In numismatics, the Fraser name is most commonly associated with artist James Earle Fraser, the designer of the iconic Buffalo Nickel. However, his wife, Laura Gardin Fraser, was also an artist who earned her place as a numismatic trailblazer and cemented the Fraser name in numismatic history.
The daughter of an artist, Fraser showed an aptitude for art, specifically sculpture and figure models, at a young age. After high school, she attended the Art Students’ League in New York City, where she excelled in sculpture. During her time at the school, she won both the Saint-Gaudens Medal and the Saint-Gaudens Figure Prize, both coveted awards among the student body. It’s fitting that she was winning awards named after such a legendary numismatic artist since she went on to make a name for herself in the same field.
Fraser is remembered as both a prolific medalist and an extraordinary sculptor. She was known for designing heroic, or larger-than-life, statues, one of the most famous being a double equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson in Baltimore, Maryland. A handful of artists were asked to submit design ideas for this particular piece, and she was the only woman in that group. When her design was chosen, it became the first double equestrian statue in the United States. As this was a Confederate monument, it is no longer standing today, but it was repurposed as part of MONUMENTS, a special exhibition at the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art. Another significant piece she sculpted is the 21-foot Oklahoma Run relief, located in Oklahoma City’s Bicentennial Park. The model of this piece is at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which has an entire building dedicated to the Frasers' work. Besides her heroic statues, Fraser was well known for her animal sculptures. One of the most notable examples is Pegasus located at the Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina. This piece features Bellerophon, the tamer of the pegasus, riding a pegasus.
Her medal work was just as impressive as her sculptures. Some of her prominent pieces include the Charles Lindbergh Congressional Medal, the American Bar Association Justice Medal, and the National Sculpture Society Special Medal of Honor. Fraser had the ability to capture a sense of impressive reality in her figure sculptures, even in the small medallic form. She was well known for sculpting incredibly lifelike animals and has quite the portfolio of animal-focused medals, including the Horse Association of America Polo Pony Medal, the Irish Setter Club of America Medal, and the Hunter and Dog and Ruffed Grouse for the Society of Medalists. Her mastery of medallic sculpture led to her becoming the first woman to receive the Saltus Medal in 1926, the highest honor for medal designers in the U.S.
In 1921, Laura Gardin Fraser cemented her place in numismatic history when she became the first woman to design a U.S coin with the release of the Alabama Centennial Half Dollar. She was selected by the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) to design and create the models for this coin. There was a bit of back-and-forth on the coin's subjects, as the Alabama Commission suggested the State Capitol building, but the CFA argued that buildings did not make a strong motif. They finally settled on portraits of William Bibb and Thomas Kilby for the obverse and the state seal on the reverse. Fraser designed overlapping portraits of the two governors surrounded by 22 stars representing Alabama's place as the 22nd state. The reverse represents the state seal, with a focus on the eagle.
Fraser went on to design some of the most notable classic commemorative coins. In 1922, she designed the Ulysses S. Grant silver half dollar and gold dollar. The design was the same for both denominations. She had a knack for capturing the character of a person in her portraits, so the bust of General Grant on the obverse was striking. The reverse of the coin featured Grant’s childhood home, and Fraser used a photograph as a reference to capture the building's appearance before restoration.
She also designed the Fort Vancouver commemorative half dollar and co-designed the famous Oregon Trail half dollar with her husband. She did the Native American while he did the covered wagon. Laura Gardin Fraser was the one who converted both sides into plaster models. Despite working in the same field, the Oregon Trail Half Dollar was the only project the two collaborated on.
In 1931, there was a contest held to design a coin for George Washington’s 200th birthday. While the original proposal was for a half dollar coin, this would eventually be changed to become the Washington Quarter. Fraser submitted a design that showed a right-facing Washington and won the contest. Unfortunately, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon rejected this design much to the dismay of the CFA. They wrote a letter to Mellon stating, “This bust is regarded […] as the most authentic likeness of Washington. Such was the skill of the artist in making this life-mask that embodies those high qualities of the man’s character which have given him a place among the great of the world.” This did nothing to sway Mellon, who maintained that the final decision was completely up to him and the role of the CFA was purely advisory, and he decided on the Washington Quarter design we are all familiar with today. The CFA considered the chosen design to be “artistically unfortunate.”
In 1999, a commemorative gold half eagle was released for the bicentennial of Washington's death. Because it had been chosen by the CFA as the winner of the quarter design contest and then passed over for the coin, Fraser's quarter design was chosen for the obverse of this commemorative piece.
This Washington bust might look familiar because from 2022 through 2025, it finally took its rightful place on the nation’s circulating quarters when it was chosen for the obverse of the American Women's Quarters. The purpose of this program was to honor and celebrate influential women throughout American history and across a wide spectrum of fields. The CFA and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) felt it was important to use a design by a prominent female sculptor, since the program was meant to highlight women. So Fraser's design was recommended and approved by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. It was a fitting honor for this true numismatic trailblazer.