Collectors now know what the 2019 American Innovation $1 coins will look like, after final designs were revealed Aug. 14 by U.S. Mint Director David J. Ryder at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Rosemont, Illinois.

The four 2019 coins will bear reverse designs reflecting inventions or innovations in the first four states — Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia.

All of the coins in the 14-year program will pair reverse designs reflective of each state, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories with the common obverse depicting a rendition of the Statue of Liberty.

The coins are being issued in the order each state joined the Union or ratified the Constitution.

➤ Delaware — The adopted reverse was designed by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Donna Weaver and sculpted by Mint Chief Engraver Joseph F. Menna. Weaver’s design “recognizes astronomer Annie Jump Cannon who developed a system for classifying the stars that is still used today. This design features a silhouette of Ms. Cannon against the night sky, with a number of stars visible.” 

➤ Pennsylvania — The approved reverse was designed by AIP artist Richard Masters and sculpted by Menna. Masters’ work “recognizes the creation of a vaccine to prevent polio. This design depicts an artist’s conception of the polio virus at three different levels of magnification along with the silhouette of a period microscope, representing the extensive research that was conducted to develop a cure for polio.”

➤ New Jersey — Designed by AIP artist Paul C. Balan and sculpted by Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill. Balan’s design “honors the development of a lightbulb with a filament that could last 1,200 hours. This design features an Edison bulb against an ornate background.”

➤ Georgia — Design by AIP artist Emily Damstra and sculpted by Mint Sculptor-Engraver Michael Gaudioso. Damstra’s creation “recognizes the Trustees’ Garden, established in the 1730s. It was the first agricultural experimental garden in America. This coin’s design depicts a hand planting seeds in the inscription TRUSTEES’ GARDEN, from which grows a variety of species representing the variety of plants grown in the garden: an orange tree seedling, sassafras, grapes, white mulberry, flax, peaches, olive,” and a young shoot too small to be identified.

The common obverse design was executed by AIP artist Justin Kunz and sculpted by Hemphill. 

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