March - Women’s History Month - Martha Washington, et al.
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First Coinage Bronze Medal 1 5/16 Inch
Reverse: The reverse of the medal features Martha Washington with lorgnette in hand, sitting before a tray of silver coins held by Henry Voight. In the distinguished group around her are President Washington; his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson; and Treasury Secretary and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton. Tobias Lear, private secretary to the President, watches David Rittenhouse, newly appointed Mint Director, offer a coin from the tray for the First Lady’s inspection. Adam Eckfeldt surveys the proceedings from his post at the coining press.
Reverse Designer: Frank Gasparro
Obverse: The obverse of the medal features a portrait profile of George Washington with the inscription “GEORGE WASHINGTON PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 1789” centered along the border of the medal.
Obverse Designer: Pierre Simon Duvivier
Comments
The obverse designed by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill, depicts the portrait of a WASP with three pilots in the foreground in period uniforms walking toward their aircraft at Avenger Field. The background features an airborne AT-6 breaking through the inner rim of the medal. Inscriptions include “WOMEN AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOTS” and “1942-1944.”
The reverse design features the three aircraft that the WASP flew during their training at Avenger Field, the AT-6, indicated by the number 264; the B-26 (Martin Marauder), indicated by the number 967; and the P-51. The WASP wings are depicted at the base of the design. The inscriptions are “THE FIRST WOMEN IN HISTORY TO FLY AMERICAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT,” “ACT OF CONGRESS” and "2009.”
Women at Work: Meet the Mint’s Female Trailblazers
Women have been an essential part of the U.S. Mint’s story from the beginning. Just three years after the Coinage Act of 1792, the Mint hired its first two female employees. In the years that followed, women gained opportunities not readily available to them in other industries at the time. Starting in the role of adjuster, they spread into clerkships, coin press operators, managers, to all sections of the Mint workforce.
The Mint hired Sarah Waldrake and Rachael Summers in 1795 to work as adjusters. We don’t know much about the women, or the circumstances that led to their hiring. But from historic accounts, we do know about their duties and work conditions.
Coin production was a very labor-intensive process in the 1790s and early 1800s. Some machines, like the heavy rollers used to flatten ingots into long strips, were powered by horses. Others, like those used to punch out blank coins and to strike the coins, were powered by men. But there was one position that the Mint felt was ideally suited to women: the role of adjuster. Adjusters weighed blank coins and “adjusted” those weighing too much by filing them down.
The number of adjusters at the Philadelphia Mint started off small at six, but as coin production increased and the need for more adjusters grew, the Mint hired more people to fill the role. Based on historic accounts, this role became the exclusive domain of women by the mid-1800s. Descriptions of the Philadelphia and San Francisco Adjusting Rooms in 1861 and 1856 noted that all adjusters were women.
Adjusting Room at the Philadelphia Mint. From Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing Room Companion, 1852.
Life as an Adjuster
In the Adjusting Room, adjusters sat at long tables and each had an assay scale and a file. The women often wore short sleeves to minimize brushing metal dust onto the floor, and a leather apron attached to the table to catch any metal that did fall. They socialized as they worked, since the Adjusting Room was separated from the noise involved in the rest of the coin production process.
The Adjusting Room was poorly ventilated, with all doors and windows tightly shut, as any air current affected the accuracy of the scales. Because this made for very uncomfortable work conditions, the women took breaks throughout the day to open windows. In comparison to the textile mills and other factories that were the dominant employers of women in the 19th century, the Mint supplied a relatively safe and social place for women to work.
Expanding Roles for Women
In the 1830s, the steam engine replaced man and horse power to run the Mint’s machines. Steam power opened more positions to women due to the decreased effort needed to produce coins. Adjusters were still an important part of the production process, but by the 1860s women also operated the improved milling machines and coin presses. Both machines required the operator to simply drop blank coins into tubes that fed into the machines. The milling machine created a raised rim around the blanks before the coin presses struck the designs.
At the same time, women also moved into the administrative offices of the Mint. In 1865, Elizabeth Wyer became the first woman clerk; she worked in the Superintendent’s Office of the San Francisco Mint. Other women gained similar opportunities at other Mint branches.
