2020 Native American $1 Coin Depicts Elizabeth Peratrovich

October 7, 2019

On Saturday, Oct. 5, the United States Mint unveiled the one-year-only design that will appear on the 2020 Native American $1 Coin.

2020 Native American $1 Coin Design — Phebe Hemphill designed the reverse of the 2020 Native American $1 Coin. It shows a portrait of Elizabeth Peratrovich and the Tlingit Raven moiety.

Honoring Elizabeth Peratrovich and Alaska’s Anti-Discrimination Law, the design features Peratrovich who advocated for the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Law in the Alaskan territorial legislature.

The design also depicts a symbol of the Tlingit Raven moiety, of which she was a member. Inscriptions include "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "ELIZABETH PERATROVICH," "$1," and "ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW OF 1945."

"This coin will be a lasting tribute to Elizabeth Peratrovich and her relentless efforts to tear down the wall of discrimination against Alaskan Natives," said U.S. Mint Chief Administrative Officer Patrick Hernandez during the design unveiling ceremony at the Alaska Native Brothers and Alaska Native Sisters Convention at Alaska Pacific University.

"We will proudly produce this coin that honors her bravery and determination."

U.S. Mint Medallic Artist Phebe Hemphill created the design and will sculpt it.

The Native American $1 Coin Program commemorates the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States. The series features annually changing reverses. 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

2019 Native American $1 Coin (obverse and reverse)
The theme for the 2018 Native American dollar honors sport legend James Francis “Jim” Thorpe (1888-1953).	The theme for the 2017 Native American dollar honors Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee Syllabary
The theme for the 2016 Native American dollar design commemorates Code Talkers	The theme for the 2015 Native American dollar design commemorates Mohawk Ironworkers
The theme for the 2014 Native American dollar design commemorates native hospitality	The theme for the 2013 Native American dollar commemorates the Delaware Treaty of 1778
The theme for the 2012 Native American dollar design features ‘Trade Routes in the 17th Century’	The theme for 2011 Native American dollar design depicts 'Diplomacy - Treaties with Tribal Nations'
The theme for the 2010 Native American dollar design symbolizes 'Government -- The Great Tree of Peace'	The theme for the 2009 Native American dollar design depicts the 'Spread of Three Sisters Agriculture'

Common Obverse Design

Obverse (heads side) of Native American $1 Coin 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."