US Gold Coins Jane Pierce 2010 10 Dollars First Spouse Gold Coin
First Lady of the United States, 1853–1857
The Jane Pierce Gold Coin features her portrait on the obverse, as designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Don Everhart. Inscriptions include “Jane Pierce”, the order of the Presidency “14th”, the years spent as First Spouse “1853-1857″, “Liberty”, the motto “In God We Trust”, and the date of issue and mint mark.
Jane Means Appleton Pierce (March 12, 1806 – December 2, 1863), wife of U.S. President Franklin Pierce, was First Lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857.
The daughter of a devout Congregationalist minister, Jane Appleton Pierce was born on March 12, 1806, in Hampton, N.H. Her father later moved the family to Brunswick, Maine, when he became president of Bowdoin College, her future alma mater. Bowdoin College was also where Jane met her future husband, Franklin Pierce. They married in 1834, eight years after they first met.
Two years into her husband's presidency, Jane Pierce emerged from an extended period of mourning after the death of her son. She began to attend receptions and dinner parties, and even organized a few of her own. After President Pierce left office, the couple sailed the Caribbean on board the U.S.S. Powhatan, a government ship loaned to them by his successor, President James Buchanan.
The reverse of the coin includes a scene of Jane Pierce seated in the visitor’s gallery of the Old Senate Chamber in the U.S. Capitol Building. By 1856, she was venturing out in Washington, regularly visiting the U.S. Capitol Building, where she sat in the Senate visitor's gallery listening to heated debates over the issue of slavery. Reverse inscriptions encircling the scene read “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, “$10″, and “1/2 oz. .999 Fine Gold”. The reverse was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Charles Vickers.
Alternate reverse designs prepared by the United States Mint had included a scene during a thunderstorm where the Pierces met in college and a scene of her reading on White House grounds. The final design was selected by the Treasury of the Secretary, following review by the Commission of Fine Arts and Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
Coin Specifications and Mintages
Date: 2010
Mint: West Point (W)
Mintage: 3,338 (uncirculated), 4,775 (proof)
Designers: Donna Weaver
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 fourth year of the series to honor the nation’s First Ladies continued with the release of the Jane Pierce First Spouse Gold Coin. The coin represented the fifteenth issue of the series overall. Jane Pierce was the wife of President Franklin Pierce and was First Lady from 1853-1857.
After an extended period of lackluster sales, the First Spouse Gold Coins seemed to be finding renewed interest from collectors. This may have been attributable to the increased market price for gold, which put more focus on gold coins and the higher secondary market prices for some of the sold out low mintage issues of the series.
The Jane Pierce First Spouse Gold Coins were available in uncirculated and proof versions, with pricing determined based on the average weekly price of gold plus a mark up. At the start of sales on June 3, 2010, coins were priced at $779 (proof) and $766 (uncirculated). The maximum authorized mintage was established at 15,000 pieces across both options.
The coins were available for sale at the US Mint for a shorter duration than typical for the series. Generally, as long as the coins did not sell out of their entire maximum authorized mintage, they would remain available for approximately one year. The proof version of the Jane Pierce gold coins unexpectedly sold out on March 4, 2011, and the uncirculated version sold out later in the month on March 22. The final audited mintages reached 3,338 uncirculated coins and 4,775 proof coins.
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
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