U.S. Mint to sell curved coins honoring Baseball Hall of Fame

[March 14, 2014]  By Laila Kearney

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — The United States Mint will begin selling special curved coins this month to honor the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with a design representing the inverse images of a ball and mitt, U.S. Mint officials said on Thursday.

The $5, $1 and half-dollar coins, plated with gold, silver and alloy, are in production at the San Francisco U.S. Mint and will be sold online starting on March 27, agency spokesman Michael White said.

Some 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins and 750,000 half-dollar alloy-clad coins will be produced.

They will be the first curved coins — concave on the heads side and convex on the reverse — ever minted by the U.S. Mint, according to a statement on the agency's website.

The image of a baseball glove with the words "liberty" and "in God we trust 2014" across the palm is featured on the face of the coins, which commemorate the Baseball Hall of Fame's 75th year in 2014.

A baseball is depicted on the tails side, with the words "United States of America" and the coin's value inscribed on it. The tails side also includes the Latin words for "Out of many, one."

Cassie McFarland of San Luis Obispo, California, submitted the winning mitt design for the coin in a 2013 competition that was judged by the Department of the Treasury. U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart designed the baseball and the inscriptions on both sides of the coins.

The coins were created as part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin act of 2012 to help fund operations of the independent, not-for-profit educational institution that runs a museum in Cooperstown, New York.

Surcharges on the pieces will be $35 for each gold coin, $10 for a silver coin and $5 for each half-dollar coin and will authorized for payment to the Hall of Fame, the U.S. Mint said.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Tom Brown)

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