America's First Curved Coin Celebrates Baseball Hall of Fame's 75th Anniversary

March 13, 2014 — -- The U.S. Mint tossed a curveball of its own -- issuing the first so-called "curved coin" to celebrate the 75th anniversary of baseball's Hall of Fame.

The gold, silver and half-dollar coins depicts America's favorite pastime with a curved shape that's not just an optical illusion.

Its "heads" -- or obverse side -- shows a glove with the words, "Liberty" and "In God We Trust" with a concave shape as though it were ready to catch a baseball. The other side shows a baseball in a convex curve.

The design was selected through a contest hosted by the Department of the Treasury on Sept. 4, 2013.

The winner, out of 178 designs, was Cassie McFarland, an artist from San Luis Obispo, Calif., and a fan of the San Francisco Giants.

The U.S. Mint will announce the prices of the coins at a later date, a spokesperson said, and the coins will go on sale March 27.

There will be 50,000 $5 gold coins; 400,000 $1 silver coins; and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame will receive the surcharges for each coin to help fund its operations, the U.S. Mint said on its website. Those surcharges range from $5 to $35 for each coin.

Congress authorizes two commemorative coins each year to honor American people, places, events and institutions, the U.S. Mint website states. The other commemorative coin of 2014 is a silver dollar that recognizes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, of which $10 surcharges benefit the United Negro College Fund.