The 2024 Missouri Innovation dollar debuts today from the United States Mint, available in rolls and bags. It is the fourth and final release of the year in the U.S. Mint’s American Innovation® $1 Coin Program and the twenty-fifth in the series overall.
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Showcased on the reverse (tails side) of the Missouri dollar is a design honoring George Washington Carver, an agricultural scientist, inventor, and educator.
"I am pleased to announce the release of the American Innovation $1 Coin for the State of Missouri," said the Honorable Ventris C. Gibson, Director of the U.S. Mint. "George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist and inventor who developed hundreds of products using peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans. He was the first African American to earn a Bachelor of Science degree, and the Mint is honored to celebrate his major achievements with this coin."
Carver was born into slavery in Missouri during the 1860s, not long before the abolition of slavery in the United States in 1865. As a youth, he traveled to various schools, eventually graduating from high school in Minneapolis, Kansas. His quest for knowledge led him to Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in Ames, IA, where he became the first African American student to enroll. He gained national recognition as a botanist during his time at the school, earned his master’s degree in 1896, and became the institution’s first African American faculty member.
However, he did not stay long in Iowa. He accepted a position at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama, where he taught for 47 years. During this time, he became one of the most prominent agricultural scientists and inventors of his era, promoting alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion.
"The roots of Missouri are deeply sown in the fields that grow a variety of crops like corn, soybeans, rice, and peanuts, and nobody better embodies our Missouri roots than George Washington Carver," said Missouri Governor Mike Parson. "George Washington Carver was a trailblazer in agricultural science, and his work was greatly influential in the development of the agriculture industry both here in Missouri and across the nation. We are proud to call him a son of Missouri and showcase him on Missouri’s American Innovation $1 coin."
Design for the Missouri Innovation Dollar
U.S. Mint medallic artist Eric David Custer designed the likeness of George Washington Carver that appears on the reverse of each new $1 coin. The image shows Carver gently smiling while examining a sample of his work in his laboratory. The leaves, blossoms, and fruits of a peanut plant weave between scientific equipment, accompanied by the inscription "MISSOURI." Additional inscriptions on the reverse read "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER."
All coins in the American Innovation series feature the same obverse (heads side) design of the Statue of Liberty. This design was created by Artistic Infusion Program artist Justin Kunz and sculpted by U.S. Mint medallic artist Phebe Hemphill. Inscriptions on the obverse read "IN GOD WE TRUST" and "$1."
The coins also include edge-incused inscriptions of "E PLURIBUS UNUM," a mint mark (P or D) indicating the coin’s place of production, and the year "2024."
Prices, Ordering and Product Limits
Product options for the new dollar include 25-coin rolls for $34.50 or 100-coin bags for $117.50, each containing circulation-quality Maine dollars produced at either the U.S. Mint’s facility in Philadelphia or Denver.
The U.S. Mint’s online store for American Innovation products is the place to purchase the new Missouri dollar
The rolls struck in Philadelphia have a product limit of 8,400, while the Denver rolls have a limit of 7,350. The bags are limited to 3,150 from Philadelphia and 2,950 from Denver. Each option has an initial household order limit of ten.
American Innovation Coin Program
The U.S. Mint first introduced the American Innovation $1 Coin Program in 2018 with a single coin featuring the signature of George Washington, the first President of the United States, who signed the first U.S. Patent. Since then, four new coins have been released annually, each honoring an invention or innovator from a different state or U.S. territory.
2024 series of dollars include:
- Illinois $1 Coin – depicting the steel plow
- Alabama $1 Coin – showcasing the Saturn V rocket
- Maine $1 Coin – depicting the direct current defibrillator
- Missouri $1 Coin – this coin honoring George Washington Carver
