In March of 2018, the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Program was launched. Several months earlier, to bring awareness to this disease, the United States Congress had approved legislation to strike and offer three coins – a Clad Half Dolla, a Silver Dollar and a Five Dollar Gold coin. The surcharge attached to each of these coins would go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
The Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 114-148) was signed into law April 29th, 2016. This coin set increases the awareness of the disease and the millions of Americans who were and continue to be impacted by the disease. The surcharge on all three of these coins goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to help prevent the disease through medical research.
The first coin to be struck was the Clad Half Dollar. Designed by Emily Damstra of the US Mint’s Artist Infusion Program, the obverse of this coin depicts two women – one younger, one older – with a butterfly flying high above them. The younger woman wears a turban on her head and raises her right arm and fist defiantly symbolizing the fight against the disease. The older woman, meanwhile, places her hands over her heart – symbolizing hope. There is a breast cancer ribbon to the left and on the upper periphery is the word “LIBERTY.” The lower periphery is inscribed as “2018 – IN GOD WE TRUST.”
The reverse is dominated by the close-up image of the butterfly in flight. Above the butterfly is the denomination “HALF DOLLAR.” The upper periphery has the phrase “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” Under the butterfly is the phrase “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” and the lower periphery has “BREAST CANCER AWARENESS.”
(A 2018-D Breast Cancer Awareness, Clad Half Dollar, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
The Uncirculated version of this coin was struck at the Denver Mint and sports a “D” mintmark while the Proof version was struck at the San Francisco Mint and has an “S” mintmark. The maximum authorized mintage was 750,000 coins but the total number struck wasn’t close to that number.
(A 2018-S Breast Cancer Awareness, Clad Half Dollar, Proof, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
11,301 of the Uncirculated Clad Half Dollars were struck and sold, while 22,392 of the Proof Clad Half Dollar were sold.
For the three coins in this commemorative coin set, it was very unusual to replicate the same designs on all three coins, which makes this set unique. Emily Damstra’s designs graced the clad half dollar, the silver dollar and the five-dollar gold coin.
For the Silver dollar, the Philadelphia Mint struck both the Uncirculated and the Proof versions so both bear the “P” mintmark. A maximum of 400,000 Silver Dollar coins were authorized by Congress to be struck across both versions.
(A 2018-P Breast Cancer Awareness, Silver Dollar, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
(A 2018-P Breast Cancer Awareness, Silver Dollar, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
Although there is no difference in the design between the coins, the metallic composition, the denomination, and the size all differ appropriately.
The maximum authorized mintage of the Silver Dollar was 400,000 coins across all types. 12,526 of the Uncirculated silver dollars were struck while 34,542 of the Proof coins were struck.
The final coin was the Five Dollar Gold Commemorative coin. It also utilizes Emily Damstra’s wonderful designs.
To do something different, the usual Gold-Copper alloy was changed to incorporate more copper, giving these gold coins a pinkish hue. That was done intentionally as the color of the ribbons worn by breast cancer survivors and supporters is pink. These gold commemorative coins look nothing like the other modern gold commemoratives due to that alloy change.
(A 2018-W Breast Cancer Awareness, Five Dollar Gold Coin, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse {right].)
(A 2018-W Breast Cancer Awareness, Five Dollar Gold Coin, Proof, Obverse [left], Reverse {right].)
Although a maximum of 50,000 of these five-dollar gold coins were authorized, the Uncirculated version sold 4,477 examples while the Proof version sold 10,386 coins.
In addition to these coins all sold individually, there was a special Breast Cancer Awareness coin and stamp set containing a Proof Clad Half Dollar and a special United States Postal Service Breast Cancer awareness stamp. A maximum of 25,000 of those sets were also authorized.
| Date | Mintmark | Denomination | Type | Mintage | Value |
| 2018 | D | Clad Half Dollar | Uncirculated | 11,301 | $40 |
| 2018 | S | Clad Half Dollar | Proof | 22,392 | $40 |
| 2018 | P | Silver Dollar | Uncirculated | 12,526 | $80 |
| 2018 | P | Silver Dollar | Proof | 34,542 | $80 |
| 2018 | W | Five Dollar Gold | Uncirculated | 4,477 | $500 |
| 2018 | W | Five Dollar Gold | Proof | 10,386 | $500 |
| 2018 | S | Coin & Stamp Set | Proof | Included | $80 |
