US Gold Coins Mary Todd Lincoln 2010 10 Dollars First Spouse Gold Coin
First Lady of the United States, 1861–1865
The Mary Todd Lincoln Gold Coin features her portrait on the obverse, as designed and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The coin carries required inscriptions “Mary Todd Lincoln”, the order of the Presidency “16th”, years as First Lady “1861-1865″, “In God We Trust”, “Liberty”, and the date of issue and mint mark.
Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818, in Lexington, Ky – July 16, 1882) was the wife of the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865.
In Springfield, Ill., she met Abraham Lincoln and they married in 1842.
When her husband was first elected to Congress in 1847, Mary directed all her energy into helping advance his career and ultimately his bid for the presidency. After Lincoln became President in 1861, Mary served enthusiastically as his confidant and advisor. She hosted public receptions at the White House, which she called "handshake days," on which hundreds of people, including blacks, would crowd into the East Room to greet her and the President.
Just weeks after beginning his second term in March 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated by Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. She witnessed his fatal shooting when they were together in the President's Box at Ford's Theatre on Tenth Street in Washington. She spent several summers abroad with her surviving children and died peacefully in 1882.
On the reverse of the coin is a scene of the Mary Todd Lincoln bringing wounded Union soldiers flowers and books. She also brought them food and wrote letters to relatives on their behalf. Inscriptions appear surrounding the image reading “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, “$10″, and “1/2 oz. .999 Fine Gold”. The reverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.
Alternate designs prepared by the United States Mint as candidate designs included a scene of the President and Mrs. Lincoln greeting visitors at a public reception and a scene of her bandaging a wounded soldier. A member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee questioned whether the scene of her bandaging a soldier was historically accurate.
Coin Specifications and Mintages
Date: 2010
Mint: West Point (W)
Mintage: 3,695 (uncirculated), 6,861 (proof)
Designers: Phebe Hemphill (obverse), Joel Iskowitz (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)
The Mary Todd First Spouse Gold Coin honors one of the better known First Ladies of the United States. Demand for this issue was expected to be higher than normal, which led the US Mint to establish a higher maximum authorized mintage.
Sales of the coin began on December 2, 2010 with proof and uncirculated versions available. The initial pricing was $854 for proofs and $841 for uncirculated coins, with the prices subject to potential change weekly, following the average market price of gold. No household ordering limits were imposed, but the maximum mintage was set at 20,000 coins. This was 5,000 higher than the level established for the other 2010 releases of the series.
After just over six months of availability, the uncirculated version of the 2010 Mary Todd Lincoln $10 Gold Coin sold out at the United States Mint. With a final mintage of just 3,695, this version would seem to have the potential for higher prices on the secondary market, particularly if higher demand emerges for this well-known First Lady. Sales of the proof version of the coin continued until November 9, 2011, with a final mintage of 6,861 pieces recorded. This made for a combined mintage total of 10,556 across both versions of the coin.
US Gold Coins
First Spouse Gold Coins Program
2007 First Spouse Gold Coins
2008 First Spouse Gold Coins
2009 First Spouse Gold Coins
2010 First Spouse Gold Coins
Abigail Fillmore Jane Pierce James Buchanan’s Liberty Mary Todd Lincoln
2011 First Spouse Gold Coins
2012 First Spouse Gold Coins
2013 First Spouse Gold Coins
2014 First Spouse Gold Coins
2015 First Spouse Gold Coins