Constitution Coins Struck in Ceremony
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PHILADELPHIA — Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III on Wednesday struck the first gold and silver coins commemorating the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.
After a fife and drum corps played “Yankee Doodle,” Baker struck the first silver memento on a coin press in the Philadelphia Mint. Then, with a computer hookup, he activated a gold coin press 130 miles away at West Point, N.Y.
Donna Pope, director of the U.S. Mint, said the federal government will mint 1 million of the $5 gold coins and 10 million of the $1 silver coins. She said the mint has already received 15,000 orders for the new coins, which range in price from $26 to $525.
Coins can be ordered directly from the U.S. Mint., with the first retail sales to begin in mid-August.
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