America loves a reason to celebrate, and there was perhaps no greater celebration than the Bicentennial in 1976. But 10 years later, the nation threw another party to honor the centennial of the Statue of Liberty.
In 1986, the United States Mint issued three commemorative coins for the Statue’s centennial: a copper-nickel half dollar, a .900 fine silver $1, and a .900 fine gold $5 coin. Both uncirculated and proof versions were issued for all three designs, leaving six total options for collectors.
The Statue of Liberty coin program remains the largest such release (of three varying coins) across the whole commemorative coin program. In fact, the total mintage of all coins was more than enough for each of the more than 12 million people who passed through Ellis Island to receive a coin.
France’s program was a little more restrained, mintage-wise, but offered five different options featuring the same simple design. The obverse of each coin shows a shoulder-high facing view of the statue, with the nation’s name in French below and the dual dates of 1886 and 1986 by its side. The reverse employs the three-word motto for the nation—Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité—topped by the famous liberty cap, to form the shape of the statue’s torch. The denomination (all 100-franc coins) and year of issue round out the design.
The workhorse of the program was the uncirculated .900 fine silver coin, cataloged as KM960, which has a mintage of 4,427,000 pieces. These are commonly found in the market today for prices based on their precious metals content (in this case, the coin has an actual silver weight of 0.434 ounces). A proof version (KM960a), struck in .950 fine silver, is much rarer, though with hunting might also be found at prices more in line with the precious metal content (0.4832 ounces actual silver weight).
Three high-value precious metals versions—.920 fine gold, .999 fine platinum, and .900 fine—were issued, and market prices vary based on the metal and the rarity of these pieces. A set of all five versions would be a rare and complete homage to the cooperation between the United States of America and France and would make appropriate companions to the 1986 commemoratives from the USA.