Up until 1877, men supervised women. But that year, Elvira Cowan became the first woman to receive a supervisory position, managing the adjusters at the Carson City Mint. Other women soon followed, supervising adjusters in other branch Mints as well as managing clerks in the administrative offices.
By 1911, a woman filled the second highest position at the Mint. At this time, women still did not even have the right to vote (that came in 1920). Margaret Kelly held the title of examiner, although newspapers referred to her as the “assistant director,” a title not created until 1924 and filled by Mary O’Reilly.
First Woman US Mint Director
Mrs. Nellie Taylor Ross standing in front of the cabinet in the office of the Director of the Mint which contains the Presidential medals and a complete series of the Secretaries of the Treasury. (Photo by Marie Hansen/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Nellie Tayloe Ross as the first woman director of the Mint; she also served the longest term: 20 years. Following her were Eva Adams (1961–1969), Mary Brooks (1969–1977), Stella Hackel Sims (1977–1981), Donna Pope (1981–1991), and Henrietta Holsman Fore (2001–2005). For more information about these women and their contributions to the Mint, read “Six Women Who Have Led the Mint.”
Today, women still make history at the Mint. Women work in crucial positions such as chemists, sculptors, metal forming machine operators, lawyers, and executives. In fact, a woman has served for the last 16 appointments as Treasurer of the United States, including Jovita Carranza today. None of this would have been possible without Sarah Waldrake and Rachael Summers paving the way for those who came after.
https://www.usmint.gov/learn/history/women-at-work
Great write-up!
Excellent post... significant mint history. Actually, more than mint history, it reflects American history and the path to equal rights in our society. Cheers, RickO
Susan B. Anthony
Photograph Source: https://www.biography.com/people/susan-b-anthony-194905
Born on Feb. 15, 1820, in Adams, Mass., Susan B. Anthony was a pioneer crusader for the woman suffrage movement in the United States and president (1892-1900) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Her work helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.
....
Anthony was tireless in her efforts, giving speeches around the country to convince others to support a woman’s right to vote. She even took matters into her own hands in 1872 when she voted in the presidential election illegally. Anthony was arrested and tried unsuccessfully to fight the charges. She ended up being fined $100 – a fine she never paid.
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/susan-b-anthony
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Coin Facts
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PUBLIC LAW 95-447—OCT. 10, 1978
Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978.
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978".
SEC. 2. Section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as amended (31 U.S.C. 391 (c) (1)), is amended by striking out "1.500" and inserting in lieu thereof "1.043" and by striking out "22.68" and inserting in lieu thereof "8.1".
SEC. 3. The one-dollar coin authorized by section 101(c) of the
Coinage Act of 1965, as amended by section 2, shall bear on the obverse side the likeness of Susan B. Anthony, and shall bear on the other side a design which is emblematic of the symbolic eagle of Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
SEC. 4. Section 203 of the Act of December 31,1970 (31 U.S.C. 324b), is amended by striking out "initially" and by inserting "(d)" after "section 101".
SEC. 5. Until January 1, 1979, the Secretary of the Treasury may continue to mint and issue one-dollar coins authorized under section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as such section was in effect immediately prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
Approved October 10, 1978.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg1072.pdf
Susan B. Anthony
Photograph Source: https://www.biography.com/people/susan-b-anthony-194905
Born on Feb. 15, 1820, in Adams, Mass., Susan B. Anthony was a pioneer crusader for the woman suffrage movement in the United States and president (1892-1900) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Her work helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.
....
Anthony was tireless in her efforts, giving speeches around the country to convince others to support a woman’s right to vote. She even took matters into her own hands in 1872 when she voted in the presidential election illegally. Anthony was arrested and tried unsuccessfully to fight the charges. She ended up being fined $100 – a fine she never paid.
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/susan-b-anthony
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Coin Facts
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PUBLIC LAW 95-447—OCT. 10, 1978
Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978.
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978".
SEC. 2. Section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as amended (31 U.S.C. 391 (c) (1)), is amended by striking out "1.500" and insert- ing in lieu thereof "1.043" and by striking out "22.68" and inserting in
lieu thereof "8.1".
