American Innovation $1 Coin - New Hampshire

American innovation coins are released every year and they honor the innovations and innovators from each of the fifty states. This particular series of coins will have the same principal design showing the statue of liberty and will contain the words "In God We Trust" and "$1".

The 2021 design honors the innovations or innovators from New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, and North Carolina. The first American Innovation $1 coin this year is from New Hampshire. The New Hampshire coin acknowledges the invention of the first home video game console by Ralph Baer.

Ralph Henry Baer

Ralph Henry Bear was a German American. He was an inventor, game developer, and an engineer. He shifted several jobs in the electronic industry and joined the Sanders associates as an engineer. He came up with the idea of playing games on a television screen in the year 1966. With the support of his employers, he worked through several models until he came up with a concept called the "Brown Box" that became the blueprint for the first home video game console licensed by Magnavox. Baer continued working on creating various other stunning video games. He even contributed his designs to the Simon electronic game.

In 2006, February he was awarded the "National Medal of Technology" for his interactive video games. He was known as the "Father of video games" due to his various contributions to the gaming industry and for changing the entire landscape of gaming in 20th century.

Baer's Son Mark Baer stated that the coin honors his father and New Hampshire's "long history of creativity and technological innovation." This is just the latest honor recognizing Baer's achievements.

All About The Design

Designer Christina Hess with the Sculptor engraver Eric David Custer has structured the coin in a sensational manner. The coin's reverse design depicts Ralph Baer's brown box game "Handball" on the right side of the coin. The left side of the coin highlights "New Hampshire" and "Player 1" on an incused background. "In-Home Video Game System" and "Ralph Baer" encircle the outside of the coin, engraved in a text format, paying homage to Baer's odyssey game.

The obverse of the coin features "Statue Of Liberty" in profile with the inscriptions "In God We Trust" and "$1". It also includes a hidden mark of stylized gear representing the industry and innovation sector. Additional inscriptions like "United States Of America, The year of minting, Mintmark and E Pluribus Unum" are present on the edge of the coin. The coin's design also represents an arcade token with the mint and mint marks of Denver (D) and Philadelphia (P).

The composition of the coin is 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, 2% Nickel, Balance Copper weighing 8.100 grams with a diameter of 1.043 inches (26.49mm) and thickness of 2.00mm. Edge lettering format is enhanced in this design. These coins can be picked up only in rolls and bags with a price ranging from $34.50 to $117.50. The price varies based on the mint mark and the number of coins you purchase.