Louisa Adams 2008 10 Dollars First Spouse Gold Coins

US Gold Coins Louisa Adams First Spouse $10 Dollars Gold CoinUnited States Gold Coins Louisa Adams First Spouse $10 Dollars Gold Coin

US Gold Coins Louisa Adams First Spouse $10 Dollars Gold Coin
First Lady of the United States, 1825–1829

The obverse of the 2008 Louisa Adams First Spouse Coin features a portrait of the First Lady designed by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The obverse inscriptions include “Louisa Adams”, “In God We Trust”, “Liberty”, the order of the Presidency “6th”, the dates of the Presidential term “1825-1829″, and the date and mint mark “2008 W”.

   The only first lady to be born outside the U.S., Louisa Catherine Johnson was born in 1775 in London to an American father and British mother.  The family moved to France when she was three, where she completed her education.  She met John Quincy Adams while he was serving in a diplomatic post in London and they married in 1797.  Her first time on American soil came in 1801 when John Quincy was called back from diplomatic service by President Jefferson. She finally met her in-laws, former president John Adams and the formidable Abigail Adams, at that time.
   Louisa Adams was an accomplished musician whose talents included singing, playing the harp and piano, and composing.  A prolific author, she penned both poetry and drama.  She authored a play titled Suspicion, or Persecuted Innocence while she served as first lady, in which she stressed the strengths of women.  She was the first first lady to write her memoirs, entitled Adventures of a Nobody.

The reverse features a scene of Louisa Adams and her young son Charles making a journey across Europe. They were seeking to rejoin husband and father John Quincy Adams in Paris. The reverse inscriptions include “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, the denomination “$10″, the gold content “1/2 oz.”, and the gold purity “.9999 Fine Gold”. The reverse of the coin was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Charles Vickers.

   For nearly six years, from 1809–1815, Louisa and John Quincy Adams lived as American diplomats in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg.  In 1814, John Quincy was summoned to The Hague to participate in peace talks to end the War of 1812.
   In 1815, she and her 8-year-old son Charles began an arduous journey across much of Europe to join her husband in Paris. While alone in Russia, Louisa not only managed the family’s affairs, but her courage and linguistic talents helped the two of them find safe passage through unfamiliar and often dangerous lands.

   Mintage levels for the series reached a temporary trough with the Louisa Adams First Spouse Gold Coin. This issue represented the second release of the year and the sixth release overall. The US Mint officially began sales of the proof and uncirculated versions of the coin on May 29, 2008.
   Initial pricing was the same as the prior issue at $619.95 for proofs and $599.95 for uncirculated coins. The US Mint began sales with the same one per option per household ordering limit that had been used since the third issue of the series. At this point, the low limits were hardly necessary, as collector interest had declined.
   Many collectors who continued to pursue the First Spouse Gold Coins, switched their focus to the potential for low mintage issues. Comparisons were drawn to some low mintage gold commemorative coins issued in the 1990’s, which had experienced significant secondary market price appreciation, despite the lukewarm receptions during the period of availability from US Mint.
   The Louisa Adams Gold Coins carried a maximum mintage of 40,000 coins across proof and uncirculated options. After approximately one year of availability, the final mintage reached 6,581 proof coins and 3,885 uncirculated coins. The combined total of 10,466 would remain the lowest of the series until subsequent issues starting in 2009 began to experience even lower sales.

Coin Specifications and Mintages
Date: 2008
Mint: West Point (W)
Mintage: 6,581 (proof), 3,885 (uncirculated)
Designers: Susan Gamble (obverse), Donna Weaver (reverse)
Composition: 0.9999 Gold
Weight: 0.5000 troy oz. (15.554 g)
Diameter: 1.041 inches (26.49 mm)
Thickness: 0.074 inches (1.88 mm)


US Gold Coins
First Spouse Gold Coins Program

2007 First Spouse Gold Coins


2008 First Spouse Gold Coins

Elizabeth Monroe      Louisa Adams      Andrew Jackson’s Liberty     


2009 First Spouse Gold Coins

Anna Harrison       Letitia Tyler       Julia Tyler       Sarah Polk       Margaret Taylor

2010 First Spouse Gold Coins


2011 First Spouse Gold Coins

Eliza Johnson         Julia Grant         Lucy Hayes         Lucretia Garfield

2012 First Spouse Gold Coins




2013 First Spouse Gold Coins



2014 First Spouse Gold Coins

Eleanor Roosevelt         Lou Hoover         Grace Coolidge         Florence Harding


2015 First Spouse Gold Coins