US Mint 2013 Baseball Coin Competition Design Entry

The National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 112-152) calls for a three-coin program of $5 gold, $1 silver, and half-dollar clad coins, and requires a competition to select a common obverse design emblematic of the game of baseball. This is the first time the United States Mint has held a public design competition since 1992. In addition, the $5 gold coins and $1 silver coins will be the first convex/concave coins minted and issued by the United States Mint, with the reverses (tail sides) being convex to more closely resemble a baseball and the obverses concave to provide a more dramatic design. “I don't have to tell you that the one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has been erased like a blackboard, only to be rebuilt and then erased again. But baseball has marked time while America has rolled by like a procession of steamrollers.” ― W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe Baseball and coins share an intimate relationship with our hands. This submission seeks to capture this intimacy by representing fragments of the tools of the game at actual scale rather than miniaturize baseball iconography to fit on the face of a coin. Due to the various diameters of the three coins it seems appropriate to use fragments that are unique to each coin size. Obverse Side: The concave shape of the obverse side suggests a container or vessel. The baseball glove, worn on and made by the hand and used to capture the batted ball, is represented in three stitches common to most modern baseball gloves. The size of each stitch: cross-stitch, whipstitch and running stitch are memorialized on each of the three coin denominations at actual size. Reverse Side: The convex side of the coin will represent a modern baseball as stated in the competition brief. It is a desire to again represent a fragment of this baseball and its iconic double stitch, also made by hand, at actual size on each of the three coins. Baseball is a thread that binds together the fabric of a Great American Quilt.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 112-152) calls for a three-coin program of $5 gold, $1 silver, and half-dollar clad coins, and requires a competition to select a common obverse design emblematic of the game of baseball.  This is the first time the United States Mint has held a public design competition since 1992.
In addition, the $5 gold coins and $1 silver coins will be the first convex/concave coins minted and issued by the United States Mint, with the reverses (tail sides) being convex to more closely resemble a baseball and the obverses concave to provide a more dramatic design. 
 
Baseball and coins share an intimate relationship with our hands. This submission seeks to capture this intimacy by representing tools fragments of the game at actual scale rather than miniaturize baseball iconography to fit on the face of a coin. Due to the various diameters of the three coins it seems appropriate to use fragments that are unique to each coin size.
Obverse Side: The concave shape of the obverse side suggests a container or vessel. The baseball glove, worn on and made by the hand and used to capture the batted ball, is represented in three stitches common to most modern baseball gloves. The size of each stitch: cross-stitch, whip-stitch and running stitch are memorialized on each of the three coin denominations at actual size.
Reverse Side: The convex side of the coin will represent a modern baseball as stated in the competition brief.  It is a desire to again represent a fragment of this baseball and its iconic double stitch, also made by hand, at actual size on each of the three coins.
Baseball is a thread that binds together the fabric of a Great American Quilt.
 
 

“I don't have to tell you that the one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has been erased like a blackboard, only to be rebuilt and then erased again. But baseball has marked time while America has rolled by like a procession of steamrollers.”
― W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe

 
 
 
Update 5 June 2013: This entry was rejected by the US Mint Administration. See semifinalist here: http://batterup.challenge.gov/submissions
 
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