(2015) First Spouse Bronze Medal - Lady Bird Johnson

Coin Details

Auction Record

$540 MS70BN 07-09-2018 eBay

Description

The Lady Bird Johnson bronze medal honors a First Lady whose environmental conservation efforts transformed the American landscape and established a lasting legacy of natural beautification. Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson earned the childhood nickname that would follow her through life and married Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1934 after a whirlwind courtship. The obverse, designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso, portrays a woman who was a shrewd businesswoman in her own right, building a small Austin radio station into a media empire that made the Johnson family wealthy. The reverse, designed by Chris Costello and sculpted by Don Everhart, references her most enduring accomplishment: the passage of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which restricted billboard advertising and promoted landscaping along interstate highways. Lady Bird Johnson planted wildflowers, trees, and shrubs across Washington and advocated for the preservation of natural scenery throughout the country. Her commitment to the environment predated the modern environmental movement by decades. Beyond beautification, she played an important role in Lyndon Johnson's political career, once campaigning solo through eight Southern states in four days by whistlestop train during the contentious 1964 election. After leaving the White House, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center in Austin. She died in 2007. Struck in bronze at 1-5/16 inches.

Rarity Notes

Struck at the Philadelphia Mint during 2015 with open mintage. Available on the secondary market at modest premiums typical of the series.

Cross References

PCGS #568495; companion to First Spouse Gold $10