Elizabeth Jones

• Name — Elizabeth Jones • Office — 11th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint • Term Start — 1981 • Term End — 1991 • President — Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush • Predecessor — Frank Gasparro • Successor — John Mercanti • Born — 31 May 1935 • Birthplace — Montclair, New Jersey, U.S. • Alma Mater — Montclair Kimberley Academy Vassar College

• Illustration — $1 Silver Coin 1983 P commemorating the Los Angeles Olympics 1984. Medallists were Elizabeth Jones and John M. Mercanti Jones was just 46 when President Ronald Reagan appointed her as Chief Engraver, making her the first woman to hold this post. Although relatively young by chief engraver standards, by this time she had already built an impressive reputation as one of the leading medallists in the world. Her talent and distinctive style, which she describes as "mildly abstract," had earned her a lengthy series of commissions from such prestigious clients as The Franklin Mint, Medallic Art Company and the Judaic Heritage Society. When Frank Gasparro retired in 1981 after 16 years as chief engraver, friends in the art world and in Washington, D.C., urged her to apply. She did, and soon had a new job. Jones was the designer of the 1983 Los Angeles Olympic one dollar coin, obverse. Her design incorporated the traditional discus thrower of conjoined outlines in three layers as if in stroboscopic motion. In an article, “Her mark is on the coinage”, by Judy Klemesrud, The New York Times, June 26, 1983: ”She said she became interested in the rather obscure field of medallion making after meeting Renato Signorini, an Italian sculptor now deceased, who designed the official medal for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. "He's the one who's responsible for my becoming a medalist," she said. "I had never even thought of medals until I was 25 years old."

Elizabeth Jones is recorded as engraver and medalist. Jones Library, Final Performance Report for Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) Title VI, Library Literacy Program.