Today is the next and newest release for the American Innovation $1 Coin Program! The third and last design for 2020 and the seventh in the multi-year series is Maryland.
To be released in 25-coin rolls and 100-coin bags from both the Philadelphia and Denver Mints, the Maryland $1 coin is part of the United States Mint’s multi-year attempt at honoring innovation and innovators from each State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands.
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 on the reverse. The design is surrounded by stars as inscriptions featured read “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE,” and “MARYLAND.”
The Hubble Space Telescope was developed and launched by NASA on April 24, 1990. It is one of the largest and most resourceful space telescopes the world has ever seen. It got its name after American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble and is the first telescope to be designed and serviced in space by astronauts. Located in Maryland, the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Telescope Science Institute both have teams that manage the famous telescope.
The obverse design of the coin will feature the Statue of Liberty design that will remain constant throughout the multi-year series. “IN GOD WE TRUST” can be seen on the design as well as the denomination of “$1”. A privy mark can be seen in the form of a gear representing the series as a whole in its attempt to honor and represent industry and innovation. The edge of the Uncirculated design will be incused and inscribed with “2020,” the “P” or “D” mintmark representing either Philadelphia or Denver, and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”
Source: United States Mint