The 2020 American Innovation $1 Coin program has not seen very many releases this year. Whether it be COVID-19 related or planned, a majority of the products are featured on the tail end of the United States Mint’s production schedule. One of those items is the Proof Set in Original Government Packaging that features the great states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina in a Proof finish.
Packaged together, the four coins celebrate and honor innovators and innovations from each state in this multi-year series. Struck with a sharp relief and a mirror-like background with frosted foregrounds, the coins were produced at San Francisco and will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. Below are more detailed descriptions of each coin design set to be released on October 8th.
Connecticut
Designed by Artistic Infusion Program designer Richard Masters and engraved by Mint Medallic artist Renata Gordon, the reverse design on Connecticut’s $1 coin features the Gerber Variable Scale. The scale is seen in the design being used to “increase a geometric shape by 200 percent” as that shape simulates the state of Connecticut. The inscriptions of the reverse feature the words “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “GERBER VARIABLE SCALE,” and “CONNECTICUT.”
Massachusetts
With AIP designer Emily Damstra in the design seat and Sculptor-Engraver Eric David Custer as the Mint engraver, Massachusetts honors the invention and creation of the telephone. The design itself depicts a dial of an early rotary phone. The reverse features the inscriptions “MASSACHUSETTS,” “TELE-PHONE,” and “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
Maryland
Mint Chief Engraver Joseph Menna is the designer and engraver behind the $1 coin for Maryland. The coin honors the Hubble Space Telescope and features a telescope orbiting the earth. The design is surrounded by stars as inscriptions featured read “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE,” and “MARYLAND.”
South Carolina
The final design for 2020 will honor South Carolina’s educator and Civil Rights activist Septima Poinsette Clark. Justin Kunz, AIP designer, and engraver Phebe Hemphill, help depict Ms. Clark marching along with three young African American students. The students are carrying books and an American flag, both of which represent the notion that “education and literacy among oppressed people are necessary for empowerment and enjoyment of civil rights.” Inscriptions on the reverse design read “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “SEPTIMA CLARK,” and “SOUTH CAROLINA.”