Civil rights educator and activist Septima Poinsette Clark is featured in the last US dollar, which honors innovation in South Carolina.
 |
 |
South Carolina innovation dollars are now available in rolls of 25 coins and bags of 100 coins. Each product includes non-circulated coins from Philadelphia or Denver Mints. They are issued as part of the US Mint’s $ 1 American Mint Coin Program and appear as the end of four $ 1 Innovation designs for 2020.
Septima Clark was born on May 3, 1898, in Charleston, SC. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Benedict College and a master’s degree from the Hampton Institute. Then she received her teaching license, but the laws of the day prevented African Americans from teaching in public schools. As such, she has taken on several other instructor and administrative positions at the Avery Normal Institute and the Highlander Folk School of Tennessee.
At Tennessee’s Highlander Folk School, she served as director of its citizen school program. His efforts there and then led to the establishment of more than 800 schools of citizenship.
Projects for the US dollar of innovation in South Carolina
Shown on the back (tail side) of each $ 1 coin is a drawing showing Mrs. Clark marching with three young African American students carrying books and an American flag, representing the link between education and literacy and her need for achieve empowerment and enjoyment of civil rights.
Reverse entries include “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, “SEPTIMA CLARK” and “SOUTH CAROLINA”. The design was created by American artist Justin Kunz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.
All coins in the Innovation series feature the same design as the Statue of Liberty on the obverse (side of the head), along with the inscriptions “$ 1” and “IN GOD WE TRUST”. Kunz created and Hemphill sculpted the image. A small private brand of a stylized gear is also shown on the obverse.
Edge lettering includes “2020”, a mint mark and “E PLURIBUS UNUM”.
Price and order
Each roll of 25 coins can be purchased for $ 34.50 with bags of 100 coins priced at $ 117.50 each. They can be ordered from the US Mint online store for American Innovation products.
About the Series
American Innovation’s $ 1 coins debuted in 2018 with a single launch. Next, and until 2032, four new currencies are programmed annually, each honoring a different innovation or innovator, one of which is displayed in each state, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories.
To date, the series includes:
- George Washington’s $ 1 innovation coin 2018
- 2019 Delaware ranking the stars $ 1 coin
- Pennsylvania polio vaccine 2019 $ 1 coin
- 2019 New Jersey Light Bulb $ 1 Coin
- $ 1 coin from the Georgia curators’ garden 2019
- 2020 Connecticut Gerber Variable Scale $ 1 Currency
- 2020 Massachusetts Telephone $ 1 Currency
- 2020 Maryland Hubble Space Telescope $ 1 coin
- 2020 South Carolina Septima Clark $ 1 coin
The first of the four dollars dated 2021 is scheduled to launch in the spring.