The United States Mint unveiled an image of the one-year-only design that will appear on their 2021 Native American $1 Coin.
Honoring the service of American Indians in the U.S. military, the dollar’s reverse (tails side) depicts eagle feathers, which were traditionally earned in battle or by performing a brave deed. The design was selected from among a total of 17 candidates.
In addition to the feathers, the design’s foreground features stars representing five branches of the U.S. military. A circle provides an additional reference to Native Americans.
Around the design are inscriptions of "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "NATIVE AMERICANS – DISTINGUISHED MILITARY SERVICE SINCE 1775" and "$1."
Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Designer Donna Weaver created the image. It was sculpted by U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Joseph Menna.
Authorized under Public Law 110-82, introduced in 2009, and featuring annually changing reverses, the Mint’s Native American $1 Coin Program celebrates the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States. Previous design themes include:
- 2009 – Three Sisters Agriculture
- 2010 – Great Tree of Peace and the Iroquois Confederacy
- 2011 – Great Wampanoag Nation
- 2012 – Trade Routes
- 2013 – Treaty with the Delawares
- 2014 – Native Hospitality Ensured the Success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
- 2015 – Contributions of the Kahnawake Mohawk and Mohawk Akwesasne communities to "high iron" construction work
- 2016 – Contributions of the Native American Code Talkers in World War I and World War II
- 2017 – Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee Syllabary
- 2018 – Sports legend Jim Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox tribe
- 2019 – Mary Golda Ross, the first known Native American female engineer, and a space-walking astronaut symbolic of Native American astronauts
- 2020 – Elizabeth Peratrovich for her contributions to the passage of the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Law by the Alaskan territorial government
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Common Obverse Design
Obverses (heads side) of Native American $1 Coins share the same portrait of "Sacagawea" as designed by sculptor Glenna Goodacre. The familiar image has been around since the Sacagawea golden dollar debuted in 2000. Inscriptions around Sacagawea read "LIBERTY" and "IN GOD WE TRUST."
An edge inscription indicates the year of issue, mint mark, and the motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM."
Upcoming U.S. Mint Dollar Products
Dollar coins have not been released into circulation since 2011. The U.S. Mint strikes them solely for its numismatic products sold here. The first U.S. Mint products with 2021-dated Native American dollars will be available for order on Feb. 16.
