The United States Mint is ready to launch the next $1 coin in its American Innovation series, honoring NASA's space shuttle.
The mint on Thursday (May 15) will open sales for the golden coins beginning at noon EDT (1600 GMT). Rolls of 25 coins, struck at either the mint's Philadelphia ("P") or Denver ("D") facilities, will cost $36.25, while bags of 100 coins from either of the two mint locations will run $125.50 each.
Florida's governor chose the space shuttle to represent the state in the U.S. Mint program, which highlights U.S. ingenuity.
"NASA's space shuttles made history as the world's first reusable spacecraft," Kelvin Manning, acting director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, said in a statement released by the mint. "Today, as we endeavor to send American astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars, NASA and Kennedy Space Center continue to innovate new technologies, build new partnerships, inspire the Artemis Generation and enable new discoveries for the benefit of everyone on Earth."
From April 1981 through July 2011, the shuttle flew from two Florida launch pads on 135 missions and returned to a landing at Kennedy Space Center on 78 of those flights. In between, the winged orbiters were serviced and then mated again with an external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters within facilities located on Florida's space coast.
Though it suffered two tragedies, claiming the lives of 14 astronauts, the space shuttle also opened Earth orbit to more people and more types of people, flying the first American women and minority crew members into space. Its capabilities enabled the retrieval and repair of satellites, the deployment and upgrade of the Hubble Space Telescope and the assembly of the International Space Station.
"The space shuttle, officially known as the Space Transportation System, remains one of the most iconic and influential spacecrafts in history," said Kristie McNally, the mint's acting director. "It played a pivotal role in advancing space exploration. We are honored to celebrate this major achievement."
The Florida American Innovation $1 coin depicts a space shuttle lifting off from Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center. An exhaust plume from its twin boosters fills the lower edges of the design with stars in the background. Included are the inscriptions are "United States of America" and "Florida."
U.S. Mint medallic artist Eric David Custer sculpted the image, and Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) illustrator Ron Sanders designed it.
The heads-side design of all of the coins in the American Innovation program features the Statue of Liberty in profile with the inscriptions "In God We Trust" and "$1." There is also a privy mark in the form of a stylized gear, representing industry and innovation. Mint AIP designer Justin Kunz created the design, and medallic artist Phebe Hemphill sculpted it.
Incused on the coin's edge are "2025," the mint mark ("P" or "D"), and "E Pluribus Unum" ("Out of Many, One").
There is a limit of 10 of each roll or bag of coins per household order. In total, the mint is selling 9,100 rolls of the Philadelphia-struck coins; 8,050 rolls of Denver-struck coins; 3,650 bags of coins from Philadelphia; and 3,450 bags of coins from Denver.
In addition to their availability from the mint's website, the space shuttle coin rolls and bags will also be sold through the mint's sales centers at the Philadelphia and Denver mints and from the mint's headquarters coin store in Washington, D.C.
The mint is not introducing the American Innovation dollars into circulation, though the coins are legal tender.
Introduced in 2018, the American Innovation $1 Coin program has included three previous space-themed entries. In 2019, Delaware celebrated astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, who invented a system for classifying the stars that is still in use today. A year later, the mint released Maryland's coin, which honored the Hubble Space Telescope.
In 2024, the mint released Alabama's coin depicting the Saturn V rocket, which flew the first astronauts to the moon. Florida's space shuttle dollar will be followed by Texas' coin honoring Mission Control later this summer.
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