Aug. 14, the United States Mint began selling the proof and uncirculated quality Lou Hoover First Spouse Gold Coins.

Designs on the $10 gold pieces celebrate Lou, wife of the 31st President of the United States, Herbert Hoover.

All spousal coins are minted from the U.S. Mint facility at West Point, NY, with each one struck in 0.5 ounces of .9999 pure gold. This series that honors wives of U.S. Presidents began in 2007. The 2014 line-up offers designs honoring:

• Florence Harding, released July 10
• Grace Coolidge, released July 17
• Lou Hoover, released today
• Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, to be released September 4

Coin Designs

For this Lou Hoover release, two designs won out among nine design proposals that included four obverses and five reverses.

The selected obverse design, crafted by Susan Gamble and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso, features a portrait of the first lady with surrounding inscriptions of: LOU HOOVER, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, 2014, 31st, 1929 – 1933, and the mint mark of W.

Reverses, designed by Richard Masters and executed by Jim Licaretz, show a 1920s-era radio, representing Mrs. Hoover achievement of being the first, First Lady to deliver a public radio address. Reverse inscriptions read, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, $10, 1/2 OZ., and .9999 FINE GOLD. The words FIRST PUBLIC ADDRESS APRIL 19, 1929 also appear under the radio.