The Celebration of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote and was ratified on August 18, 1920. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long suffrage movement promoted by suffragettes such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. At the time, this Amendment gave more than 27 million American women the right to vote. However, many women, especially Black women, Native American women, Asian American women, and others, were still effectively disenfranchised by state laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, and citizenship restrictions even after ratification. Asian American immigrant women couldn’t vote until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 allowed them to gain citizenship. Other laws and acts had to be passed for all women to have a voice.
The Congress of the United States enacted Public Law 116-71, which authorized the striking of a maximum of 400,000 2020 Women’s Suffrage Centennial Silver Dollars to celebrate the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The Philadelphia Mint struck both versions of this new commemorative silver dollar, and both versions bear a “P” mintmark.
Silver Dollar Design Details
The obverse and reverse of this coin were designed by Christina Hess and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The obverse of the 2020 Women’s Suffrage Centennial Silver Dollar features three different women from differing generations and backgrounds. Each of them wears a hat and a hairstyle appropriate to the different time periods, symbolizing the many years it took for women to obtain the vote. The woman in the foreground wears a “flapper”-style hat with a “1920” button indicating the year of ratification. The right periphery has the phrase “E PLURIBUS UNUM” on it, while the left periphery simply has the word “LIBERTY.”
The reverse of the coin is very symbolic as it features the year “2020” (year of striking) being dropped into a ballot box with a circle that states “VOTES FOR WOMEN,” and the top of the ballot box is inscribed with “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” The lower periphery bears the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST.”
(A 2020-P Women’s Suffrage Centennial Silver Dollar, Uncirculated, Obverse)
A $10 surcharge was added to the cost of the coins, and it went to the Smithsonian Institution’s American Women’s History Initiatives. The Philadelphia Mint struck both the uncirculated and proof versions of these coins, and both bear a “P” mintmark. U.S. Mint historical sales figures list 12,625 uncirculated coins and 43,479 proof coins, for a total of 56,104 coins. The proof total includes 33,483 individual proof coins and 9,996 proof coins sold in the coin-and-medal set.
Coin & Medal Set
A Coin and Medal Set was also released, including a proof silver dollar and a medal available only in this set.
(The Medal in the 2020 Women’s Suffrage Coin & Medal Set, Reverse.)
The medal was struck in silver. The obverse depicts a child’s hand reaching up to hold the Women’s Suffrage Centennial weight, as the struggle took generations to accomplish.
The reverse depicts some of the text of the 19th Amendment on the United States flag. The U.S. Mint limited the proof silver dollar-and-medal set to 10,000 units, and historical sales figures show 9,996 sets sold. Add this special commemorative to your collection today and view other U.S. silver modern commemorative coins.
