Celebrating the invention of the Saturn V rocket in Alabama and its importance to NASA’s Apollo space program for human exploration to the Moon, the United States Mint today at noon ET releases the newest strike in its American Innovation® $1 Coin Program.
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The dollar depicts the power and force of the Saturn V rocket, which was designed and built at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, lifting off with the Moon in the background.
"I am pleased to announce the release of the American Innovation $1 Coin for the State of Alabama," said the Honorable Ventris C. Gibson, Director of the U.S. Mint. The Saturn V rocket "was initially developed to support the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. We are honored to celebrate this major achievement with this coin."
In 1967, NASA initiated the Apollo 4 mission by launching the inaugural Saturn V rocket. Standing at 363 feet tall, the rocket generated 7.6 million pounds of thrust at launch, producing more power than 85 Hoover Dams. This colossal rocket was last launched in 1973, without crew, to transport the Skylab space station into Earth’s orbit.
Product options for the new dollar include 25-coin rolls for $34.50 or 100-coin bags for $117.50, each containing circulation-quality Alabama dollars produced at either the U.S. Mint’s facility in Philadelphia or Denver.
Design for the Alabama Innovation Dollar
Created and sculpted by U.S. Mint Medallic Artist Craig Campbell, the dollar’s reverse design also includes inscriptions of "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "SATURN V," and "ALABAMA."
Appearing on the obverse (heads side) of all Innovation dollars is a likeness of the Statue of Liberty. The design was created by Artistic Infusion Program Artist Justin Kunz with sculpting by Medallic Artist Phebe Hemphill. Inscriptions read "IN GOD WE TRUST" and "$1."
Coins of the series also all bear edge-incused inscriptions of "E PLURIBUS UNUM," a mint mark ("P" or "D") denoting the coin’s place of production and the year, in this case "2024."
American Innovation Coin Program
The Innovation dollar program is a multi-year series that debuted in 2018 with a single coin depicting George Washington’s signature (he signed the first U.S. patent). Four coins are issued annually in the program, beginning in 2019 and scheduled to run through 2032, each honoring an invention or innovation from each state, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories.
The four Innovation dollars for 2024 include:
- Illinois $1 Coin – this release depicting the steel plow
- Alabama $1 Coin – showcasing the Saturn V rocket
- Maine $1 Coin – depicting the direct current defibrillator
- Missouri $1 Coin – honoring George Washington Carver
Ordering and Product Limits
Visit the U.S. Mint’s online store for American Innovation products to purchase the new Alabama dollar.
Product limits have been established at 8,400 per Philadelphia roll, 7,350 per Denver roll, 3,150 per Philadelphia bag, and 2,950 per Denver bag, along with an initial household order limit of 10 per option.
T-minus 8 minutes until lift off! Don’t wait if you want these coins IMO.
I think I would be better off buying these already slabbed on eBay. The proof may already be available in a slab. I like the design. The 2024 Mint Set will have the highest grading BUs. I will wait for now. Again, I like the design.
How much does the slabbing cost for a dollar like this? Will the coins ever be worth more than the slabs? If I collected these, I’d collect them in a folder, like the presidential dollars, rather than a boatload of slabs.
Mark,
I agree. This series is a good candidate for a Dansco Album with a Slip Cover. White cotton gloves are a necessity when handling the golden dollars. If there is a BU P&D Dansco album for this series, I should probably get one. My BU P&D Dansco Presidential Dollar album is complete and up to date. I don’t like putting proof coins in albums though. Especially manganese proofs. I to would rather have a boat load of Gem BU albums than a boat load of slabs
Cheers.
E 1, AI$ are not in the 2024 Mint Set. The only way to get P & D are in rolls and bags.
Wow, thanks for that info. Good to know since I will be building a BU Album Set.
Just ordered a bag of them. People get excited when you use them for tips. Probably the only Mint product I’ll buy this year. I don’t mind a 17% markup from net value. It’s the 50% markups on gold and 200% markups on silver that I can’t accept.
A thought… I wish artist, sculptor, engraver initials weren’t so often displayed quite so prominently. IMO,
They should be more or less, discreetly tucked away in the design vs so prominently displayed in the field. Just a thought… Comparable to Morgan’s $1 or the post 1909 VDB Cents.
Exactly what I was thinking. Initials ruin the design.
Replies vs Join the Discussion: Sharks2th and DaveSWFL respectively(below), I’m in complete agreement, 100%. Please? 🙂 Thx. “I pointed out the reply issue on this site when everyone was discussing alternative sites. If we all just add new comments at the bottom they will be sequential. If you reply, you have to go back and reread all of the comments to see if you missed any intervening reply comments. My idea is to reply if the thread is already at the end. If a new comment has been made then I plan to just do a new comment and not… Read more »
I realize there’s a learning curve, however??? Why keep hitting reply vs “Join Discussion” and making us search for the hidden comment? Maybe it’s just Sharks2th, DaveSWFL and myself that finds this inconvenient? Ponder…
I think it’s more of a hunt if the reply is somewhere unexpected, especially when in a separate article if you ever want to search for it.
