A US-based silver coin and bullion dealer, Silvertowne,  has announced the exclusive rights to a new four-coin proof series and released the first of the coins for buyers to purchase. Entitled ‘2015 America’s National Monument Series’, there are to be four coins in total, we presume sticking to the same format.

At one-ounces, clean struck, issued for Niue and with a 5k mintage, there are no surprises here, but the designer, Michael Glass, appears to have done a fine job with the layout and perspective of one of America’s most iconic symbols. Fortunately, they’ve resisted the urge to put colour all over the coin. While we like coloured coins a lot, there is a time and a place for its application, and this subject wasn’t one of them.

A refreshing change and much like Chuck Daughtrey’s Augustus Saint-Gaudens coin from last year, a nice coin for collectors of Americana. We won’t go into the Lincoln Memorial description as Silvertowne have done a decent job in the mints description further down, but we’re sure our US readers are well versed in the monument regardless.

There are three more coins to come depicting the Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Washington Monument. Here’s hoping they maintain the standard. Available now for $90 (PF70 grade for $150), just click the blue button as usual.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

A certificate accompanies a 1oz proof coin featuring the Lincoln Memorial, an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln. The coin is struck from 1oz of 99.9% pure silver in proof quality and is issued as legal tender under the authority of Niue. Signed by Coin Designer Michael Glass!

Located on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, .C., the Lincoln Memorial is one of the most prominent structures in the nation’s capital. To the east of the memorial sits the Washington Monument, with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the largest such pool in the city, stretching out between the two structures.

The design of the Lincoln Memorial was based on the Greek Parthenon, with thirty-six exterior columns representing the thirty-six states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death. The names of those states are carved into the area above the columns. The forty-eight United States at the time of the memorial’s dedication in 1922 are carved further up on the structure above the colonnade.

The interior of the Lincoln Memorial is divided into three chambers. The central chamber is home to the iconic seated Lincoln statue. The south chamber features the text of Lincoln’s well-known speech, the Gettysburg Address, carved into the wall. A mural painted above the carved text includes imagery depicting themes of Freedom, Liberty, Immortality, Justice and the Law. The north chamber includes a similar mural depicting Unity, Fraternity and Charity. This mural is painted above the text of Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.

The coin’s reverse depicts a close-up view of the Lincoln Memorial’s main statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln. The text from this wall of the memorial can be seen in part behind Lincoln: “IN THIS TEMPLE AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN I ENSHRINED FOREVER”. Inscribed above the main design area is LINCOLN MEMORIAL. Along the bottom of the reverse is the coin’s weight and fineness. The coin’s obverse depicts an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the monetary denomination, and the 2015 year-date.

No more than 5,000 of the 2015 Lincoln Memorial 1 oz Silver Proof Coins will be released.