September 1, 2016 – The United States Mint announces a call for artists to design both the obverse and reverse of the commemorative coin that will acknowledge America’s fight against breast cancer. Authorized by law, the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act recognizes the many Americans who are impacted by the disease and the effort to prevent it through research.
The competition invites artists to design images emblematic of the fight against breast cancer, with the winning artist to be awarded $10,000 and have his or her initials included on the minted coins. The Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Program includes a gold, silver, and clad coin, with the gold version to be made of pink gold, a first for the United States Mint.
“The Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Design Competition provides a special opportunity for artists to capture and convey the spirit of the American public to overcome this disease,” said Rhett Jeppson, Principal Deputy Director of the United States Mint. “This commemorative coin, designed by and for the public, will hold special significance to all the people impacted by breast cancer.”
Competition details
The public competition is being conducted in two phases. Phase One, which is open through October 17, 2016, or until 1,000 entries are received, calls for artists age 18 and older to submit portfolios of their prior work. From these entries, an expert jury will select no more than 20 applicants to participate in Phase Two. During Phase Two, artists will be paid a stipend of $1,000 to submit designs for the obverse and reverse of the coin. The designs can be conveyed and submitted as print or physical renderings or both. The winning artist will receive an additional $10,000 and will have his or her initials included on the coin. The final winner will be announced in June 2017. The competition can be accessed online, where also rules, details, and timelines are provided.
An expert jury composed of members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee will review and score design submissions. Both of these groups provide experienced and impartial expertise in advancing the state of public art and the interests of American citizens and coin collectors.
The commemorative coin program
With the winning design selected, the United States Mint will begin issuing gold, silver, and clad commemorative coins in 2018. The gold versions will be the first “pink gold” coins in the U.S. and will contain not less than 75 percent gold, as mandated by the law. Surcharges for this program are authorized to be paid to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, based in New York City, to further its efforts in breast cancer research.
“Every year, thousands of women and men are diagnosed with breast cancer, and this coin design competition will provide an outlet to symbolize the important efforts underway to cure and eliminate this disease,” said Jeppson.
U.S. Mint design competitions
There have been only a handful of open design competitions in modern history in which the United States Mint has called upon the public to submit designs for a coin. Most recently, the United States Mint held a competition earlier this year for the World War I American Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin, with surcharges authorized to assist in the funding of the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.
To visit the website of the U.S. Mint, please click here.
The rules of the competition are specified here.
Useful information on the competition is also available in the Frequently Asked Questions section.
This is the website of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
And here you can access the website of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.