WASHINGTON -- A nod to Fort Smith's history with the U.S. Marshals Service is included in the design for three commemorative coins unveiled Wednesday.
The designs for the $5, $1 and half-dollar coins commemorating the service's 225 years were released at a news conference at the Department of Justice on Wednesday.
The coins will be available for purchase through the U.S. Mint in early 2015. Part of the sales proceeds will go to build a U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith.
Etched on the $1 piece will be a marshal in western gear holding a warrant that reads "Wanted in Ft. Smith," a detail that pleased Arkansas' lawmakers who sponsored the legislation creating the coins.
Arkansas' U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Mark Pryor and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, who secured the legislation in 2012, were on hand for the news conference Wednesday.
A similar event was held in Fort Smith.
Womack, whose congressional district includes Fort Smith, said he could picture Ray Baker, the former mayor who died in 2011, jumping up and down at the sight of the city's name on the coin.
"To have Fort Smith on one of them, just in name, that ought to be a source of pride for every citizen in Fort Smith," he said.
Boozman, who is from Rogers, chimed in: "It looks like the new logo for Fort Smith, doesn't it? It's really great."
He said the Fort Smith name was on early sketches for the coin, but the delegation didn't know for sure that it would be included.
"It's a great, pleasant surprise to see it there," he said. "All three of [the coins] are outstanding, and I think they are going to be very collectible. We'll have to wait and see how they sell, but the designs are excellent. I'm going to start saving today."
Pryor, the only Democrat in the state's congressional delegation, predicted that the coins will be a hot collector's item.
"Even more than I thought they would be, they're beautiful. They are going to sell like hot cakes," he said. "It's really exciting."
Womack said the coins represent the service's "storied and remarkable history."
"What these coins do a very good job of is capturing the history, the historical significance of where the marshals were in [1789] and where they are today," Womack said.
"I couldn't have asked for a better depiction."
As a gateway to Indian Territory, where only marshals had legal authority, Fort Smith played a role in that history. It was home to Judge Isaac C. Parker, who heard thousands of criminal complaints between settlers and Indians during his decades on the federal bench.
The historic town and its marshals have also made it to the big screen, featuring actors like John Wayne and Jeff Bridges in leading roles.
The U.S. Marshals Museum, scheduled to open in Fort Smith in 2017, will receive up to $5 million from the coin sales. If the coins make more than $5 million, the additional money will be divided among The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Foundation and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Roughly 30 people showed up for the Arkansas unveiling.
At the Fort Smith event, U.S. Marshals Museum Board of Directors Chairman Jim Spears gave the new coins high marks.
"I want a set of all three myself," he said.
Marshals Museum President Jim Dunn was in Washington on Wednesday to unveil the design of the $1 coin.
"All the coins were well received by the audience," he said afterward. "People loved the frontier theme on the silver coin."
The act approved by Congress allows the U.S. Mint to issue up to 100,000 $5 gold coins; 500,000 $1 silver coins; and 750,000 half-dollar coins made of a copper-nickel alloy. U.S. Mint spokesman Mike White said an official release date hasn't been set, but it is expected to be in early 2015.
Collectors often pay far more than the face value for coins.
Among commemorative coins currently available through the U.S. Mint, the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame $5 gold coin sells for as much as $425. The silver coin sells for up to $52, and the half-dollar Hall of Fame coin sells for up to $24.
Prices for the U.S. Marshals Service coins haven't been set yet.
U.S. Mint Deputy Director Richard Peterson said the price depends, in part, on the cost of the raw materials.
"If you can get one of these $5 gold coins for $5, I urge you to get it," he said. "There's about a quarter ounce of gold in the coin and today's gold price was $1,300, so there's $325 worth of gold in the coin, plus our manufacturing cost plus a surcharge."
The coin designs released Wednesday show different aspects of the Marshals Service 225-year history.
The obverse, or heads side, of the $5 gold coin shows a current marshal badge and the words "225 years of sacrifice." The reverse, or tails side, shows an eagle draped in an American flag wearing a shield on its chest inscribed with "U.S. Marshal." It will be minted in West Point, N.Y., Peterson said.
The obverse of the $1 silver coin shows a 19th century Marshals Service star and the outline of U.S. marshals on horseback. The reverse shows a frontier U.S. marshal leaning against a post and holding a poster that reads "Wanted in Ft. Smith."
It will be minted in Philadelphia, Peterson said.
The obverse of the half-dollar coin shows a present-day female deputy U.S. marshal in the foreground and an Old West U.S. marshal in the background. The reverse shows Lady Justice holding scales in one hand and a U.S. marshal's badge in the other. The coins will be minted in San Francisco and Denver, Peterson said.
At the Justice Department event, Attorney General Eric Holder praised the 225 years of work by the U.S. Marshals Service, including during prohibition. He said George Washington appointed the first marshals in 1789.
"This country has always relied on the valor, the vigilance and the dedication of marshals, deputy marshals and support personnel to keep the peace, to safeguard our system of justice and to apprehend dangerous criminals who attempt to flee from accountability," he said.
Former Marshal Kirk Bowden attended Wednesday's news conference, which repeatedly referenced the role marshals played in the civil-rights movement. Bowden, a Memphis native, was one of a handful of black marshals assigned to protect James Meredith after he became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi in 1962.
"We have to continue to document our history and keep it on the forefront," he said afterward.
Information for this article was contributed by Dave Hughes of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 07/24/2014