SEC. 3. The one-dollar coin authorized by section 101(c) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as amended by section 2, shall bear on the obverse side the likeness of Susan B. Anthony, and shall bear on the other side a design which is emblematic of the symbolic eagle of Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
SEC. 4. Section 203 of the Act of December 31,1970 (31 U.S.C. 324b), is amended by striking out "initially" and by inserting "(d)" after "section 101".
SEC. 5. Until January 1, 1979, the Secretary of the Treasury may continue to mint and issue one-dollar coins authorized under section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as such section was in effect immediately prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
Approved October 10, 1978.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg1072.pdf
Susan B. Anthony
Photograph Source: https://www.biography.com/people/susan-b-anthony-194905
Born on Feb. 15, 1820, in Adams, Mass., Susan B. Anthony was a pioneer crusader for the woman suffrage movement in the United States and president (1892-1900) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Her work helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.
....
Anthony was tireless in her efforts, giving speeches around the country to convince others to support a woman’s right to vote. She even took matters into her own hands in 1872 when she voted in the presidential election illegally. Anthony was arrested and tried unsuccessfully to fight the charges. She ended up being fined $100 – a fine she never paid.
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/susan-b-anthony
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Coin Facts
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PUBLIC LAW 95-447—OCT. 10, 1978
Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978.
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978".
SEC. 2. Section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as amended (31 U.S.C. 391 (c) (1)), is amended by striking out "1.500" and insert- ing in lieu thereof "1.043" and by striking out "22.68" and inserting in
lieu thereof "8.1".
SEC. 3. The one-dollar coin authorized by section 101(c) of the
Coinage Act of 1965, as amended by section 2, shall bear on the obverse side the likeness of Susan B. Anthony, and shall bear on the other side a design which is emblematic of the symbolic eagle of Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
SEC. 4. Section 203 of the Act of December 31,1970 (31 U.S.C. 324b), is amended by striking out "initially" and by inserting "(d)" after "section 101".
SEC. 5. Until January 1, 1979, the Secretary of the Treasury may continue to mint and issue one-dollar coins authorized under section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as such section was in effect immediately prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
Approved October 10, 1978.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg1072.pdf
Susan B. Anthony
Photograph Source: https://www.biography.com/people/susan-b-anthony-194905
Born on Feb. 15, 1820, in Adams, Mass., Susan B. Anthony was a pioneer crusader for the woman suffrage movement in the United States and president (1892-1900) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Her work helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.
....
Anthony was tireless in her efforts, giving speeches around the country to convince others to support a woman’s right to vote. She even took matters into her own hands in 1872 when she voted in the presidential election illegally. Anthony was arrested and tried unsuccessfully to fight the charges. She ended up being fined $100 – a fine she never paid.
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/susan-b-anthony
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Coin Facts
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PUBLIC LAW 95-447—OCT. 10, 1978
Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978.
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act of 1978".
SEC. 2. Section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as amended (31 U.S.C. 391 (c) (1)), is amended by striking out "1.500" and insert- ing in lieu thereof "1.043" and by striking out "22.68" and inserting in
lieu thereof "8.1".
SEC. 3. The one-dollar coin authorized by section 101(c) of the
Coinage Act of 1965, as amended by section 2, shall bear on the obverse side the likeness of Susan B. Anthony, and shall bear on the other side a design which is emblematic of the symbolic eagle of Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
SEC. 4. Section 203 of the Act of December 31,1970 (31 U.S.C. 324b), is amended by striking out "initially" and by inserting "(d)" after "section 101".
SEC. 5. Until January 1, 1979, the Secretary of the Treasury may continue to mint and issue one-dollar coins authorized under section 101(c) (1) of the Coinage Act of 1965, as such section was in effect immediately prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
Approved October 10, 1978.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg1072.pdf
Great thread!
