Joel Iskowitz was an American coin designer who passed away on April 23, 2026. You may not recognize his name, but you surely will recognize many of his iconic coin designs that graced numerous American circulating coins, commemorative coins, statehood quarters, Presidential and First Spouse coins, America the Beautiful quarters and many Congressional gold medals.
Joel Iskowitz creating a design in his studio. Image courtesy of Joel Iskowitz.
Joel was born in New York City on August 15, 1946. As a youngster, he loved to draw and create pictures as much as possible. Joel graduated from Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and Art on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He attended Hunter College and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1968. Joel earned a scholarship to Yale University, but against several of his professors’ advice, he was drawn to portrait art rather than the abstract art that was in vogue at the time.
A collage of stamp designs by Joel Iskowitz. Image courtesy of Joel Iskowitz.
Joel then spent time as a portrait artist in San Francisco, but New York City was in his blood so he returned to the city he loved. As an aspiring artist, Joel accepted many different commissions to support his art. He designed covers for rock albums and created book covers for young-adult romance novels. A break came when he was offered the opportunity to create postage stamps for countries around the world. Joel wound up creating more than 2,000 different stamp designs for 40 different nations. His stamp illustrations brought to life such well-known figures as Princess Diana, Gandhi, Mother Teresa and President Kennedy as well as those unknown. Many other artists would have satisfied themselves with such a remarkable accomplishment, but not Joel; he wanted to create more.
In 2003, the United States Mint implemented its Artistic Infusion Program (AIP). This highly innovative program was created to pair outside artists with U.S. Mint engravers to create different types of coins in the belief that the diversity would be more appealing to the American public. Joel applied in 2005 and was accepted into the program. This would be a life-altering event for him. He revered the great coin designers of the Renaissance period of American numismatics—Saint-Gaudens, Fraser, Brenner, Weinman—and hoped to emulate similar classical designs. Joel stated that he created designs that were “Timeless, rather than Modern. Classic isn’t an era. Modern designs do not need to be a break from the past.” That was the beauty of his designs: They were timeless when he created them and they remain timeless today.
Reverse of the 2006-W $50 American Platinum Eagle bullion coin. Image courtesy of APMEX.
Joel’s first design for the U.S. Mint was the reverse of the 2006 American Eagle Platinum proof coin, which was critically acclaimed by artists and coin enthusiasts alike. It became one of five different Platinum proof reverses that Iskowitz would design, each for a separate year.
Reverse of 2009 Lincoln Cent, Formative Years Cent. Image courtesy of APMEX.
While that started Joel on his AIP career, the best was yet to come. The Mint was going to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in 2009. It was determined that there would be four different designs: one for each phase of his life. They were Birth and Early Childhood, the Formative Years, the Professional Life and the Presidency.
Competition among artists was very intense, as designing one of the Lincoln reverses would become a coin that everyone could see and afford to own. Joel’s design for the Professional Life, depicting Lincoln standing in front of the Illinois State Capitol as a lawyer and a young legislator, was selected. In all varieties of uncirculated and proof, more than 656 million of the coins bearing Joel’s reverse were struck.
Reverse of the $10 Dolley Madison First Spouse gold coin. Image courtesy of APMEX.
Joel went on to design a total of 50 coins and Congressional gold medals during his AIP tenure—a truly prolific number of designs. He designed:
- 14 Congressional Gold Medals
- 10 First Spouse $10 Gold Coins
- 8 America the Beautiful Quarters
- 8 Silver and Clad Modern Commemorative Coins
- 5 American Eagle $50 Platinum Proof Coins
- 4 Presidential Dollars
- 1 Lincoln Cent
Reverse of the 2015 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Quarter of a Lowell Mill Girl. Image courtesy of APMEX.
Reverse of the 2011 Gettysburg Silver America the Beautiful Quarter.
Image courtesy of APMEX.
After leaving the AIP program, Joel turned to doing a number of pro-bono efforts for the United States Air Force. Besides having a number of his paintings on display at the Pentagon, in the entranceway to the Department of the Air Force, he also commemorated two Space Shuttle Missions and those artworks are part of the permanent collection at NASA at the Kennedy Space Center Museum. Joel designed the obverse and reverse of the New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal, which was presented to the Apollo 11 astronauts who walked on the moon and also to Mercury astronaut and Senator John Glenn. Joel was awarded many other honors, too numerous to mention, as he continued to create coins and medals for a number of other nations as well as for more than a dozen private coin companies.
I had the distinct honor and privilege to work closely with Joel for the last seven years and the respect that he gave and received from U.S. Mint artists, AIP artists, the worldwide coin community and the art world was truly astonishing. Many younger artists have mentioned how he encouraged them and assisted them in their careers. Many more seasoned artists considered him as a true brother-in-arms, sharing in their joys and relishing their creations.
Joel Iskowitz speaking about coin designs at the 2005 ANA World’s Fair of Money in August 2025. [Author’s Image].
Even though Joel’s life may have ended too soon, his art and inspiration will live on for many decades to come. Thank you, Joel Iskowitz!
