2013-P Perry's Memorial

The 2013-P Perry's Memorial honors Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial at Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie, a 352-foot Doric column commemorating Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's defeat of the British squadron at the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. The issue's release in 2013 coincided with the bicentennial of the battle itself, a piece of timing that made this design unusually resonant for that release year. Don Everhart's reverse, sculpted by Don Everhart, shows the statue of Perry in the foreground with the memorial column rising behind. Philadelphia struck 107,800,000 pieces, well above the 2012 figures and reflecting the 2013 Federal Reserve order surge.

Strike quality on the issue concentrates on Perry's portrait detail and the fluting along the memorial column's shaft. Look for facial definition on the Perry figure (eyes, mouth, uniform collar) and clean parallel lines down the column flutes: where dies were worn or pressings rushed, the portrait softens first and the column flutes flatten into a smoother surface. The clad composition (75% copper-nickel outer layers over a pure copper core, 5.67 grams, 24.26 mm) is the standard since 1965, so authentication concerns are negligible and the high-grade market runs through PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC slabs. Roll hunters can recover MS65 examples from original P-mint rolls with reasonable success.

This is a Regular-classification issue and one of the more available 2013 dates through high Mint State. The 107.8 million mintage produces a deep certified population at MS67 and meaningful availability at MS68. Set builders pursuing a complete circulation run typically buy this date in MS66 or MS67 slabs at modest premium and reserve real money for the small MS69 population that has surfaced through registry submissions. The bicentennial timing has not produced a measurable premium of its own. For the broader story of the ATB program and the series' design arc, see the Washington ATB series history.