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The people who decide the history that appears on US coins

Art and history scholars, amateur coin collectors and professional numismatists are among the 11 members of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, the panel that offers coin-design guidance to the United States Mint and the Treasury secretary.

“Coins are a very particular form of artwork and tend to be very evocative of American history,” said Mitchell Sanders, the committee chairman and an amateur coin collector and market researcher based in Rochester. “We’re working on something we know will represent the United States of America. To be able to contribute to that process is a wonderful opportunity.”

In 2003, Congress ordered a redesign of the nickel in honor of the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. That year, it also created the committee, effectively replacing the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, which mostly reviewed the designs of noncirculating collector coins.

The committee has weighed in on hundreds of designs submitted by artists since two new Westward Journey nickels were released in 2004.
Read entire article at NYT