Elizabeth Monroe First Spouse Gold Coins

The fifth first spouse to be immortalized on the First Spouse Gold Coins series is none other than Elizabeth Monroe, the first spouse of President James Monroe. Elizabeth Monroe was born Elizabeth Kortright in 1768 in New York City. She was married to the then James Monroe at the age of 17, before he was appointed by President George Washington as the United States Minister to France. Spending time in Europe as the wife of U.S. Foreign Minister has also made her a very well known figure and was often called La Belle Americane by the Italians.

The Elizabeth Monroe First Spouse Gold Coins were the first series that had been introduced and circulated to the public year 2008 in February. The observe side of the coins was carved with the portrait of Elizabeth Monroe with the engraving of her name, the inscriptions of “In God We Trust”, “Liberty”, “2008 W” as the year of the coins’ minting, the order of the Presidency “5th”, as well as the Presidential term of James Monroe “1817-1825”. Like the previous First Spouse Gold Coins series of Dolley Madison, Elizabeth Monroe First Spouse Gold Coins portrait was also sculpted by Don Everhart and designed by Joel Iskowitz.

The reserve side of the coin portrayed a more significant and historic image of Elizabeth Monroe standing inside the walls of the newly built White House after it was burnt down by the British troops in 1814. Other than the portrait, the inscriptions included were “Reopening of the White House 1818”, “United States of America’, “E Pluribus Unum”, “$10” representing the coins’ face value, “1/2 oz” gold content, and the “.9999 Fine Gold” indicating it’s purity. The coins reverse were designed by Donna Weaver whereas the sculpture was done by Charles Vickers.

Like the other first spouse gold coins, the Elizabeth Monroe First Spouse Gold Coins were also distributed in two versions, the proof and the uncirculated. Both versions were sold at $619.95 and $599.95 respectively, and were reported to have sold 12,452 gold coins since its first circulation. Another historical fact was her daughter was the first child of a U.S. President to be born inside the White House.

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