1980 AV Medal Marian Anderson (Regular Strike)

The American Arts Commemorative series was an early attempt at producing an American bullion coin to compete with foreign bullion coins such as the South African Krugerrand. The West Point Mint produced ten different versions from 1980 to 1984, each depicting a portrait of a famous American.

Marian Anderson was a black American singer who recorded numerous spirituals, traditional American songs, and operatice piece. In 1955, she became the first black singer to perform at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She sang at the inaugurations of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy. If you've never heard of her before, or you've never heard her voice before, check out this YouTube video.

The American Arts Commemorative medals never achieved the popularity to which they aspired. The lack of a denomination, weight, or fineness made them difficult to sell and, because the marketing process was complicated, sales were poor. The Mint produced 1,000,000 of the Marian Anderson medals, but sold only 281,624 of them.