American Silver Eagles: A Guide to the U.S. Bullion Coin Program

John M. Mercanti is an American sculptor and engraver, best known to numismatists as the 12th Chief Engraver of the United States Mint and the designer of many circulating and commemorative coins and medals. He created the original Heraldic Eagle reverse design of the American Silver Eagle coin, used from 1986 to 2021.

Mercanti was born in Philadelphia, where he received his artistic training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia College of Art, and the Fleisher Art Memorial School. He began his career as an illustrator and, in 1974, joined the U.S. Mint as a sculptor-engraver under the legendary Frank Gasparro. In 2006, Mercanti was named Chief Engraver (supervisory design and master tooling development specialist), a position he held until his retirement in late 2010.

Over his career, Mercanti produced more coin and medal designs than any other employee in U.S. Mint history. His works include gold and silver commemorative coins honoring the Statue of Liberty, the Olympic Games, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Smithsonian Institution, and many other historic people, places, and events. He also designed more than a dozen Congressional Gold Medals, five circulating State Quarters, and numerous commemorative and bullion medals.

Mercanti resides in New Jersey, across the Delaware River from the Philadelphia Mint, where he worked for nearly 40 years.

David J. Ryder served as the 34th Director of the U.S. Mint from 1992 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. He later returned as the 39th Director from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald J. Trump. Ryder is notable for being the only two-time Mint Director in more than a century.

Before rejoining the Mint, Ryder was Global Business Development Manager and Managing Director of Currency for Honeywell's Authentication Technologies group. He previously served as CEO of Secure Products Corporation, a spin-off of the Sarnoff Corporation, which specialized in advanced anti-counterfeiting technologies to protect currencies and secure documents. Honeywell acquired Secure Products in 2007.

Ryder's prior government service included roles as Deputy Treasurer of the United States, Deputy Chief of Staff to Vice President Dan Quayle, and Special Assistant to Vice President George H.W. Bush. He also served as Commissioner General-Director of the U.S. Pavilion at the Louisiana World Exposition, representing the Department of Commerce.

Born in Billings, Montana, and raised in Boise, Idaho, Ryder attended Boise State University. He is currently president of the Aureus Group, LLC, a consulting company in Alexandria, Virginia. Ryder is married and has two children.