Q. David Bowers
A Solution to the Design Problem?
By spring 1991 it was evident that the recent and current designs for commemorative coins were not pleasing a significant percentage of the Mint's best customers the numismatic fraternity. On April 24, 1991, Mint Director Donna Pope held a press conference to address the problem and propose a solution, at least in regard to coins planned for the 1992 Olympic Games. The following was reported in Coin World. (U.S. Mint Plans Open Design Competition for Olympic Coins," by Beth Deisher. Coin World, May 8, 1991, page 1.)
"The United States Mint will conduct an open design competition to try to find 'the best designs' for the three commemorative coins it will produce honoring American athletes' participation in the 1992 Olympic Games. Reeling from criticism of designs selected for recent commemorative programs and expressing frustration over the Mint's inability to obtain 'the broad spectrum of varied designs as we had hoped for' from limited-invitational design competitions involving nationally recognized artists, U.S. Mint Director Donna Pope in a special briefing for the numismatic press at Mint headquarters in Washington April 24 announced that the Mint will go to the public for the first time in 18 years to see if better coin design ideas will surface.
"'In sports, if a play pattern is working-but not as well as you would like it to every time-you have to try a new formation,' Pope said. 'We're going to try a wide-open competition. '
"Deputy Mint Director Eugene Essner said the Mint will pay $2,500 for each winning design or $5,000 per coin. If the winning designer happens to also be a sculptor, the Mint will pay an additional $2,500 per design for sculpturing the model. If the winning designer is not a sculptor, the U. S. Mint's sculptor-engraving staff will be called upon to execute the models. The winning designer's initials will appear on the side of the coin he or she designs.
"Essner said the deadline for receiving design sketches will be June 6. He said specification information and press releases giving details of the competition were being readied by the Mint staff and would be given the widest possible dissemination 'within a couple of days.' The deputy Mint director announced that a seven-member review panel will select five finalists for each coin design for a total of 30 designs. He said the Commission of Fine Arts, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Numismatic Division of the Smithsonian Institution the American Numismatic Association, and the American Medallic Sculpture Association have been invited to name a representative to serve on the judging panel. In addition one representative from the Mint's marketing staff and one person from the Mint's operation's division will serve on the panel Brenda Gatling and Bill Dadlo of the Mint's Washington office will coordinate the design competition.
"Essner said after the field is narrowed to 30 designs, the Mint will contract with a consulting firm to get public reaction to the designs from focus groups. He said that after receiving the seven-member panel's decision and obtaining information from the focus groups, a panel of Treasury officials will narrow the field to three for each design to be selected, for a total of 18 choices. The Treasury panel will include the Mint director, the deputy Mint director, the treasurer and the deputy treasurer. The 18 finalists will go to the secretary of the Treasury for his preliminary selection of the winning designs.
"'Of course, the secretary of the Treasury [may not] see any designs he wants,' Essner said, explaining that the secretary would not necessarily be bound by the panel's recommendations. He said he expects the customary review and consultation with the full Commission of Fine Arts and the U.S. Olympic Committee before the secretary of Treasury designates his selections as final.
"'This competition is open to anybody of any age,' Essner said. 'Our goal is to get good designs .... Send us your best designs.' He said participants should plan on entering designs for specific denominations. For example, if one wants to enter a design for the obverse of the gold half eagles, he should designate it for that competition.
'We don't expect the judges to mix and match,' He said an entrant may enter as many designs as he or she chooses and may even enter the same design for more than one denomination.
"Mint Director Pope offered some insight as to what the Mint is looking for in winning designs. 'The Mint has to keep in the mind the marketability of the coin. It has to come up with designs the public will understand, she added. She said that what often times is a good artistic sketch may not be the most coinable design, both from a technical standpoint and from its esthetic appeal. The public, she said, has to make the leap and associate the design on the coin with the event, person or place being commemorated.
"Essner noted also that some designs present technical requirements that are too costly to mass produce at the accepted level of profitability expected by the Congress."
An Open Invitation
The situation was further discussed in an editorial in Coin World. ("It's Up to YOU to Design '92 Commems," by Beth Deisher. Coin World, May 8, 1991, page 4.)
"Ever dreamed of your initials being on the obverse or reverse of a United States coin? Ever thought, 'Why don't they use this idea on one of our coins?' Ever said, 'I could design a coin better than that!' If you can honestly answer 'yes' to any or all of these questions, the United States Mint is issuing an invitation you should seriously consider responding to with entries.
"Officials announced April 24 that the Mint will conduct an open coin design competition for the three commemorative coins Congress has mandated honoring American athletes' participation in the 1992 Olympic Games. Open means 'wide-open,' to quote Mint Director Donna Pope. There are no age or nationality restrictions. Nor are there any restrictions as to the number of designs a person may enter.