2028 Dollars Honor Innovation in the West and Great Plains

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) recently reviewed the design proposals for the 2028 American Innovation dollars. The CFA and Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) will recommend their top choices to the Secretary of the Treasury, who will select the final designs. The candidate designs for the 2028 American Innovation $1 coins for Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, and South Dakota highlight agricultural, technological, and conservation achievements associated with each state. 

Nebraska: Center-Pivot Irrigation

Nebraska’s proposed designs recognize center-pivot irrigation, an agricultural innovation developed by Frank Zybach that changed how water could be distributed across large fields. Zybach’s system uses elevated irrigation pipes mounted on wheeled towers that rotate around a central pivot. The design reduced the labor required by earlier irrigation methods and created the circular field patterns now common across agricultural areas.

The proposed coin reverses depict center-pivot irrigation equipment operating across Nebraska farmland, with corn and soybeans incorporated into the designs.

Colorado: Pueblo Chile

Colorado’s candidate designs feature the Pueblo chile, particularly the Mosco variety, which developed through generations of chile cultivation in the Arkansas River Valley.

The modern Mosco Pueblo chile was developed by Colorado State University vegetable crop specialist Dr. Michael Bartolo and his team at the Arkansas Valley Research Center. The variety is known for its large, thick-walled peppers and distinctive upright growth.

The proposed designs show Pueblo chile plants and harvested peppers. Some incorporate Colorado’s mountain landscape, while others reference the chile’s role in local traditions, including the Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival.

North Dakota: Unmanned Aircraft Systems

North Dakota’s proposed designs recognize the state’s role in the development of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) through research, education, and aviation infrastructure. North Dakota is home to the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, while the University of North Dakota has become a center for UAS education and research. The state also developed Vantis, a statewide network that supports beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations using radar, communications, and other aviation infrastructure.

The candidate reverses depict several types of unmanned aircraft along with the systems and infrastructure that support their operation. Some designs emphasize the technology’s national applications, while others focus on its use in rural North Dakota communities.

South Dakota: The Dupree Family and American Buffalo

South Dakota’s proposed designs honor Frederick Dupree, Mary Good Elk Woman (Hehaka Waste Win), and their family for their efforts to preserve the American bison. Beginning in the 1880s, the Dupree family captured and raised buffalo near Cherry Creek, South Dakota, as the species’ population had declined dramatically across the Great Plains. Their herd grew over the following decades and eventually contributed to the lineage of the Custer State Park herd and other conservation herds.

The proposed designs depict the Dupree family, buffalo, and the South Dakota landscape, highlighting the family’s conservation efforts as well as the animal’s importance to Lakota culture and the history of the Great Plains.