HomePeopleCoinWeek IQ Coin Designer's Profile: Phebe Hemphill

CoinWeek IQ Coin Designer’s Profile: Phebe Hemphill

 

Phebe Hemphill is one of the preeminent coin artists, sculptors, and engravers of our time. Born in 1960, Hemphill studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with sculptor Evangelos Frudakis in Philadelphia. Hemphill’s sculpting career took off in earnest after joining the Franklin Mint in 1987, where she spent the next 15 years working on a variety of porcelain and medallic art projects.

“My dad was a collector of Franklin Mint coins,” Hemphill says, “so I was exposed to numismatic art in my youth.”

She later became a freelance sculptor and worked for a variety of companies creating medals, dolls, figurines, gardens ornaments and toys. “My grandfather was a big influence on me,” remarks Hemphill of her artistry and passion for sculpting, engraving, and design. “When I was young, he was collecting medals and was practicing bas-relief sculpture. When I was in elementary school I wanted to be an architect, but I was also making small figures sculpted out of old telephone wire.”

Hemphill’s sculptures have been displayed by the American Medallic Sculpture Association, West Chester University, the National Sculpture Society, and the F.A.N. (Fraidoon Al-Nakib) Gallery in Philadelphia. Her work helped her earn the coveted Alex J. Ettel Grant from the National Sculpture Society in 2000 and the prestigious Renaissance Sculpture Award from the Franklin Mint the following year.

In 2006, she landed a spot on the United States Mint’s team of sculptors-engravers. While Hemphill is adopting modern design techniques (including the use of 3D computer software), her philosophical approach to numismatic design is rooted in her admiration of classic American artists such as Adolph A. Weinman and French medalists like Jules Clement Chaplain, Oscar Roty, and Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis.

Hemphill also has another notable artistic influence: Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

“I have a deep connection to the Saint-Gaudens tradition through a great-great aunt, who was a student of Saint-Gaudens in the 1890s at the Arts Students League.”

Hemphill’s impressive array of numismatic work includes a diverse number of coin and medal designs [http://www.usmint.gov/education/artists/?action=Hemphill]. Portfolio highlights include:

  • 2015 Native American dollar – “Mohawk Ironworkers” reverse (sculptor)
  • 2015 $100 American Liberty high-relief gold coin obverse (sculptor)
  • 2014 America The Beautiful Quarters Program – Shenandoah Virginia reverse (sculptor)
  • 2014 Presidential $1 Coin – Herbert Hoover obverse (sculptor)
  • 2014 Presidential $1 Coin – Calvin Coolidge obverse (sculptor)
  • 2014 First Spouse Eleanor Roosevelt obverse (sculptor)
  • 2014 First Spouse Grace Coolidge obverse (sculptor)
  • 2014 Civil Rights commemorative silver dollar obverse (sculptor)
  • 2013 Presidential $1 Coin – William McKinley obverse (design and sculptor)
  • 2013 First Spouse – Ida McKinley obverse (sculptor)
  • 2013 First Spouse – Helen Taft obverse (sculptor)
  • 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters Program – White Mountain National Forest reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2013 Native American $1 Coin reverse (sculptor)
  • 2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar obverse (sculptor)
  • 2013 5–Star Generals Commemorative coin clad obverse and reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2012 First Spouse Gold Coin – Alice Paul obverse (sculptor)
  • 2012 First Spouse Gold Coin – Suffrage Movement reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2012 First Spouse Gold Coin – second term of Frances Cleveland obverse and reverse (sculptor)
  • 2012 Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin – silver obverse (sculptor)
  • 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Program – Chaco Culture National Historical Park reverse (sculptor)
  • 2012 Native American $1 Coin reverse (sculptor)
  • 2012 Presidential $1 Coin – Benjamin Harrison obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2011 American Eagle Platinum Coin reverse (sculptor)
  • 2011 First Spouse Gold Coin – Lucretia Garfield obverse (sculptor)
  • 2011 First Spouse Gold Coin – Eliza Johnson reverse (sculptor)
  • 2011 United States Army Commemorative Coin – gold obverse (sculptor)
  • 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Program – Gettysburg National Military Park reverse (sculptor)
  • 2011 Presidential $1 Coin – James Garfield obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2011 Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin silver reverse (sculptor)
  • 2010 American Eagle Platinum Coin reverse (sculptor)
  • 2010 First Spouse Gold Coin – Abigail Fillmore obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2010 First Spouse Gold Coin – Mary Todd Lincoln obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2010 First Spouse Gold Coin – Mary Todd Lincoln reverse (sculptor)
  • 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Program – Grand Canyon National Park reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Program – Mount Hood National Forest reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Program – Yosemite National Park reverse (sculptor)
  • 2010 Presidential $1 Coin – James Buchanan obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Commemorative Coin obverse (sculptor)
  • 2009 Presidential $1 Coin – John Tyler obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2009 First Spouse Gold Coin – Sarah Polk obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2009 First Spouse Gold Coin – Sarah Polk reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2009 First Spouse Gold Coin – Margaret Taylor obverse (designer)
  • 2009 First Spouse Gold Coin – Letitia Tyler obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program – Northern Mariana Islands reverse (sculptor)
  • 2009 American Eagle Platinum Coin reverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Presidential $1 Coin – Martin Van Buren obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 First Spouse Gold Coin – Louisa Adams obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Bald Eagle Commemorative Coin – gold obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 50 State Quarters®Program – Oklahoma reverse (sculptor)
  • 2007 American Eagle Platinum reverse (sculptor)
  • 2007 First Spouse Gold Coin – Abigail Adams reverse (sculptor)
  • 2007 First Spouse Gold Coin – Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty obverse (sculptor)

Medal Sculpting Credits:

  • 2014 American Fighter Aces Congressional Gold Medal obverse (sculptor)
  • 2012 Raoul Wallenberg Congressional Gold Medal reverse (sculptor)
  • 2011 September 11 National Medal obverse (sculptor)
  • 2011 Fallen Heroes of 9/11 New York Congressional Gold Medal reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2011 Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Pennsylvania Congressional Gold Medal reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2011 Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Virginia-Pentagon Congressional Gold Medal obverse and reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2010 Professor Muhammad Yunus Congressional Gold Medal obverse (sculptor)
  • 2009 New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal obverse (sculptor)
  • 2009 Women Airforce Service Pilots Congressional Gold Medal obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Choctaw Nation obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Osage Nation obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Crow Creek Nation obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Sisseton Sioux obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Muscogee Creek Nation obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Meskwaki Nation obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Menominee Nation obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Seminole obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Code Talker Congressional Gold Medal – Ponca obverse (sculptor)
  • 2008 Senator Edward William Brooke Congressional Gold Medal reverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2006 Tuskegee Airmen Congressional Gold Medal obverse (designer and sculptor)
  • 2006 Norman E. Borlaug Congressional Gold Medal obverse (designer and sculptor)

CoinWeek Coin Profiles: The Designs of Phebe Hemphill

2015

 

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United States 2015 Native American – Mohawk Ironworkers $1 Coin

 

 

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United States 2015 Bess Truman $10 Gold Coin

 

 

United States 2015 Jacqueline Kennedy $10 Gold Coin

 

 

 

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Coinweek is the top independent online media source for rare coin and currency news, with analysis and information contributed by leading experts across the numismatic spectrum.

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