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, which unleashes remarkable innovation and discovery. The United States Mint is proud to celebrate innovation and honor the American spirit with the 2024 American Innovation $1 Coin Proof Set™.
The 2024 set features a clear plastic lens encasing four stunning coins in a beautifully designed package. This collection celebrates significant American pioneering innovations and innovators from Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri, and is sure to make a great addition to any collection or the perfect gift for a special occasion.
These proof coins have a sharp relief with mirror-like backgrounds and frosted foregrounds, giving them a special cameo effect.
The 2024 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 “2024,” “S” mint mark, and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”
Illinois – 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.”
In the 19th century, America was expanding westward, and traditional wooden plows struggled going from the soft soil around the East Coast to the tough and compacted Midwestern plains. John Lane’s steel plow made quick work of the Midwestern sod and laid the groundwork for the region that is now known as “America’s Breadbasket.” The steel plow was quickly produced by other blacksmiths across the country, changing the lives of American farmers forever.
Alabama – Depicts the power and force of the Saturn V rocket lifting off with the Moon in the background. Included inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “SATURN V,” and “ALABAMA.”
On July 16, 1969, the world watched as a Saturn V rocket launched the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, allowing American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to become the first men to walk on its surface. This historic moment captured the hearts and minds of people across the globe and was a momentous victory in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Built at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the Saturn V rocket led the way for all six Apollo Moon landings.
Maine – Presents a profile portrait of Dr. Bernard Lown with his direct current defibrillator in operation below. The design includes the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “BERNARD LOWN, M.D.,” “DIRECT CURRENT DEFIBRILLATOR,” and “MAINE.”
Dr. Bernard Lown was a Lithuanian American cardiologist who put his heart into saving lives. Lown invented the direct current defibrillator in cooperation with engineer Baruch Berkovitz, a lifesaving device that uses direct electrical current in time with the heartbeat’s cycle to correct abnormal rhythms thought to be responsible for 40 percent of fatal heart attacks in the United States. The direct current defibrillator led to the invention of other crucial cardiac devices, which are used by millions of Americans today.
Missouri – Presents a depiction of George Washington Carver gently smiling while examining a sample of his work in a laboratory. The leaves, blossoms, and fruits of a peanut plant weave between scientific equipment. Inscriptions include “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “MISSOURI,” and “GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER.”
Following the abolition of slavery, many formerly enslaved people became small-scale farmers but struggled to thrive on land that was depleted of nutrients after sustaining a single type of crop for too long. Through George Washington Carver’s simple but informative pamphlets and his invention of the Jesup Wagon, an agricultural school and laboratory on wheels, he took his lessons on crop rotation and practical farming methods directly to those who needed them most. These efforts helped many small farmers improve their yields, earn profits, and save their livelihoods with soil-enriching crops, like the peanut. Carver’s research and outreach not only improved the lives of individual American farmers but changed Southern agriculture forever.
