Pocket change: Local artist designing new nickel

  • Published
  • By Crystal Toenjes
  • Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) --  Graphic designer Susan Gamble is one of 24 artists from across the country selected by U.S. Mint officials to create original designs for the nation’s coins and medals.

The U.S. Mint issued a nationwide call for artists in November and received 306 applications from professional and student artists interested to participate in the U.S. Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program. Mrs. Gamble saw a newspaper article about the program and decided to apply.

“When I read of this opportunity, I was delighted to know that the Mint is making an attempt to put historical art in the hands of everyday people,” said Mrs. Gamble, who is the wife of Col. Michael Gamble, 72nd Air Base Wing’s Mission Support Group commander.

Mrs. Gamble said her previous freelance-illustration jobs have included subjects frequently seen on coins including portraits of presidents, images of people in historic costumes, drawings of endangered wildlife and historic events.

She has previously worked in past years for National Park Services, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation in Virginia, the Yorktown Battlefield and the Navy War Memorial, all of which required research and historical accuracy, she said.

“I find it interesting and encouraging that being a military spouse may have actually given me a bit of an advantage over some of the other applicants in the competition for a master-designer contract,” she said. “Our frequent moves have certainly opened up a range of jobs that never would have been possible if I was still living in one city years after graduating from art school.”

Mrs. Gamble and the other artists attended an orientation at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia to learn about the history of coin and medal design, the coin-making process and upcoming design opportunities.

“Our task is to do any research necessary and to submit a pencil or ink drawing that is complete and is ‘coinable,’ a term that the Mint engravers use to describe drawings that will work as base-relief engravings and that will create no obvious metal flow problems if used on new coins,” Mrs. Gamble said.

The artists must present a design for at least one coin during their one-year contracts, but they can submit designs for all of the projects they are offered. She said the artists are paid as contractors for each design submitted, whether or not it is selected; however, if a design is selected, the payment is doubled by the Mint.

The first assignment is to submit ideas for the second two nickels in the four-coin Westward Journey Nickel Series. It is the first change in the nickel in 66 years.

Six artists are working on a new portrait of Thomas Jefferson for the front, and the other artists are working on designing the reverse side of the nickels honoring the Lewis and Clark expedition. Artists have been asked to focus one of these designs on portraying the importance of the American Indian to the success of the mission.

They design an image for the second nickel representing either the progress of the journey or the culmination of the journey. The first two nickels in the series will be released this year.

“At this point, we are all thrilled to simply be part of a process that will raise the bar for beauty in American coins,” Mrs. Gamble said. “None of the artists are really expecting any design to be selected, and the general consensus is that it is an honor to simply be part of the new design-selection process.”

“This is a historic moment. We have selected 24 American artists, representing a diverse cross-section of the nation’s artistic landscape,” said Henrietta Holsman Fore, U.S. Mint director. “Together, we will invigorate the artistry of coin design in America.”