Coins That Benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation
The Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act (Public Law 114-148) was signed into law on April 29, 2016, authorizing the U.S. Mint to strike three coins, a clad half dollar, a silver dollar, and a five-dollar gold piece, with surcharges benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Following this authorization, Congress directed that the surcharges support the foundation’s medical research efforts to prevent the disease. The Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coins officially launched in March 2018, bringing the coins to market and raising public awareness of breast cancer and the millions of Americans affected by it.
2018 Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Clad Half Dollar
The first coin to be struck was the clad half dollar. Designed by Emily Damstra of the U.S. Mint’s Artist Infusion Program, the obverse of this coin depicts two women, one younger, one older, with a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly flying above them. The younger woman wears a turban and raises her right arm with a defiant fist, 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 obverse was sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.
The reverse is dominated by the close-up image of a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. 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.” The reverse was sculpted by Renata Gordon. All coins in this release have the same design.
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. 11,301 of the uncirculated clad half dollars were struck and sold, while 22,392 of the proof clad half dollars were sold.
(A 2018-D Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Clad Half Dollar, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
(A 2018-S Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Clad Half Dollar Proof, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
2018 Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Silver Dollar
For the silver dollar, the Philadelphia Mint struck the uncirculated and 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. 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.
(A 2018-P Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Silver Dollar, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
(A 2018-P Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Silver Dollar, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
2018 Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative $5 Gold Coin
The final coin was the gold commemorative coin. In this coin, the standard gold-copper alloy was modified to increase copper content, giving the gold coins a pinkish hue (85% gold; 14.8% copper, Balance zinc). That was done intentionally as the color of the ribbons worn by breast cancer survivors and supporters is pink. Although a maximum of 50,000 of these five-dollar gold coins were authorized, 4,477 uncirculated coins were sold, while 10,386 proof coins were sold.
(A 2018-W Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative $5 Gold Coin, Uncirculated, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
(A 2018-W Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative $5 Gold Coin, Proof, Obverse [left], Reverse [right].)
In 2018, the U.S. Mint sold a special Breast Cancer Awareness coin and stamp set that included a Proof clad half dollar and a United States Postal Service Breast Cancer Awareness stamp. A maximum of 25,000 of those sets were also authorized.
Add these coins to your collection and explore other U.S. silver modern commemorative coins and modern U.S. gold commemorative coins.
