The American Innovation Dollar is a commemorative coin program introduced by the United States Mint to celebrate the rich history of innovation and ingenuity in the United States. The series highlights groundbreaking achievements, inventions, and discoveries that have shaped the nation, honoring the people and ideas that define American progress. As a reflection of national pride, the American Innovation Dollar plays an important role in preserving and promoting the country’s cultural and technological legacy.
Background of the American Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation Dollar program was authorized by legislation to recognize significant contributions to innovation and development in the United States. The American Innovation $1 Coin Act was approved by the U.S. Senate on June 20, 2018, amending an earlier House bill. The Senate-amended bill was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 27, 2018. It was signed into law by President Trump on July 18, 2018.
The program launched on December 14, 2018. The first coin commemorates George Washington signing the first American patent, which covered a new method of making potash and pearl ash. The program will include 57 total releases honoring innovation and innovators from all 50 U.S. states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. It is scheduled to run through 2032.
Key milestones in the program include the release of the introductory coin in 2018, followed by annual releases honoring four states per year.
The primary goals of the American Innovation Dollar program are:
- Celebrating American ingenuity and achievements
- Promoting public awareness of influential innovations
- Inspiring future generations to continue the legacy of discovery and progress
Design Features
The American Innovation Dollars feature symbolic designs that represent each state or territory.
The common obverse design showcases the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), a timeless symbol of freedom and inspiration, along with the inscription “In God We Trust” and the $1 denomination. In 2019, a privy mark was added under the inscription.
The reverse design varies for each coin, highlighting a specific innovation, invention, or achievement associated with the respective state or territory. Each reverse design is unique and intricately crafted to tell a story of American progress.
unique and intricately crafted to tell a story of American progress.
American Innovation Dollars 2018-Date
The series has captured public attention due to its historical significance and visual appeal. The reverse designs used for far include:
2018 American Innovation Dollars
Introductory Coin: Celebrates George Washington and the first American patent, featuring his signature.
2019 American Innovation Dollars
- Delaware: Honors astronomer Annie Jump Cannon with a silhouette against a night sky.
- Pennsylvania: Celebrates the polio vaccine with a microscope and poliovirus.
- New Jersey: Features Thomas Edison’s light bulb.
- Georgia: Highlights Trustees’ Garden with various plants and seedlings, including an orange tree, peach, and olive.
2020 American Innovation Dollars
- Connecticut: Displays the Gerber Variable Scale enlarging the shape of the state.
- Massachusetts: Celebrates Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and features a rotary dial.
- Maryland: Features the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting Earth.
- South Carolina: Honors civil rights activist Septima Clark and depicts her marching with African American students.
2021 American Innovation Dollars
- New Hampshire: Depicts Ralph Baer’s Brown Box video game system and the game Handball.
- Virginia: Features a cross-section of the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel.
- New York: Displays a packet boat being pulled along the Erie Canal.
- North Carolina: Depicts a lamp of knowledge atop several books, symbolizing innovation in higher education.
2022 American Innovation Dollars
- Rhode Island: Features Nathanael Herreshoff’s yacht, Reliance.
- Vermont: Depicts a snowboarder performing a trick, designed in collaboration with Burton Snowboards.
- Kentucky: Celebrates Kentucky bluegrass with a banjo.
- Tennessee: Showcases a Tennessee farm with power lines representing the TVA.
2023 American Innovation Dollars
- Ohio: Honors the Underground Railroad with two clasped hands breaking chains.
- Louisiana: Features a Higgins boat on a beach with its landing ramp open.
- Indiana: Celebrates the automobile industry with cars from different eras.
- Mississippi: Commemorates the first human lung transplant with lungs and forceps in a surgeon’s hands.
2024 American Innovation Dollars
- Illinois: Depicts a steel plow blade and agricultural elements like big bluestem grass and soil.
- Alabama: Celebrates the Saturn V rocket launch toward the Moon.
- Maine: Features Bernard Lown’s bust and defibrillator in operation.
- Missouri: Honors George Washington Carver and features lab equipment with botanical elements.
Looking ahead, the American Innovation Dollar program will continue to release new coins until the series is complete in 2032, with each subsequent release further celebrating the diversity of American achievements.
