US Mint Presentation To Gary Marks
A small ceremony was held at the United States Mint Headquarters in Washington DC on Thursday, October 8, 2015 to honor Gary Marks for his two terms of service on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC).
From left to right: Megan Sullivan, Roger Vasquez, Rhett Jeppson, Stacy Kelley, Gary Marks, Richard Peterson, April Stafford, Greg Weinman, Don Everhart, Betty Birdsong, Bill Norton, Sharon Bowen, Arnetta Cain, Judy Dixon.
Marks served as a public member of the CCAC, appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury twice, from 2008 to 2015. He was Chairperson from March 2010 to May, 2015. During his Chairmanship the Mint has undergone extensive change.
It is a tradition at the Mint to honor outgoing members of the CCAC with a plaque that includes a medal of their choice issued during the term of their membership. Marks selected the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Congressional medal.
The twenty minute ceremony took place on the 8th floor of the Mint’s Washington headquarters immediately following a two day public meeting. Richard Peterson, former Acting Director of the Mint; Rhett Jeppson, the President’s nominee for Director of the Mint, and Don Everhart, Chief sculptor-engraver of the Mint based in the Philadelphia Mint, were on hand to speak and make presentations.
As a special honor, Don Everhart presented Marks with a rendering of a rejected reverse design that Marks had particularly liked when it appeared as a design candidate for a coin program. When that design did not receive a majority of votes needed to recommend it to the Secretary of the Treasury, Marks had told Everhart that he wanted to see it again.
Marks currently works as the City Manager in Lebanon, Oregon. He is known professionally for his expertise on the dynamics of citizens committees serving government entities.
Marks is known to the numismatic community for his passion as a coin collector and advocate of good coin design. He is also an artist whose work includes oil on canvas as well as medalic art.
The CCAC was created by Congress in 2003 to advise the Secretary of the Treasury on the themes and designs of all United States coins and medals. Members are appointed to serve four year terms.