The Frances Cleveland First Spouse Gold Coin (First Term) (Buy on eBay) was issued in 2012 to honor the spouse of the 22nd President of the United States, Grover Cleveland. This represented the second release of the year and the twenty-third release overall for the one-half ounce 24 karat gold coin series.
President Grover Cleveland had entered the White House as a bachelor, but soon married Frances Folsom Cleveland. At the time, she was 21 years of age and remains the youngest First Lady in history. Her beauty and charm won over public opinion, despite her young age.
The obverse design of the coin features a portrait with the required inscriptions. These include her name, the order of the Presidency “22ND”, the dates of the term “1886-1889”, “IN GOD WE TRUST”, “LIBERTY”, and the date. The obverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Don Everhart.
On the reverse of the coin is a depiction of the First Lady at the working women’s receptions held at the White House. Inscriptions include “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, “E Pluribus Unum”, the legal tender denomination of “$10”, and the precious metal weight and purity. The reverse was designed by Barbara Fox and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso.
The United States Mint experienced striking problems for the coin, which delayed the release until nearly the end of the year.
Sales did not begin until November 15, 2012 when the individual proof coins were priced at $1,029 and the individual uncirculated coins were priced at $1,016. Pricing for the coins would fluctuate during the period of availability based on the market price of gold, eventually dipping as low as $840 for the proof and $820 for the uncirculated version.
The maximum mintage across proof and uncirculated coins was established at 13,000 coins. Sales would continue into the following year and eventually conclude on December 31, 2013. The last reported sales reached 2,454 uncirculated and 3,158 proof coins.
Coin Specifications and Mintages
- Date: 2012
- Mint: West Point (W)
- Mintage: 2,454 (uncirculated), 3,158 (proof)
- Designers: Joel Iskowitz (obverse), Barbara Fox (reverse)
- Composition: 0.9999 Gold
- Weight: 0.5000 troy oz. (15.554 g)
- Diameter: 1.041 inches (26.49 mm)
- Thickness: 0.074 inches (1.88 mm)
2012 First Spouse Gold Coins
- Alice Paul First Spouse Gold Coin
- Frances Cleveland First Spouse Coin (1st Term)
- Caroline Harrison First Spouse Gold Coin
- Frances Cleveland First Spouse Coin (2nd Term)
< Alice Paul | Caroline Harrison >
