WASHINGTON – This year the Nation will celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.  To commemorate the occasion, the United States Mint is releasing the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar on February 12, Lincoln’s 200th birthday, at 12:00 noon Eastern Time (ET).  Public Law 109-285, the “Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act,” authorizes the United States Mint to pay qualifying surcharges collected from the sale of these commemorative coins to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to further its work.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – United States Mint Deputy Director Andrew Brunhart today unveiled designs for the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar during the annual Dedication Day Ceremony at Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  The unveiling took place on the 145th anniversary of the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address in 1863.  Renowned historical documentary director Ken Burns, Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania Vice President Ronald L. Hankey and Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) Co-Chairman Harold Holzer also participated in the ceremony.