U.S. Mint Wins Coin of the Year for 2023-dated Coins
The United States Mint took home the top honor in the Coin of the Year (COTY) awards for 2023-dated coins. Its “Liberty Through Perseverance” $100 gold coin was named Coin of the Year after winning the “Best Gold Coin” category award. The announcement was made on August 8, 2024, during the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Chicago, Illinois.
The Coin of the Year program is an internationally conducted competition, which honors outstanding coin design and innovation worldwide. The 2024 program, sponsored by the World’s Fair of Money® and The Journal of East Asian Numismatics, honors coins dated 2023 in 10 categories of competition. Winners are selected by an international panel of judges, who then select a COTY winner from the category honorees.
“The final ballot for Coin of the Year in 2024 was so evenly distributed that the top five coins were separated by a margin of just 10 votes,” said Tom Michael, COTY co-coordinator. “However, there was no mistaking the strength of the ‘Liberty Through Perseverance’ $100 gold coin’s gracious design, as it surged past the next closest competitor by half of that spread.”
The U.S. Mint’s winning 2023 “Liberty Through Perseverance” coin is from the American Liberty coin series, which features modern interpretations of the concept of American liberty on the obverse. It was designed by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program Designer Elana Hagler and sculpted by U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Joe Menna.
The obverse of the features a bristlecone pine, a species native to California, Nevada, and Utah, and is thought to be among the oldest living organisms on Earth, living up to 5,000 years. Bristlecone pines grow in places where other plants cannot and are often the species first to repopulate the land after cataclysmic changes, such as a lava run or glacial runoff. Inscriptions on the obverse include “LIBERTY,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and “2023.”
The reverse depicts a young bald eagle standing on a rocky outcropping moments before it takes flight. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “1 OZ.,” “.9999 FINE GOLD,” “$100,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” It was designed and sculpted by medallic artist John P. McGraw.
The 99.99 percent fine, 24-karat gold coin measures 1.205 inches (30.61 mm) in diameter and weighs 1.0000 troy oz. (31.108 grams). It was minted at the U.S. Mint’s West Point production facility.