1981 American Arts Commemorative Medallion - Mark Twain

Coin Details

Auction Record

$2,100 MS67 04-13-2022 Heritage Auctions

Description

The 1981 American Arts Gold Medallion featuring Mark Twain is a one-troy-ounce gold piece honoring America's most celebrated humorist and satirist. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), writing under the pen name Mark Twain, produced works including "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" that defined American literary voice and remain cornerstones of the national canon. His selection for the one-ounce 1981 issue reflected his status as the most universally recognized American author. The obverse features a portrait of Twain in his later years, capturing the distinctive bushy eyebrows, drooping mustache, and unruly white hair that made him one of the most recognizable public figures of his era. The inscription MARK TWAIN and the date 1981 accompany the portrait. The reverse depicts a scene evocative of Twain's Mississippi River world — a steamboat on the river evoking the journeys that gave Clemens both his pen name (a riverboat leadsman's call indicating two fathoms of safe water) and the settings for his greatest fiction. ONE TROY OUNCE OF GOLD appears around the border. The 1981 issues saw further sales declines from the already disappointing 1980 debut. The U.S. Mint's marketing efforts were hampered by the fundamental structural problem that the medallions could not be sold through the established precious metals dealer network, which preferred coins with sovereign backing and guaranteed buyback values. The Mark Twain medallion was struck at the West Point Bullion Depository and, like all American Arts medallions, carries no mintmark.

Rarity Notes

Total mintage approximately 116,371 pieces — a significant decline from the 1980 one-ounce issue. Unsold quantities were melted. The 1981 issues are scarcer than 1980 in surviving numbers.

Cross References

PCGS #20503; NGC #724004; Public Law 95-630; Swoger D1981-1