My YouTube Channel
I bought me an uber cool Double Struck PCGS MS65 SBA last night
Sacagawea
The bilingual Shoshone woman Sacagawea (c. 1788 – 1812) accompanied the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition in 1805-06 from the northern plains through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and back. Her skills as a translator were invaluable, as was her intimate knowledge of some difficult terrain. Perhaps most significant was her calming presence on both the expeditioners and the Native Americans they encountered, who might have otherwise been hostile to the strangers. Remarkably, Sacagawea did it all while caring for the son she bore just two months before departing.
Sacagawea’s Early Life
Possibly the most memorialized woman in the United States with statues and monuments, Sacagawea lived a short but legendarily eventful life in the American West. Born in 1788 or 1789, a member of the Lemhi band of the Native American Shoshone tribe, Sacagawea grew up surrounded by the Rocky Mountains in the Salmon River region of what is now Idaho.
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In 1803 or 1804, through a trade, gambling payoff or purchase, Sacagawea became the property of French-Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau, born no later than 1767 and well over two decades her senior. Charbonneau had lived among Native Americans for so long he had adopted some of their traditions, including polygamy. Sacagawea became one of his two wives and was soon pregnant.
Sacagawea Meets Lewis and Clark
Meanwhile, President Thomas Jefferson had made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803—828,000 square miles of almost completely unexplored territory. Within this vast wilderness he hoped would lie the rumored Northwest Passage (a waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans). But Jefferson wanted more from the explorers who would search for the passage: He charged them with surveying the natural landscape, learning about the varied Native American tribes and making maps. He turned to his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to head the Corps of Discovery. Lewis, 29, chose his friend and former military superior, 33-year-old William Clark, as his co-captain.
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Sacagawea delivered her son Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau (known as Baptiste) on February 11, 1805. On April 7, Sacagawea, the baby and Charbonneau headed west with the 31 other Corps members.
Sacagawea and the Corps of Discovery
Within a month, a near-tragedy earned Sacagawea particular respect. The boat in which she was sailing nearly capsized when a squall hit and Charbonneau, the navigator, panicked. Sacagawea had the presence of mind to gather crucial papers, books, navigational instruments, medicines and other provisions that might have otherwise disappeared—all while simultaneously ensuring her baby’s safety. In appreciation, Lewis and Clark named a branch of the Missouri for Sacagawea several days later. Clark, in particular, developed a close bond with Sacagawea as she and Baptiste would often accompany him as he took his turn walking the shore, checking for obstacles in the river that could damage the boats.
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After reaching the Pacific, Sacagawea returned with the rest of the Corps and her husband and son—having survived illness, flash floods, temperature extremes, food shortages, mosquito swarms and so much more—to their starting point, the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement, on August 14, 1806. For his service Charbonneau received 320 acres of land and $500.33; Sacagawea received no compensation.
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Sacagawea’s Final Years and Legacy
Three years later, in fall 1809, Sacagawea, Charbonneau and Baptiste ventured to St. Louis, where Charbonneau was taking the kind-hearted Clark up on an offer: Clark would provide the Charbonneau family with land to farm if the parents would agree to let Clark educate Baptiste. The farming didn’t work out, however, and Sacagawea and Charbonneau left Baptiste in St. Louis with Clark—now his godfather—in April 1811 so that they could join a fur-trading expedition.
In August 1812, after giving birth to a daughter, Lisette (or Lizette), Sacagawea’s health declined. By December, she was extremely ill with “putrid fever” (possibly typhoid fever).
She died at 25, on December 22, 1812, in lonely, cold Fort Manuel on a bluff 70 miles south of present-day Bismarck. Within a year, Clark became legal guardian to both Lisette and Baptiste. While little is known of Lisette’s life, Baptiste traveled in Europe and held a variety of jobs in the American West before he died in 1866. Charbonneau died in 1843.
https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/sacagawea
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Coin Facts
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Public Law 105–124 — DEC. 1, 1997
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act’’.
.....
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES DOLLAR COINS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the ‘‘United States $1 Coin Act of 1997’’.
(b) WEIGHT.—Section 5112(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and weighs 8.1 grams’’.
(c) COLOR AND CONTENT.—Section 5112(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘dollar,’’; and
(2) by inserting after the fourth sentence the following: ‘‘The dollar coin shall be golden in color, have a distinctive edge, have tactile and visual features that make the denomina- tion of the coin readily discernible, be minted and fabricated in the United States, and have similar metallic, anti-counter- feiting properties as United States coinage in circulation on the date of enactment of the United States $1 Coin Act of 1997.’’.
