2021 American Innovation $1 Coin - New York

It is thanks to our founding fathers that we have a culture of innovation here in the U.S.A. Highly influenced by the age of enlightenment that took root in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, they lived and demonstrated innovation in everything around them.The four best inventions of the founding fathers were Washington’s Threshing Barn, Franklin’s Bifocals, Jefferson’s Cipher Wheel, and Paine’s Sunderland Bridge. Innovation is the abiding theme of the American Innovation coins, which are being minted by the United States Mint from 2018 and scheduled to run through 2032.

The New York Innovation dollar is the third of four program coins for 2021 and honors the Erie Canal. Once the series is completed, this coin program would have honored innovation and innovators from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S territories - Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, The U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Erie Canal - History

The Erie Canal is a waterway that connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic ocean via the Hudson river at upstate New York. It provided a direct water route from New York city to the Midwest, triggering large scale commercial and agricultural development. It also encouraged the immigration to the sparsely populated frontiers of Western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and points further west.

The construction of the Erie Canal through mountains, terrain, and dense rocks was very challenging. It took about eight years to finish the entire project. They cleared the land by hand and animal power and blasted through the rocks with gunpowder. At the time of its completion in 1825, the original canal was just 40 feet wide. It traversed nearly 400 miles of fields, forests, rocky cliffs, and contained 83 locks. The project engineers had very little experience in building canals. The military academy at west point in New York offered the one and only formal engineering program at the time of constructing the Erie Canal. The project offered practical schooling to a new generation of American engineers and architects. Finally, Erie Canal engineers devised new equipment to uproot trees and stumps. They were also the ones to invent the first cement that could set and harden underwater.

The Erie canal helped New York City transform into a commercial capital and the nation's economic epicenter. New York city's population quadrupled between 1820 to 1850. The Erie Canal today is enlarged twice to fit broader and bigger boats. Though tourism is now the primary source of boat traffic along the canal, portions of the original channel are still operable.

The Design

The American Innovation $1 Coin Rolls And Bags - New York pays homage to the Erie Canal. This canal was constructed in 1825 and is 363 miles long. This man-made waterway connects Lake Erie in the West and to the Hudson River in the east. It's considered an engineering marvel as it unlocks the western interior for trade and settlement. It played an essential role in the development of the State and Nation.

The reverse of the coin was designed by U.S Mint artistic infusion program artist Ronald.D.Sanders. It showcases a packet boat being pulled from a city in the East toward the country areas to the West. The inscriptions read "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "NEW YORK."

The coin's obverse features the Statue Of Liberty in profile with inscriptions "In GOD WE TRUST" and "$1". The obverse also carries a privy mark of a stylized gear representing industry and innovation. The gear's depiction is unique in each of the four 2021 dollars. On the edge of all $1 coins, "2021" mintmark and inscription "E PLURIBUS UNUM" are included on the edge of all "$1" coins.

The Specifications

The coin composition is 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, 2% Nickel, and the balance is copper. The coin weighs 8.100grams with lettered edges.