The United States is celebrating on home turf. Its American Liberty High Relief $100 gold coin with the theme “Liberty Through Perseverance” was named the ultimate winner during the Coin of the Year (COTY) Awards ceremony held August 8 in Rosemont, Illinois, in partnership with the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) World’s Fair of Money convention.
The Coin of the Year program is an internationally conducted competition presented by World Coin News to recognize and encourage outstanding coin design and innovation worldwide. The 2024 program, sponsored by the World’s Fair of Money and The Journal of East Asian Numismatics, honors coins dated 2023 in 10 categories of competition as decided by an international panel of judges.
The winning coin’s obverse features a bristlecone pine, a species native to California, Nevada, and Utah. It is thought to be one the oldest-living organisms on Earth, living up to 5,000 years. Bristlecone pines grow in places where other plants cannot and are often the species that is first to repopulate the land after cataclysmic changes such as a lava run or glacial runoff. It was sculpted by United States Mint Chief Engraver Joseph Menna and designed by Elana Hagler.
The reverse design depicts a young bald eagle standing on a rocky outcropping moments before it takes flight. Artistic credit goes to John P. McGraw.
The coin is the sixth released in the United States Mint’s American Liberty series. Since its debut in 2015, the American Liberty Gold Coin and Silver Medal Program features coins and medals with modern depictions of allegorical Liberty on the obverse. The reverse features complementary eagle designs. The designs represent what liberty means to individual Americans, or collectively as a nation.
It also won the Best Gold Coin category. When it came to vying with the other category winners for the top spot, competition was tight.
“The final ballot for Coin of the Year in 2024 was so evenly distributed that the top five coins were separated by a margin of just 10 votes,” said Tom Michael, COTY co-coordinator. “However, there was no mistaking the strength of the ‘Liberty Through Perseverance’ $100 gold coin’s gracious design, as it surged past the next closest competitor by half of that spread.”
The 2024 COTY selection process began with a record number of submissions brought forth during the worldwide call for nominations at the beginning of the year. Nearly 600 coins were debated by the COTY Nominating Committee to select the COTY 100: 10 coins in 10 categories. An international panel of judges voted to determine the winner of each category, from which the COTY champion was named during a final vote.
“It is very exciting to watch the COTY process unfold,” said Maggie Pahl, COTY co-coordinator. “The best of the best in coin design and innovation rise to the top as the competition culminates with the final vote for the champion. The COTY team and I extend a sincere congratulations to all winners and a big thank-you to everyone who participated in making this year’s awards program possible.”
The following is a list of the 2024 Coin of the Year category winners.
MOST HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT COIN
Cameroon
2,000 Francs CFA, Silver
Sumerian Civilization
BEST CONTEMPORARY EVENT COIN
Ukraine
10 Hryvnias, Silver
The Courage to Be. UA
BEST GOLD COIN
United States
100 Dollars, Gold
Liberty Through Perseverance
BEST SILVER COIN
Austria
20 Euro, Silver
The Neutron Star
BEST CROWN COIN
Cook Islands
10 Dollars, Silver
Astrolabe
BEST CIRCULATING COIN
China
5 Yuan, Brass
Sheng Role – Chinese Peking Opera Art
BEST BI-METALLIC COIN
Austria
25 Euro, Silver-Niobium
Global Heating
MOST ARTISTIC COIN
Latvia
5 Euro, Silver
Riga Fashion
MOST INNOVATIVE COIN
France
200 Euro, Gold
Pierre Hermé
MOST INSPIRATIONAL COIN
Canada
50 Dollars, Silver
Allegory of Peace
A special thank you to the 2024 Coin of the Year awards sponsors, The World’s Fair of Money and The Journal of East Asian Numismatics. And congratulations to the United States and other winners of the 2024 Coin of the Year Awards.
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About Coin of the Year
The Coin of the Year awards program is an internationally conducted competition sponsored by World Coin News, a division of Active Interest Media, to provide recognition of outstanding coin design and marketing efforts worldwide, and to stimulate other governments to greater participation in both areas.
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