(d) DESIGN.—Section 5112(d)(1) of title 31, United States Code,
is amended by striking the fifth and sixth sentences and inserting the following: ‘‘The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Congress, shall select appropriate designs for the obverse and reverse sides of the dollar coin.’’.
(e) PRODUCTION OF NEW DOLLAR COINS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the depletion of the Government’s
supply (as of the date of enactment of this Act) of $1 coins bearing the likeness of Susan B. Anthony, the Secretary of the Treasury shall place into circulation $1 coins that comply with the requirements of subsections (b) and (d)(1) of section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by this section.
(2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO CONTINUE PRODUCTION.— If the supply of $1 coins bearing the likeness of Susan B. Anthony is depleted before production has begun of $1 coins which bear a design which complies with the requirements of subsections (b) and (d)(1) of section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by this section, the Secretary of the Treasury may continue to mint and issue $1 coins bearing the likeness of Susan B. Anthony in accordance with that section 5112 (as in effect on the day before the date of enact- ment of this Act) until such time as production begins.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ124/pdf/PLAW-105publ124.pdf
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PUBLIC LAW 110–82—SEPT. 20, 2007
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American $1 Coin Act’’.
SEC. 2. NATIVE AMERICAN $1 COIN PROGRAM.
Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(r) REDESIGN AND ISSUANCE OF CIRCULATING $1 COINS HON- ORING NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY INDIAN TRIBES AND INDIVIDUAL NATIVE AMERICANS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY.—
‘(1) REDESIGN BEGINNING IN 2008—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning January 1, 2008,
notwithstanding subsection (d), in addition to the coins to be issued pursuant to subsection (n), and in accordance with this subsection, the Secretary shall mint and issue $1 coins that—
‘‘(i) have as the designs on the obverse the so- called ‘Sacagawea design’; and
‘‘(ii) have a design on the reverse selected in accordance with paragraph (2)(A), subject to paragraph (3)(A).
‘‘(B) DELAYED DATE.—If the date of the enactment of
the Native American $1 Coin Act is after August 25, 2007, subparagraph (A) shall be applied by substituting ‘2009’ for ‘2008’.
‘‘(2) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
The $1 coins issued in accord-
ance with paragraph (1) shall meet the following design require- ments:
‘‘(A) COIN REVERSE.—The design on the reverse shall bear—
‘‘(i) images celebrating the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the development of the United States and the history of the United States;
‘‘(ii) the inscription ‘$1’; and
‘‘(iii) the inscription ‘United States of America’.
‘‘(B) COIN OBVERSE.—The design on the obverse shall—
‘‘(i) be chosen by the Secretary, after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee; and
‘‘(ii) contain the so-called ‘Sacagawea design’ and the inscription ‘Liberty’.
‘‘(C) EDGE-INCUSED INSCRIPTIONS.—‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—
The inscription of the year of minting and issuance of the coin and the inscriptions ‘E Pluribus Unum’ and ‘In God We Trust’ shall be edge-incused into the coin.
‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION OF DISTINCTIVE EDGE.—The edge-incusing of the inscriptions under clause (i) on coins issued under this subsection shall be done in a manner that preserves the distinctive edge of the coin so that the denomination of the coin is readily discernible, including by individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
‘‘(D) REVERSE DESIGN SELECTION.—
The designs selected for the reverse of the coins described under this sub- section—
‘‘(i) shall be chosen by the Secretary after consulta- tion with the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Congress of American Indians;
‘‘(ii) shall be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee;
‘‘(iii) may depict individuals and events such as— ‘‘(I) the creation of Cherokee written language; ‘‘(II) the Iroquois Confederacy;
‘‘(III) Wampanoag Chief Massasoit;
‘‘(IV) the ‘Pueblo Revolt’;
‘‘(V) Olympian Jim Thorpe;
‘‘(VI) Ely S. Parker, a general on the staff
of General Ulysses S. Grant and later head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
‘‘(VII) code talkers who served the United States Armed Forces during World War I and World War II; and
‘‘(iv) in the case of a design depicting the contribu-
tion of an individual Native American to the develop- ment of the United States and the history of the United States, shall not depict the individual in a size such that the coin could be considered to be a ‘2-headed’ coin.
