Obverse and reverse designs for the 2009 Abraham Lincoln commemorative silver dollar were unveiled Nov. 19 by Mint Deputy Director Andrew Brunhart at the Dedication Day ceremony at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa.
The reverse of the coin shows the concluding words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which were delivered 145 years ago on the first Dedication Day.
Joining Brunhart for the ceremony, which followed a ceremonial wreath laying at the cemetery, were Ken Burns, noted for his Civil War documentaries; Harold Holzer, Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission co-chairman; and Ronald L. Hankey, vice president of the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania.
On the obverse of the coin is an image of the 16th President done by Justin Kunz of the Artistic Infusion Program, and sculpted by Don Everhart, a Mint sculptor-engraver. The portrait was inspired by a sculpture by Daniel Chester French.
The reverse was done by Phebe Hemphill, Mint sculptor-engraver.
Maximum mintage of the new dollar will be 500,000 and orders will be accepted starting early next year, the Mint says. The $10 surcharge per coin will go to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
