Greysheet Catalog Details (GSID: 72512)

Original Packaging: The options and packaging used for the 2009-S Proof sets are similar to those of 2008, though the box for the complete clad Proof set was revised slightly. The image of the Statue of Liberty was reduced in size and faded into the background to give more prominence to the text, which spans the entire box front. The blue color of the printing was also made noticeably lighter in shade.

The state-quarter series ended in 2008 and was replaced this year with six quarters honoring the District of Columbia and the five United States territories: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The lens (plastic frame) insert for these coins was thus reconfigured to accommodate a sixth entry. The box art was revised, too, with a portrait of George Washington replacing the American eagle of previous years.

A fourth lens was added to this year’s set to accommodate the four commemorative cents produced for the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. These were packaged separately from the nickel, dime, half dollar, and Sacagawea dollar. Within the lens the cents were arranged in a cross configuration against a background of the U.S. flag. The additional lens required a slightly deeper box. The Proof set of four cents was also offered separately in its own box, displaying the obverse of the 2009-S Proof cent superimposed over line illustrations of the central devices for each commemorative reverse. The box was labeled 2009 UNITED STATES MINT LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL ONE CENT PROOF SET.

In place of the American Legacy Proof sets of past years was offered the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Proof set. This consisted of the four Proof cents and the silver dollar issued for Lincoln’s bicentennial. Limited in mintage, this popular set sold out very quickly.

Commentary: The big story for 2009 was the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial birth year. This prompted the replacement of the 50-year-old Lincoln Memorial design with four commemorative reverses depicting different stages in the great man’s life. The first of these was themed “Birth and Early Childhood,” and it shows Lincoln’s birthplace cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. This imagery was designed by master designer Richard Masters of the U.S. Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program (AIP), and the models were prepared by Mint sculptor-engraver Jim Licaretz. Lincoln’s young adulthood is portrayed in a scene of rail-splitter Abe reading a book during a break at work. Titled “Formative Years,” this theme was designed and modeled by Mint sculptor-engraver Charles L. Vickers. Lincoln’s “Professional Life” depicts him as a young lawyer and congressman standing in front of the Illinois state capitol in Springfield. The design was created by AIP master designer Joel Iskowitz, and the coin model was created by Mint sculptor-engraver Don Everhart.

The fourth and final cent, “Presidency,” was the work of master designer Susan Gamble and sculptor-engraver Joseph Menna. The illustration of the half-finished Capitol dome symbolizes the challenge Lincoln faced as president—the challenge of reuniting and restoring a nation in the wake of slavery and the Civil War.

The reverse of the Sacagawea dollar was revised as part of the new Native Americans program. With a theme of agriculture, it depicted a Native American woman sowing corn, beans, and squash. In an odd twist, the U.S. Mint did not credit a designer or sculptor, and the reverse carries no initials. The Native Americans program will run concurrently with the Presidential Dollars series and will continue beyond the latter’s anticipated conclusion in 2016.

At eighteen individual coins, the 2009-S Proof set was the largest such offering yet from the Mint and is likely to remain so for quite awhile. Despite such a large number of different dies to prepare, the Mint was able to maintain fairly good quality control. The one issue that was raised by some buyers concerned the frosted finish on the Proof coins. In previous years this was created by sandblasting, while a laser was used to create the same effect within the die cavities for the 2009 proofs. This technique had been used before for proof medals, but 2009 represented its first use in frosting coin dies for the regular Proof coinage, and the result was not as aesthetically pleasing in the eyes of many collectors. What was once the fine grain of the sandblasted frosting has become a series of very closely spaced dimples that look quite different under a glass.

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