Joseph Menna, Chief Engraver

Chief Engraver

Joseph Menna became the 14th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint in February 2019. Menna joined the Mint in 2005, and has over three decades of professional experience and classical training. He was the first full-time artist possessing both digital and traditional skillsets hired by the U.S. Mint and was the first medallic artist in U.S. Mint history. In this position he created the world’s first digitally sculpted coin, the 2007 James Monroe Presidential Dollar Obverse. He also created the first digitally drawn designs ever done at the Mint and introduced the digital 2-D design workflow that is employed by Mint artists to this day.

Prior to joining the Mint, Menna worked as a sculptor and instructor at a Princeton, NJ area fine art foundry. There he sculpted many life-sized figures and worked digitally on projects for a variety of prominent New York City gallery artists. Concurrently, he pursued his own sculpting and fine art drawing, creating many works including those for gallery exhibitions and monumental sculptures.

His work has won multiple Coin of the Year awards in various categories. In addition to his work at the Mint, he maintains an active freelance career in entertainment industry collectibles and the fine arts. He is globally recognized as one of the world’s leading practitioners of digital sculpture. He created the collectibles industry’s first ever digitally produced independent collectible statue, and has done a variety of demonstrations at world class venues such as the San Diego and New York Comic Cons and the ZBrush Summit. He also sculpted the digital concept model for the largest sculpture in world history, The Statue of Unity in Gujarat, India, standing at 597-feet tall. His fine art drawings have also been exhibited in galleries in Philadelphia and New York City.

Menna holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the University of the Arts, a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the New York Academy of Art, with post- graduate study at the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design in St. Petersburg, Russia. His additional professional education includes studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Sculpture Center, and the Art Students League. He spent most of these years of study under the tutelage of New York sculptor Leonid Lerman, who Menna credits as his primary inspiration and lifelong mentor.

Design and Sculpting Credits

The Secretary of the Treasury selected these designs for use on a coin or medal. The artist also executed the sculpts required to produce these coins and medals.

2020 American Innovation $1 Coin Program – Maryland reverse
2020 David J. Ryder Director of the Mint Bronze Medal – obverse
2020 David J. Ryder Director of the Mint Bronze Medal – reverse
2019 Anwar El Sadat Congressional Gold Medal – obverse
2018 World War I Centennial Silver Medals (Marine Corps) – reverse
2018 World War I Centennial Silver Medals (Air Service) – reverse
2017 Bob Dole Congressional Gold Medal – obverse
2016 National Park Service 100th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Program – Silver obverse
2015 Presidential $1 Coins – Dwight D. Eisenhower obverse
2014 Presidential $1 Coins – Franklin Roosevelt obverse
2014 Shimon Peres Congressional Gold Medal – reverse
2013 Presidential $1 Coins – Theodore Roosevelt obverse
2013 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine reverse
2013 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Mount Rushmore National Park reverse
2012 First Spouse Gold Coin Program and Medal Program – Frances Cleveland (Term 2) reverse
2011 Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Congressional Gold Medals – Flight 93 obverse
2011 Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Program – Gold reverse
2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program – Commonwealth of Puerto Rico reverse
2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program – U.S. Virgin Islands reverse
2009 Presidential $1 Coins – William Henry Harrison obverse
2008 Code Talkers Recognition Congressional Medals Program – Cherokee Nation reverse
2008 Code Talkers Recognition Congressional Medals Program – Seminole Nation reverse
2008 Presidential $1 Coins – James Monroe obverse
2008 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Louisa Adams reverse
2007 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Martha Washington obverse
2007 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Abigail Adams obverse
2007 50 State Quarters Program – Utah reverse
2007 Presidential $1 Coins – George Washington obverse
2007 Presidential $1 Coins – Thomas Jefferson obverse
2006 Dalai Lama Congressional Gold Medal – reverse

Design Credits

The Secretary of the Treasury selected this design for use on a coin or medal.

