Q. David Bowers
An article in Coin World gave further details concerning her work: ("Artists Find Working Within Mint Limitations 'Confining,"" by Michele Orzano. Coin World, April 15, 1987, p. 1.) "Learning to work within the limitations required to design a coin was just one of the many adjustments sculptor Patricia Lewis Verani had to make after being notified her designs were selected for the Bicentennial of the Constitution silver dollar. Verani described the basic element of the obverse design as 'pretty straightforward' incorporating a representation of the Constitution with its first three words, WE THE PEOPLE, in script across the center .... The recent celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty was Verani's inspiration for the reverse design which features a group of people in the center which represents 'people from different eras of our history, occupations, races-a mix.' ...
"Verani described the effort to define the concept of what the Bicentennial of the Constitution means as 'a large order' because 'it's hard to think of something that would be original.' This was her first design for a circulating coin, and the low relief standards were something new for her. 'This is completely different. I didn't realize it was as low as it is,' she said, reflecting on the difference between this work and her previous sculpture works. 'I think I'll enjoy it, though.'
"Verani's sculpting talents have been used for the past 10 years for commission work, relief portraits either life-size, three-quarter size or in the round. She said she never really has considered herself a medallic artist but more a sculptor. She's been working at sculpture for 15 years full time but admits with a laugh, 'I think as you get older you get kind of tired of struggling with huge molds .... Medals start looking better to you.' Verani said she was surprised at her selection and is very happy .... "
An article in The Commemorative Trail quoted comments from still another interview with the sculptress." "Mrs. Verani stated that the obverse of the Constitution Bicentennial coin was difficult to design because the idea was abstract. Concerning the reverse, "I really liked that triangular mass that the figures on the reverse are standing on. I would have preferred to build up to one central figure but that would have made those other figures so small you couldn't have seen any of them.... I had already sent in four sketches by that time, but that was the one I really wanted, so I did one more to go with it."
How the Dollar Was Modeled
Elizabeth Jones recalled Mrs. Verani's involvement. "Seeing as Patricia Verani was primarily a sculptor in the round, having done just a few medals when she entered and won both sides of the 1987 silver dollar Bicentennial of the Constitution 'competition,' she was, by her own admission, unfamiliar with modeling of a coin (very different from modeling for a medal-articles have been written on this subject-in fact this was the subject of one of my slide lectures to AMSA in a meeting in New York City in September 1986). (Elizabeth Jones added this footnote to her written comments: "This lecture is published with photographs of slides of U.S. coins and medals in the AMSA official publication, Medallic Sculpture, Fall 1989. I believe this talk was the catalyst to get outside artists to learn to make coins.)
"Anyway, Patricia came to Philadelphia to work on her models. We gave her the appropriate plaster basins. We set up a working space for her in the chief engraver's (my) room at an extra desk. She did her modeling, checking the reliefs often with a technology staff member.The measurements are made with depth gauges and usually are taken by the transfer engravers. She had the plaster molds made (by the transfer engravers, whose job that is-among their other duties). She was admittedly not very familiar with carving the lettering in the negative plasters and required some advice/help. She finished her models at the Mint and returned to New Hampshire."
Mint Director Pope's Commentary
In an interview with the author Mint Director Donna Pope discussed the coins (February 11, 1991.) "With the Constitution Bicentennial coins, people were asking if we had gone feather-crazy because of the feathers on three of the four designs. Secretary Baker and John Rogers, his assistant (who had designed several medals in the private sector), chose the designs, and they were looked over very carefully."
The First-Strike Ceremony
The first Constitution Bicentennial silver dollars were produced in a ritual of the type that by this time was becoming traditional; held at the Philadelphia Mint on July 1, 1987. "These ceremonies marked the start of the July 4th national celebration in honor of the bicentennial of the American Constitution." (Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1987, p. 11. All dies for the Constitution Bicentennial coins were made at Philadelphia. Combined die totals for the $1 and $5 coins were as follows: Fiscal year 1987 (ended September 30, 1987) 6,082 dies; fiscal year 1988 1,604 dies.)
Burnett Anderson, Washington correspondent for Krause Publications, wrote this eyewitness account of the event: (Transcript of original manuscript sent to Numismatic News, July 1, 1987.) The 1987 gold and silver coins commemorating the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution were launched at impressive and star-spangled first-strike ceremonies in Philadelphia July 1. Moments after he had struck and displayed the first 1987 Constitution Bicentennial silver dollar, Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III pressed a second button prominently labeled 'West Point.' Through what Mint Director Donna Pope called 'the magic of the computer,' using a special telephone hookup, it activated a press at the West Point Bullion Depository. The telephone link was also fed to the amplifiers in Philadelphia and the audience was able to hear the 'thunk thunk' of the press as the coin was struck, after which the West Point operator said, 'We've got a beautiful gold coin.'
"Like Cinderella's pumpkin a section of the Philadelphia Mint's huge strip rolling area, now idle, had been transformed into a colorful and tastefully decorated mini-auditorium .... An appealing family touch was added to the occasion when Secretary Baker asked his nine-year-old daughter, Mary Bonner Baker, to join him at the press. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have eight children. Mary Bonner struck the second dollar and, using the remote to West Point, a second gold coin as well. In quick succession U.S. Treasurer Katherine Ortega and Mrs. Pope had their turns at the press and at the control button.
"Pope drew an appreciative laugh as she moved toward the press for the announced third strike, saying, 'I'm not sure I like the sound of that, up for the third strike.' The fourth strike went to Frederick Biebel, member of the official Constitution Bi-centennial Commission, followed by the two designers for numbers five and six. They were Patricia Lewis Verani of New Hampshire, sculptor of the silver piece, and Marcel Jovine of New Jersey, designer of the $5 gold piece.
"But amid the festive atmosphere ... there were serious words about the significance and centerpiece of the occasion, the Constitution. Pope, who spoke first, asked people to recognize what the Constitution 'has done for us,' creating a new nation and-releasing the energies and initiatives of its people in a way which has made America a highly developed world power. The coins and their designs, she said, reflect the spirit of the Constitution, its majesty, independence, and strength. 'Americans have lived through and by the words of the Constitution for 200 years,' she declared.