebrate its 132nd anniversary.

Proceeds from surcharges levied on each coin sold will go the Command and General Staff College Foundation. For the gold coins the surcharge is $35, for the silver dollar it is $10 and for the half dollar it is $5.

The foundation, which opened in 2006, says its purpose is to help connect the American people to their Army with symposia, conferences, lecture, and community outreach activities, awards for students and faculty, and the Col. Arthur D. Simons Center for the Study of Interagency Cooperation.

“This is a very significant event in the life of the foundation,” said Bob Ulin, CGSC Foundation chief executive officer. “Not only have we succeeded in getting the foundation and by extension, the college, on the radar screen of our political leadership, the proceeds from the sale of these coins will produce a stream of income that will ensure our viability in supporting CGSC for generations to come.”