Speaking of slabs… I’ve been wondering about the consistently listed slabs up for auction on GC, where they mention, “Edge rail of the holder” or “Top/bottom corner of holder, has a small chip.”I’ve been wondering how this happens? I saw a video recently of a “Dealer” returning a coin to its owner by, tossing/chucking the holdered coin back at/to the coins owner that was nice enough to show him the coin. I was completely stupified at this lack of respect for the coin and it’s owner. To me this was disrespectful and I now have an idea how these slabs… Read more »
Repeat comment from last article response thread (need to learn to follow my own advice!)
What are the identifiers for the 1964 SMS Kennedy half dollar? (Not on original packaging).
I’ve heard of them, but never seen them.
Dave,
The “4” in the date is said to be a dangler.
The strike is said to be razor sharp.
Others say, their is evidance of vapor etching.
Packaging or distribution is a mystery.
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1964-50c-sms/6844
Cheers
(photo: from Heritage Auctions)
@ Dave SWFL @ Canada Coin Article says….
“What are the identifiers for the 1964 SMS Kennedy half dollar NOT in the original packaging? I’ve heard of these, but never seen one…
From what I gather Dave, (and it’s not much) is that it’s all about the Special Strike for the Special Mint Sets–Hence the “SP”-68 grades…I guess the 1964 SMS should not exist, but a very few do exist…
E1 can elaborate further, as he is an authority on the Kennedy Half Dollars.
Here is a tidbit on the subject from PCGS…
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1964-50c-sms/6844#sectionNarrative
Rick,
It is the King of all the Kennedy Halves. A total “Rock Star Coin.” There is one in the Smithsonian’s National Coin Collection. Good luck finding one though. But, they’re out there and they’re not cheap. Baked beans and public transit for life.
E1
For life?
Yeah, Life in Prison. The only way I’d obtain one would be in done in an unscrupulous way…Rockstar indeed!
The identifier on the croslet of the 4 – is it in the left corner kinda looking like a bugger dropping from the point of the “nose”?
Dave,
“Like a bugger dropping.” What….Hummm….interesting. Do you mean booger?
Here is a better explanation. The “4” in the date “1964” is crooked. Instead of being perpendicular to the radius of the coin like the “196,” it is perpendicular to the horizonal plane of the coin. It looks like someone tied a thread to the top apex of the “4” and let it hang or dangle naturally. That is where the term “Dangler” comes from. This is the key pick up point for the 1964 SMS Kennedy.
Cheers
Dave,
Yes, its is like a booger hanging off the nose of the 4. I had also read that some had a slightly crooked “4” too. But, the “4” is the pick up point. There may have been some redesign activity going on with the 4 at that time. These were probably the first article strikes. One of the PCGS Certified SMS coins does have a normal 4. I did research on these a while back. Maybe more research is necessary. But, I could never afford this coin unless I find one in the wild. I am always looking though.
Sorry if this has been covered but…..
When are the GGC being shipped – mine still say back ordered and that they’d ship 4-5-24?? Anyone know???
@ Tony@GA,
They(GGC) are being shipped now. I received my 3 coin PF set on Saturday mid-day.
USPS Priority Mail 2-Day delivery, I had to sign for it and it shipped from Irving, TX..Standard $5.95 USM shipping charge. I did order mine on day one, I don’t know if that mattered or not..
I put the Unc Gold in my cart earlier today, and it showed BO status. Maybe they’re minting to demand in smaller batches/runs..Unlike years past?
If you ordered yours within week, I would think that it will show up soon.
Correction, In the USM cart the Unc Gold said…
The expected in-stock date is Fri Apr 05 2024
Thanks Rick – I ordered mine at the end of day 1 – CC hasn’t been hit – strange –
Thanks for the information!
I agree with CaliSkier’s comment at the top of the comments; the space-themed dollars tend to sell out.
100% in agreement with you Cali on comment placement.
I’m still waiting to see if that item I bought 2.5 weeks ago shows up on the sales report. They obviously don’t cover all of the sales in the week they are made.
Apparently, the US Mint has been producing a “Reverse Proof” series every year for the American Innovation Dollar. The mintages are fairly low. The 2023 set has a mintage of 55,000. That’s pretty low.
https://catalog.usmint.gov/american-innovation-2023-1-coin-reverse-proof-set-23GC.html?cgid=american-innovation-1-coins#start=1