Also called: Medallic Artist, Mint Sculptor
Designs and sculpts the artwork on coins and medals, like the faces and eagles on US coins.
At the US Mint in Philadelphia, you sculpt a coin design at plate size in clay or in 3D software, adding detail you'll only see under a magnifier. The sculpt is scanned and shrunk down to make the steel dies that strike millions of coins. Your initials may end up tiny on a coin in people's pockets for decades.
Federal pay scale at the US Mint; very few positions, also some private mints and medal makers.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's or MFA in sculpture or fine arts and a standout portfolio; only a handful of these jobs exist.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Sculpture, Fine Arts, Illustration, 3D Digital Art.
Growing slowly. No BLS projection; openings are rare and highly competitive.
Medium risk for 10 years. Digital sculpting and AI art tools speed design work; only a handful of these jobs exist, so competition is fierce.
Classes: Art, Sculpture or ceramics, Digital art class.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.