Below is the information from the mint on the Innovation series. Note that these coins do not circulate and can only be had by purchasing direct from the mint:
The new American Innovation $1 Coin Program from the United States Mint symbolizes quintessentially American traits—the willingness to explore, to discover, and to create one’s own destiny. The program showcases an innovation, innovator or group of innovators from each State or Territory in beautiful uncirculated and proof finishes. This new series is perfect to share with experienced numismatists, as well as a wonderful opportunity to spark a new love of coin-collecting and American history.
2019 Washington/First Patent Innovation Dollar
The 2018 American Innovation $1 Introductory Coins in the rolls and bags have uncirculated finishes and were minted at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints.
The obverse design features a dramatic representation of the Statue of Liberty in profile with the inscriptions “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “$1.” The reverse design features George Washington’s signature and the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “AMERICAN INNOVATORS,” and “SIGNED FIRST PATENT.” The stylized gears represent industry and innovation. The year of minting, mint mark, and inscription “E PLURIBUS UNUM” are incused on the edge of the coin.
2019 DE Innovation Dollar
Delaware is the first of four coins to be released this year. It features Annie Jump Cannon, a Delaware-born internationally recognized astronomer who invented a system for classifying the stars still in use today.
The reverse design features a silhouette of Annie Jump Cannon against the night sky, with a number of stars visible. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “ANNIE JUMP CANNON,” “CLASSIFYING THE STARS,” and “DELAWARE.”
2019 PA Innovation Dollar
The Pennsylvania coin is the second of four to be released this year. It features
the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and his team at the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1950s. At the time, polio was a devastating disease that disproportionally affected children and young adults and left many paralyzed and unable to walk.
The reverse depicts an artist’s conception of the poliovirus at three different levels of magnification along with the silhouette of a period microscope, representing the extensive research conducted to develop a cure for polio. The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “POLIO VACCINE,” “1953,” and “PENNSYLVANIA.”
2019 NJ Innovation Dollar
The New Jersey coin is the third of four to be released this year. It features an electric light bulb, developed by Thomas Edison and his team of researchers in New Jersey. The advent of commercially manufactured light bulbs gave people easy control over light in homes and businesses, which drastically changed infrastructure, business, and society by allowing work and social activities to occur regardless of the time of day.
The reverse depicts an Edison bulb against an ornate background. The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “NEW JERSEY.”
2019 GA Innovation Dollar
The Georgia coin is the last of four to be released in 2019. It features the Trustees’ Garden, established by James Oglethorpe in 1734. Oglethorpe was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist who founded the Colony of Georgia. The Trustees’ Garden is considered one of the first agriculture experimental gardens in America. The ten acres of land, located in Savannah, included plants from around the world so the colonists could determine the best crops for the Georgia climate. The Trustees’ Garden reflected the scientific and commercial aspirations of the trustees and their backers in England.
The reverse depicts a hand planting seeds in the inscription “TRUSTEES’ GARDEN,” from which grows a variety of species representing the variety of plants grown in the garden: an orange tree seedling, sassafras, grapes, white mulberry, flax, peaches, olive, and a young shoot too small to be identified. Additional inscriptions are “GEORGIA” and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
2020 CT Innovation Dollar
Before the invention of the graphing calculator, scientists needed a clear, quick, and simple solution to understand and solve problems of scale. The invention of the Gerber Variable Scale was that solution.
Heinz Joseph Gerber (1924–1996) invented the device while studying aeronautical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1945, a few years after escaping Nazi-controlled Austria with his mother. The earliest version of the variable scale had been fashioned from an elastic band removed from a pair of pajamas. Gerber created a rubber rule and scale that could flow with a curve, expand, contract, and turn a corner. It allowed for the direct numerical reading of curves, graphs, and graphical representations.
Because of its ease of use and quick solutions, the Gerber Variable Scale was a huge success, and by the 1950s, it was considered the universally accepted tool for engineers and architects all over the world.
2020 MA Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Massachusetts marks the invention of the telephone. On March 7, 1876, Boston resident Alexander Graham Bell spoke these now-famous words into a device he invented to transmit the human voice: “Mr. Watson–come here–I want to see you.” Bell’s assistant Thomas Watson, who was in the next room, received the message and communication was forever changed. Bell was awarded the patent for his telephone, and the impact of his invention continues to be felt worldwide.
2020 MD Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Maryland honors the Hubble Space Telescope.
Developed by NASA and launched on April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope is one of the largest and most versatile space telescopes. It was named in honor of American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble. It is also the first designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. Teams at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Telescope Science Institute–both located in Maryland–manage the telescope.
