The American Innovation® $1 Coin Program is a multi-year series featuring distinctive reverse (tails) designs that pay homage to America’s ingenuity and celebrate the pioneering efforts of individuals or groups from each of the 50 States, District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
One of the Nation’s greatest strengths is its entrepreneurial spirit and the remarkable innovation and discovery it unleashes. The United States Mint is proud to celebrate innovation and honor the spirit of America with the 2023 American Innovation $1 Coin Proof Set™.
The 2023 American Innovation $1 Coin Proof Set features four stunning coins encased in a clear plastic lens in a beautifully designed package. This celebration of significant American innovations and/or innovators and pioneering efforts in Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi will make a great addition to any collection or the perfect gift for a special occasion.
The proof coins have a sharp relief and a mirror-like background with frosted foregrounds, giving them a special cameo effect.
The 2023 American Innovation $1 Coin Proof Set features coins with the following designs:
The common obverse (heads) features a dramatic representation of the Statue of Liberty in profile with the inscriptions “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “$1.” The design by Justin Kunz also includes a privy mark of a stylized gear, representing industry and innovation. The edge-incused inscriptions are “2023,” “S” mint mark, and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”
Ohio – Depicts two strong hands grasped together, the upper arm pulling the lower arm upward, representing the support and strength required by both parties on 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. The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “UNDERGROUND RAILROAD,” and “OHIO.”
The Underground Railroad was a loose and decentralized network of individuals, families, friends, and churches that covertly helped slaves escape to freedom. The National Park Service recognizes over a dozen routes through Ohio which stand as monuments to fleeing slaves who traveled perilous routes and those who helped them along their way. Ohio’s role in the Underground Railroad was pivotal—it was the southernmost free-state that bordered the northernmost slave states of Kentucky and (then) Virginia, with an estimated 3,000 miles of trails throughout Ohio.
Louisiana – Depicts a Higgins Boat as it would have been deployed during World War II with its innovative landing ramp open against a beach. Included inscriptions are “UNITED STATES of AMERICA,” “THE HIGGINS BOAT,” and “LOUISIANA.”
The Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel (LCVP), or Higgins Boat, was partly inspired by boats designed to navigate Louisiana marshes and swamps. The Higgins Boat allowed for military personnel, equipment, and vehicles to easily unload onto an open beach through a front ramp on the boat. Having the capability to maneuver in only 10 inches of water and creating more attack points on the beach, the Higgins Boat changed how the war was fought and dramatically improved the outcome of the Normandy landings.
Indiana – Depicts a series of vehicles that showcase Indiana innovations from yesterday and today. From top to bottom, the design includes an early style gas automobile, a representation of classic car production, and a recent model of an Indy style race car. Inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” and “INDIANA.”
Indiana boasts a long history of innovation in automobile manufacturing and promoting the role of the automobile in American culture. Hoosiers 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 prolific number of auto parts manufacturing and automobile producers, including Marmon, Studebaker, Milburn Wagon Works, and Duesenberg. Hoosiers also promoted the automobile in American popular culture through car racing and long-distance highways.
Mississippi – Depicts 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.”
On the evening of June 11, 1963, Dr. James D. Hardy and his collaborators, Watts R. Webb, Martin L. Dalton, Jr., and George R. Walker, Jr., at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) performed the world's first human lung transplant. The significance of Dr. Hardy’s initial human lung transplant demonstrates that the technical aspects of the surgical procedure in a human could allow survival and function of a human lung, and that the rejection of the transplant could be prevented for a period of time with then-available immunotherapy. Dr. Hardy’s initial human lung transplantation opened the way for exciting developments in human lung transplantation and began a new era of therapy for lung disease in humans.
Celebrate these amazing innovations as you continue your collection!
