US coin trivia question

[Art_from_Ark]

During the Clinton administration, 3 members of the same family were honored on 3 different coins that were produced at one time or another between 1993 and 2001. Can you name the family, and the coins?

Bonus question: Which one of the 3 family members was alive at the time their coin was made?

Note: These are actual coins produced at the US Mint, not tokens or medals.

[panader0]

1. You got me Art

My interest in coins is for those made of silver.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. All three of the coins were struck in silver

although one of them was also struck in copper-nickel clad.

[Tom_Foolery]

3. The Kennedys?

JFK, RFK, and Teddy. Teddy was alive at the time of his coin's pressing.

[Art_from_Ark]

4. You got 2 out of 3

JFK has appeared on the half dollar since 1964, and both silver and copper-nickel clad coins were struck during the Clinton years.

The 30th anniversary of RFK's assassination was commemorated with a silver dollar in 1998.

However, the third Kennedy was not Teddy but a woman.

[Tom_Foolery]

5. How about Eunice Shriver?

[Art_from_Ark]

6. It was indeed Eunice Shriver

She appeared on the Special Olympics silver dollar that was issued in 1995-- the only woman to be portrayed as herself on a US coin while still living.

[Tom_Foolery]

7. Groovy...

That was some good trivia.

[Art_from_Ark]

8. Here's a related trivia question

Who are the other 4 people who appeared on US coins while they were alive?

One was the governor of a Southern state.

Two were Democratic Senators from the South.

The 4th person was a sitting President.

[Tom_Foolery]

9. I didn't know this, so I had to look it up on the U.S. Mint's website...

To date, four men have been portrayed on U.S. commemorative coins during their lifetime:

Governor T.E. Kilby on the front of the 1921 Alabama Centennial. This is the first time a living person's portrait was used on a U.S. coin.

President Calvin Coolidge on the front of the 1926 Sesquicentennial of American Independence. This is the first time a portrait of a president appeared on a coin struck during his lifetime.

Senator Carter Glass on the front of the 1936 Lynchburg, Virginia, Sesquicentennial coin. Senator Glass's portrait apparently appeared against his wishes.

Senator Joseph T. Robinson on the back of the 1936 Robinson-Arkansas Centennial coin.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Correct

It's interesting that the Alabama commemorative was not issued until 2 years after the actual centennial year (1919). Also, the Arkansas commemorative originally featured the image of a "flapper girl" accoladed over the image of a (Quapaw? Caddo?) Indian. And while the Mint calls the Robinson portrait side the "back" of the coin, among collectors the portrait side is usually considered the "front" (or "obverse", in the parlance of collectors), especially when the denomination is on the other side.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Another trivia question

Who was the first historical (not allegorical) figure to be featured on a US coin?

[Trailrider1951]

12. was it Abraham Lincoln

on the penny? I love collecting coins! But I can only afford the cheap ones!

[Tom_Foolery]

13. I believe you are correct. n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

14. Christopher Columbus (commemorative coinage for the Columbian Exposition of 1893).

[Art_from_Ark]

18. Columbus is correct

Columbian half dollars were issued for the 2 years of the exposition (1892 and 1893).

1893 also saw the issuance of another US coin honoring an actual historical figure-- Queen Isabella of Spain.

The first American historical figure to be honored on a US coin was George Washington, who shared the honor with the Marquis de Lafayette on a silver dollar that was struck in 1899 but bears the date 1900.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. It just now occurred to me

that this year, another Kennedy is to be honored on a US coin-- Jackie, wife of John, who will be featured on a $10 gold commemorative coin as part of the Mint's First Spouse series.

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/firstSpouse/?action=schedule

[Tom_Foolery]

16. Wow! I didn't know that was being done...

That would make a nice collection. Thanks!

[Art_from_Ark]

17. So this year, you can have a 4-piece Kennedy coin set

containing a Kennedy half dollar (made of either copper-nickel, 40% silver, 90% silver, or even 90% gold), a Special Olympics silver dollar, a Robert Kennedy silver dollar, and a Jackie Kennedy $10 gold piece. And this year, the Kennedy family will tie the Adams, Harrison, and Roosevelt families for being the American families with the most members honored on US coins (4 each).

[Tom_Foolery]

19. I am going to check that out. Thanks again!