2024 American Innovation Dollars
The U.S. Mint has unveiled the official designs for the four 2024 coins in its American Innovation™$1 Coin Program. The noncirculating $1 pieces pay homage to America’s ingenuity and celebrate the pioneering efforts of individuals or groups from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. The multi-year program began in 2018 and will span a 14-year period.
The 2024-dated coins represent innovations from Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri. Artists in the mint’s Artistic Infusion Program designed all four issues, which were executed by U.S. Mint sculptor-engravers.
The coins’ common obverse features a representation of the Statue of Liberty and the inscriptions $1 and IN GOD WE TRUST. The mint will release specimens featuring the following motifs throughout this year.
Illinois
The Illinois $1 coin features a large steel plow blade affixed to a right-handed beam and braces. A stand of Big Bluestem prairie grass appears behind the plow while a field of soil is below.
Designer: Renata Gordon
Sculptor-Engraver: Beth Zaiken
Alabama
The Alabama $1 coin depicts the power and force of the Saturn V rocket lifting off with the moon in the background.
Designer & Sculptor-Engraver: Craig Campbell
Maine
The Maine $1 coin presents a profile portrait of Dr. Bernard Lown with his direct current defibrillator in operation below.
Designer & Sculptor-Engraver: Phebe Hemphill
Missouri
The Missouri $1 coin portrays George Washington Carver gently smiling while examining a sample of his work in his laboratory. The leaves, blossoms, and fruits of a peanut plant weave between scientific equipment.
Designer & Sculptor-Engraver: Eric David Custer
A version of this article appears in the February 2024 issue of The Numismatist (money.org).