Did you know that January 23 is National Handwriting Day? This annual holiday recognizes the timeless form of communication known as handwriting. Some of the most important documents ever written were made not with the click of a computer keyboard or tap on a screen, but with the stroke of a pen or flick of an ink-dipped quill. In fact, many of the foundational documents that established the United States were created by the fateful twists and turns of a quill – a quill gripped by the sure hands of America’s foresightful founding parents.
Among these documents were the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, the former establishing the creation of a new nation and the latter setting forth the foundational laws that predicates how the U.S. government works. Among these founding principles are the creation of three separate branches of government, including the legislative branch that makes laws, the executive branch that enforces laws, and the judicial branch that interprets law. Also key in the Constitution were the checks and balances that ensure each branch works in unison with each other without usurping the other. The distinctions between federal and state governments were crafted. And then finally the protection of individual rights and freedoms.
And to think, all that came from some well-discerned strokes of a quill-enabled hand. The bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution was celebrated in 1987, and one way the 200th anniversary of this vital document was celebrated was by the striking of two different United States commemorative coins. The U.S. Constitution Bicentennial commemorative coins included a silver dollar and $5 gold coin. Both coins prominently feature quill pens in a nod to the handwriting implement that physically created the U.S. Constitution.
On the obverse of the silver dollar, which was designed by Patricia Lewis, a large quill pen lays across blank parchments with the phrase “We the People” emblazoned in large decorative font along the bottom of the central device. The reverse features a diverse grouping of Americans from classic and modern periods representing all walks of life. The $5 gold coin, designed by Marcel Jovine, features a quill on both the sides of the coin; an eagle clutches a large quill on the obverse, while the reverse is anchored by an upright quill superimposed by the phrase “We the People.”
The two coins were struck in uncirculated and proof formats and can be had by collectors for nominal premiums above their melt values. All of the 1987 U.S. Constitution Bicentennial coins can be collected within the various PCGS Registry Set that accommodate U.S. commemorative coins. Thus there is no shortage of opportunities to numismatically notate National Handwriting Day, even if you lack a proper inkwell and quill!