Data transmitted by Hubble has helped refine estimates of the age of the universe, trace the growth of galaxies, identify and study planets, identify black holes, and observe stars.
2020 SC Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing South Carolina honors educator and civil rights activist Septima Poinsette Clark.
Born in 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina, Septima Clark pioneered the link between education and political organizing during the civil rights movement. Civil rights youth workers and community organizers referred to her as “Mother Conscience” and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to her as “The Mother of the Movement.”
2021 NH Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing New Hampshire recognizes the invention of the first home video game console by Ralph Baer. In 1966, Baer began investigating how to play games on a television. He and his team developed the “Brown Box,” a prototype for the first multi-player, multi-program video game system, which paved the way for all video game systems that followed. Baer is recognized as “The Father of Video Games.”
2021 VA Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Virginia honors the Chesapeake Bay Bridge- Tunnel, recognized as an engineering marvel of the modern world.
Opened in 1964 and spanning more than 17 miles of open water, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connects southeastern Virginia to the Delmarva Peninsula. It consists of 12 miles of low-level trestle, two mile-long tunnels, two bridges, two miles of causeway, and four man-made islands.
The reverse (tails) design depicts a view of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel as a cross section cut away, illustrating the ingenuity involved in constructing it. Inscriptions are “United States of America” and “Virginia.”
2021 NY Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing New York pays homage to the Erie Canal. Completed in 1825, the 363-mile long, man-made waterway connected Lake Erie in the West to the Hudson River in the East. Considered an engineering marvel of its day, the canal unlocked the western interior for trade and settlement, and played a critical role in the development of the state as well as the Nation.
2021 NC Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing North Carolina recognizes the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the first public institution of higher learning in the United States. Opened in 1795, it is the only public institution to confer degrees in the 18th century.
2022 RI Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Rhode Island recognizes naval architect Nathanael Herreshoff’s famous Reliance yacht, which incorporated numerous technical innovations when it was built in 1891.
2022 VT Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Vermont recognizes the invention of snowboarding.
2022 KY Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Kentucky recognizes the invention of bluegrass music. Bluegrass has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish ballads and dance tunes, as well as in traditional African-American blues and jazz. The genre derives its name from the band “Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys,” which has been dubbed the “Original Bluegrass Band.”
2022 TN Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Tennessee recognizes the formation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 1933, Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to construct transmission lines to serve “farms and small villages that are not otherwise supplied with electricity at reasonable rates.” As late as the mid-1930s, nine out of ten rural homes were without electric service. 2023 OH Innovation Dollar
This Ohio American Innovation $1 Coin reverse (tails) design is emblematic of the Underground Railroad. It depicts two strong hands grasped together, the upper arm pulling the lower arm upward, representing the support and strength of the Underground Railroad. A chain fastened to a rustic shackle around the lower arm’s wrist snaps and fragments, alluding to the hope of freedom. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “UNDERGROUND RAILROAD,” and “OHIO.”
2023 LA Innovation Dollar
The Louisiana American Innovation $1 Coin reverse (tails) design depicts a Higgins Boat as it would have been deployed during World War II with its innovative landing ramp open against a beach. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES of AMERICA,” “THE HIGGINS BOAT,” and “LOUISIANA.”
2023 IN Innovation Dollar
The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Indiana recognizes the automobile industry. Indiana boasts a long history of innovation in automobile manufacturing and promoting the automobile in American culture. They played a role in the invention, refinement, and manufacture of headlights, rearview mirrors, tilt steering, cruise control, pneumatic rubber tires, and car heaters. Indiana produced a number of auto parts manufacturing companies and automobile producers, including Marmon, Studebaker, Milburn Wagon Works, and Duesenberg.
Indiana also promoted the automobile in American popular culture through car racing. The Indianapolis 500 is one of the world’s oldest automobile races. The creator of the Indianapolis 500, Carl Fisher, also conceived of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile-specific transcontinental highway across the United States.
2023 MS Innovation Dollar
The Mississippi American Innovation $1 Coin reverse (tails) design features a pair of human lungs in the background, while a surgical assistant passes forceps to the surgeon during the first lung transplant surgery. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “FIRST HUMAN LUNG TRANSPLANT,” and “MISSISSIPPI.”
2024 IL Innovation Dollar
The Illinois American innovation $1 Coin reverse (tails) design features a large steel plow blade affixed to a right-handed beam and braces. Behind the plow is a stand of Big Bluestem prairie grass and a field of soil below. Included inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “STEEL PLOW,” and “ILLINOIS.”
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