Platinum Eagle 2011 exclusive new information!

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The 2011 platinum American Eagle issued May 26th is one of the most exciting US coins ever, because of what many consider to be a truly magnificent design. The chosen design was recommended against competitors at several levels, by the CFA, the CCAC, and the US Mint, before being finally selected by the Secretary of the Treasury.

 

I was fortunate to establish contact with Joel Iskowitz, the actual designer, and he was gracious enough to respond to my questions. The information he provided will presumably be of great interest to readers of this coin forum, and has not yet been placed on record elsewhere. This is an exclusive disclosure. For that reason, and because of its significance, I'm starting it as a new discussion topic, rather than continuing two previous 2011 platinum eagle threads here and here.

 

Designer Joel Iskowitz is one of the foremost numismatic artists in the world, and among his works are the designs for the 2006, 2008 and 2011 US Platinum Eagle reverses. Also to his credit are various of the First Spouse gold coins including the Dolly Madison reverse, Elizabeth Monroe obverse, Julia Tyler obverse & reverse, Mary Todd Lincoln reverse and Eliza Johnson obverse. The US Mint website honors him as one of their master designers, along with his photo and a list of many more of his recent US coins (mint website). More information about the artist is listed in Wikipedia.

 

The figure of the Harvest Goddess for the 2011 Platinum Eagle was drawn by Mr. Iskowitz based on his own studio artwork and photos of a live model, with her posture and portrayal original and unique. He intended her to be a lovely sight, but not overly sensual. By comparison, her sensuality is quite tame compared with many other figurative representations of Freedom and Liberty in coinage, medallic art and sculpture.

 

Those persons who see a relationship of his 2011 Harvest Goddess with such exquisite icons as the Striding Liberty of St. Gaudens, the Walking Liberty of Weinman, and La Semeuse of Roty are partially correct in that all those and many others were general influences upon his perceptions and development. Mr. Iskowitz said he considers himself honored to be mentioned in the same sentence as those great artists. Quotation marks below are to indicate the words of Mr. Iskowitz himself.

 

"The 2011 design shows the Harvest Goddess in the act of gathering, thus emblematic of unification, a unification of the diversity of America as represented by the expansive field of grain. By comparison, Roty's La Semeuse is sowing or spreading the seeds of Liberté, Égalité & Fraternité, so although the concepts are related, they’re opposite in action and meaning."

 

"The 2011 Harvest Goddess is shown being visited by a dove of Peace, symbolizing tranquility. One of the iconographic traditions of Freedom is the presence of a free-flying bird, as in the works of Edward Savage, Enrico Causici, Luigi Persico and numerous others. For instance, in Savage's engraving 'Liberty', a goddess of youth as Liberty's incarnation is giving support to the Bald Eagle. The eagle is literally deriving nourishment by drinking from a cup offered by Liberty's extended right hand. In Causici's 'Genius of the Constitution' in the Capitol's Statuary Hall, the Bald Eagle is in attendance pictured in a state of readiness to defend the Constitution. Persico's ornamental sculpture on the Capitol's eastern facade similarly portrays an eagle perched at America's feet looking back towards her for inspiration and perhaps protectively. These and many more relationships between the embodiment of America and/or Liberty in all her personifications and the Bald Eagle as emblematic of our national strength,vigilance and endurance provide a rich visual and symbolic reservoir which nourishes and inspires my attempts to add something new to this dialogue in our own time. My choice of the dove is informed by these past representations, but is of course associated with peace or tranquility. My idea was that the eternal genius of the founders had envisioned an evolving concept of Constitutional Freedom which still remains relevant in today's world. The Harvest Goddess, in a seasonal sense, is a later personification of the revolutionary young Liberty. The dove represents an evolved state of the traditional attendant eagle, now returning to visit a more mature Liberty-who in her youth gave the bird support- with its gift of peace."

 

"Regarding the Eagle privy mark: it is present because the legislation calls for the depiction of an eagle on the reverse. After all it is an American Eagle Platinum Coin. The earlier platinum coins had depictions of eagles as a main or supportive element of the design. In this last series, begun in 2009 for the 6 preamble themes, the thinking was to free up the design of the reverse field so the artist could be unfettered in interpreting the narrative without including the eagle as a major element. Hence, the privy mark, which is not my design nor my decision as to its placement."

 

The US Mint does not provide a complimentary example of the final coin to the designer, so even Mr. Iskowitz is obliged to make the same normal purchase as other numismatists. As of today, he has not yet seen the actual coin with the final rendering of the design sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. Ms. Hemphill is among the world's most accomplished bas relief artists, who, according to Mr. Iskowitz, invariably brings her uniquely refined talents to coin art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[michael]

thanks for the great information

 

most excellent

 

 

[delta]

With regret, a minor correction to my above post concerning the 2011 platinum eagle is needed. The design chosen was not actually the first choice of the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA). However, it might be mentioned that none of the seven current CFA members are known for being numismatically knowledgeable, but they tend to be most experienced in evaluating architecture. That's in contrast to the CCAC, the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which in addition to being specialized in numismatics, welcomes comments from the general public and has open meetings.

[Spooly]

Great Post!

[astrostu]

Thanks. Regrettably, I stopped collecting this series when they went to 1-oz only, due to cost. If they'd continued the 1/10-oz, I'd be all over it, and of the three in this series so far, the 2011 is by far my favorite.