2010 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Yosemite National Park reverse
2008 Code Talkers Recognition Congressional Medals Program – Kiowa obverse
2008 Code Talkers Recognition Congressional Medals Program – Kiowa reverse

Sculpting Credits

The artist executed the sculpts required to produce these coins and medals.

2024 Greatest Generation Commemorative Coin Program – Gold reverse
2024 American Women Quarters™ Program – Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray reverse
2023 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin and Silver Medal – obverse
2023 American Women Quarters™ Program – Maria Tallchief reverse
2022-2025 American Eagle Platinum Proof Coin Program – Common obverse
2022 U.S. Armed Forces Silver Medals Program – Marine Corps reverse
2022 National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Program – Gold obverse
2022 American Innovation $1 Coin Program – Tennessee reverse
2022 Native American $1 Coin – reverse
2021 Christa McAuliffe Silver Dollar – reverse
2021 American Innovation $1 Coin Program – North Carolina reverse
2021 Native American $1 Coin – reverse
2020 Mayflower 400th Anniversary Gold Coin – reverse
2020 Presidential $1 Coins – George H. W. Bush obverse
2020 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve reverse
2019 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin and Silver Medal – obverse
2019 American Veterans Silver Medal – obverse
2019 American Legion Commemorative Coin Program – Clad reverse
2019 American Legion Commemorative Coin Program – Gold reverse
2019 Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Program – Common obverse
2019 American Innovation $1 Coin Program – Pennsylvania reverse
2019 American Innovation $1 Coin Program – Delaware reverse
2019 Native American $1 Coin – reverse
2019 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – San Antonio Missions National Historical Park reverse
2018 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Voyageurs National Park reverse
2018 World War I Centennial Silver Medals (Air Service) – obverse
2017 Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Congressional Gold Medal – obverse
2017 Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal – reverse
2017 Lions Clubs International Centennial Silver Dollar Coin – obverse
2017 Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Program – Silver obverse
2017 Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Program – Silver reverse
2016 Presidential $1 Coins – Ronald Reagan obverse
2016 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Nancy Reagan obverse
2016 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Cumberland Gap National Historical Park reverse
2016 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) reverse
2016 Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Program – Gold reverse
2015 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Kisatchie National Forest reverse
2015 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Blue Ridge Parkway reverse
2015 U.S. Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Program – Silver reverse
2014 American Eagle Platinum Proof Coin Program – reverse
2014 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Everglades National Park reverse
2014 Native American $1 Coin – reverse
2014 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Florence Harding obverse
2013 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Edith Roosevelt obverse
2013 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Victims Congressional Gold Medal – reverse
2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar Coin – reverse
2013 5-Star Generals Commemorative Coin Program – Gold reverse
2013 5-Star Generals Commemorative Coin Program – Silver obverse
2013 5-Star Generals Commemorative Coin Program – Silver reverse
2012 Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Program – Gold obverse
2012 Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Program – Gold reverse
2012 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Acadia National Park reverse
2011 Native American $1 Coin – reverse
2011 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Vicksburg National Military Park reverse
2011 United States Army Commemorative Coin Program – Gold reverse
2011 United States Army Commemorative Coin Program – Clad reverse
2011 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Lucy Hayes reverse
2011 September 11 National Medal – reverse
2010 America the Beautiful Quarters® Program – Hot Springs National Park reverse
2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Silver Dollar Coin – reverse
2010 Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin – Preservation of the Union reverse
2010 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Abigail Fillmore reverse
2010 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – James Buchanan’s Liberty reverse
2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One-Cent Coin – Presidency in Washington, DC reverse
2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar Coin – reverse
2009 First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program – Anna Harrison obverse
2008 50 State Quarters Program – Arizona reverse
2008 Bald Eagle Commemorative Coin Program – Clad obverse
2008 Code Talkers Recognition Congressional Medals Program – Tonto Apache Tribe obverse
2008 Code Talkers Recognition Congressional Medals Program – Tlingit Tribe obverse
2008 Code Talkers Recognition Congressional Medals Program – White Mountain Apache Tribe obverse
2008 Arnold Palmer Congressional Gold Medal – reverse
2006 San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Program – Gold obverse