Treasury's New Junior Mints
Scions of Celebrity Bald Eagles George and Martha Adorn Gold Coin

By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Another female bald eagle might have her talons on his heart, but rest assured, the love story between George and Martha is not quite over.

The products of their union, their eaglets, are pictured on a gold coin released this week by the U.S. Mint as part of a three-coin set honoring the national bird.

When the coins went on sale last Tuesday, there was no mention of George and Martha or of the construction workers on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project who named them. But follow the artist's initials on the coins, S.G., to Arlington County resident Susan Gamble, and her muse is clear.

"It just seemed they had to be immortalized, or at least I had to try," said Gamble, who used photographs of the eaglets to design the coins.

A master designer for the Mint and a self-described "bit of a tree hugger," Gamble received the assignment for the coins early last year and said her thoughts immediately drifted to George and Martha.

The pair had lived on Rosalie Island, on the Maryland side of the bridge, since the 1990s but made national headlines two years ago when a younger female, making a move for George, attacked Martha, seriously injuring her. Martha recovered at a rescue center in Delaware and made her way back to George but was euthanized months later after flying into a tree or power line.

Gamble said that what struck her most about the birds' story was the irony of their situation: that humans were responsible for their dwindling numbers but were also trying to help them. She remembered hearing that when Martha was injured, bridge workers would leave fish for George.

"Our existence is creating havoc for wildlife, but I think the average American really does care, and we want to help," Gamble said. "To know the story now has a sweet ending, and the philosophical irony of it, I think it's wonderful."

U.S. Mint officials said a portion of the sales will go to the American Eagle Foundation, based in Tennessee. The bald eagle was taken off the endangered species list last year.

Gamble said that before she designed the coins in February, she contacted Stephanie R. Spears, who was the senior environmental specialist on the project for eight years and had tracked and photographed Martha and George and their 16 eaglets.

The women met one Saturday morning and spent about four hours poring through a laptop of photos, a family album of sorts.

Spears said that when she began working with Gamble, she hoped Martha might be immortalized on one of the coins but was glad that at least her offspring made the cut.

"I'm thrilled it's a part of the nation's history now," Spears said. "When we get to know individual animals and get to know their life stories, I think that strikes all people."

A scar on her chest marks where Martha struck her during the rescue in 2006.

Gamble's designs are on two of the three coins in the set, and the eaglets appear on the $5 gold coin, which costs more like $300. On the coin, a young bald eagle stretches its wings as a sibling looks on from the same branch. Gamble said the scene was modeled from two of Spears's photographs.

"For me, the emotional connection is real important in order for me to do good work," Gamble said. "And the George and Martha story touched the heartstrings."

The bridge workers still keep an eye on George, and, by all accounts, he has adjusted well to widowhood.

Maybe too well.

After Martha's death, George was seen shacking up with her attacker, dubbed "Angelina" (after actress Angelina Jolie) by the workers. She left him a short while later but either returned or was replaced.

Lately, George has been cozying up to a female who workers can't be sure is Angelina, said John Undeland, a spokesman for the bridge project.

Last Tuesday, the new female was seen sharing a fish with George and making a nest with him less than a half-mile from his home with Martha.

"Second wife?" Undeland asked. "The saga continues."