‘‘(3) ISSUANCE OF COINS COMMEMORATING 1 NATIVE AMER- ICAN EVENT DURING EACH YEAR.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—
Each design for the reverse of the $1 coins issued during each year shall be emblematic of 1 important Native American or Native American contribu- tion each year.
‘‘(B) ISSUANCE PERIOD.—
Each $1 coin minted with a design on the reverse in accordance with this subsection for any year shall be issued during the 1-year period begin- ning on January 1 of that year and shall be available throughout the entire 1-year period.
‘‘(C) ORDER OF ISSUANCE OF DESIGNS.—
Each coin issued under this subsection commemorating Native Americans and their contributions—
‘‘(i) shall be issued, to the maximum extent prac- ticable, in the chronological order in which the Native Americans lived or the events occurred, until the termi- nation of the coin program described in subsection (n); and
‘‘(ii) thereafter shall be issued in any order deter- mined to be appropriate by the Secretary, after con- sultation with the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives, and the National Con- gress of American Indians.
‘‘(4) ISSUANCE OF NUMISMATIC COINS.—The Secretary may mint and issue such number of $1 coins of each design selected under this subsection in uncirculated and proof qualities as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
‘‘(5) QUANTITY.—The number of $1 coins minted and issued in a year with the Sacagawea-design on the obverse shall be not less than 20 percent of the total number of $1 coins minted and issued in such year.’’.
Approved September 20, 2007.
https://www.congress.gov/110/plaws/publ82/PLAW-110publ82.pdf
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. In 1882, she was stricken by an illness that left her blind and deaf. Beginning in 1887, Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her make tremendous progress with her ability to communicate, and Keller went on to college, graduating in 1904. In 1920, Keller helped found the ACLU. During her lifetime, she received many honors in recognition of her accomplishments.
Early Life
Helen Keller was the first of two daughters born to Arthur H. Keller and Katherine Adams Keller. She also had two older stepbrothers. Keller's father had served as an officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The family was not particularly wealthy and earned income from their cotton plantation. Later, Arthur became the editor of a weekly local newspaper, the North Alabamian.
Keller was born with her senses of sight and hearing, and started speaking when she was just 6 months old. She started walking at the age of 1.
Loss of Sight and Hearing
In 1882, however, Keller contracted an illness—called "brain fever" by the family doctor—that produced a high body temperature. The true nature of the illness remains a mystery today, though some experts believe it might have been scarlet fever or meningitis. Within a few days after the fever broke, Keller's mother noticed that her daughter didn't show any reaction when the dinner bell was rung, or when a hand was waved in front of her face. Keller had lost both her sight and hearing. She was just 19 months old.
https://www.biography.com/people/helen-keller-9361967
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Coin Facts
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Public Law 105–124 — DEC. 1, 1997
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act’’.
Queen Isabella of Spain
Coin Facts & US Mint
Year of Issue: 1893
Background: Released in 1893, the Queen Isabella Quarter Dollar was the first commemorative coin to feature a woman, Queen Isabella of Spain.
Characteristics:
The obverse design features Queen Isabella of Spain.
The reverse features a kneeling female with symbols of women’s industry (distaff and spindle).
DESIGNER: Charles E. Barber
EDGE: Reeded
DIAMETER: 24.30 millimeters
WEIGHT: 6.25 grams
MINTAGE: 24,214
METAL: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
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It was typical of Isabella's political vision that she agreed to finance the expedition of Christopher Columbus which brought the New World and wealth to Spain. If it weren't for Queen Isabella of Spain, Christopher Columbus would never been able to set sail. Isabella took an interest in the Native Americans of the new lands and when some of them were brought back to Spain as slaves she had them returned and freed, she wanted the Indians to be treated fairly.
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/isabel.html
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1016494/multiple-posts-on-march-18-2019-2-39pm
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