2009 Julia Tyler First Spouse MS70

To honor the nation's finest First Ladies, the U.S. Mint released one-half ounce $10 gold coins featuring portraits in the order that they served. The Julia Tyler First Spouse coin marked the 10th presidency meaning it is an important issue that set a new mintage low. Today, both the proof and uncirculated coins trade for premiums on the market.

Julia was born in 1820 on a small island near Long Island, New York which bore the name of her family. Her father was a prominent landowner and a New York State Senator meaning she was raised comfortably wealthy, and from the beginning of her life, her education and training would prepare her for life in society. She was introduced to John in 1842 at a White House reception. After the death of his first wife later the same year, President John Tyler remarried Julia Gardiner Tyler on June 26, 1844, who acted as First Lady for the first eight months of his Presidency. With her charm, she won over most of Washington society and using her powers of persuasion, assisted the President in his struggle to annex Texas.

The obverse of the coin features a portrait of Tyler by the Designer Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Don Everhart. The inscriptions on this side of the coin include "JULIA TYLER," "LIBERTY" and the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" as well as the order of the Presidency, "10TH," the years she served "1844-45" and the date and mint mark of the coin "2009 W." The reverse of the coin depicts John and Julia Tyler dancing at the White House Ball. History states that it was Julia Tyler who introduced the Polka to the White House and after that, it gained widespread popularity throughout the country.

Minted at West Point, sales of this coin began on August 6, 2009, and both the proof and uncirculated versions had a mintage of 40,000. Sales of the coin ceased unexpectedly in 2010 after a new coin was released honoring Jane Pierce. Typically though, First Spouse Gold coins would remain available for sale until its maximum mintage had been sold for one year. In the case of the Julia Tyler coin, this only lasted for roughly 10 months. However, the Julia Tyler coin introduced a new mintage low for the whole series. The uncirculated version of the coin had a mintage of 3,143 and the proof a mintage of 4,844. These low mints make this coin an incredibly sought after one for collectors of the series.

Features of the 2009 $10 Julia Tyler First Spouse MS70:

• Mint: West Point (W)
• Date: 2009
• Denomination: $10
• Composition: 0.999 gold
• Designer: Joel Iskowitz
• Sculptor: Don Everhart
• Weight: 0.5000 troy oz.
• MS70 (Perfectly Uncirculated)