For The Love Of Money: Black Icons On U.S. Currency

1796

English copper halfpenny token used by British abolitionists as an anti-slavery communication and propaganda device

Obverse:
Features chained African male slave, naked and kneeling

Reverse:
Features two hands clasped in friendship

1838

American copper hard times token used by American abolitionists as an anti-slavery communication and propaganda device

Obverse:
Features chained African female slave, naked and kneeling

Reverse:
Features laurel wreath

1946

Booker T. Washington was the first free Black person featured on US currency and on a US Commemorative Silver Half Dollar Coin

Obverse:
Features Booker T. Washington portrait

Reverse:
Features New York University Hall of Fame, Slave Cabin

Coin designed by Isaac Scott Hathaway, the first Black artist whose work was produced by the US Mint

1951

George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington were the first free Black men featured on US currency

Obverse:
Features George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington portraits

Reverse:
Features simple United States Of America map

Coin designed by Isaac Scott Hathaway, the first Black artist whose work was produced by the US Mint

1997

Jackie Robinson was the first major league athlete and only Black person honored on a US Commemorative $5.00 Gold Coin

Obverse:
Features Robinson in later years as a Civil Rights Leader

Reverse:
Features Baseball design

1997

Jackie Robinson was the first major league athlete and first Black person featured on a US Commemorative Silver Dollar Coin

Obverse:
Features Robinson stealing home plate

Reverse:
Features 50th anniversary Jackie Robinson Foundation logo

1998

Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave, was the first person killed during the Boston Massacre in 1770, the event that triggered the Revolutionary War

Obverse:
Features Crispus Attucks portrait

Reverse:
Features Black Patriot family sculpture, a proposed detail that was considered for the Black Patriots Memorial

Created by Ed Dwight, the second Black artist to design for the US Mint

1999

The NJ State Quarter was the first coin authorized for circulation depicting a Black person (see Reverse)

Obverse:
Features George Washington portrait

Reverse:
Features a Black slave among the patriots helping row the boat, symbolizing Black patriots who fought in the Revolutionary war

2003

The Missouri State Quarter was the second coin authorized for circulation depicting a Black person (see Reverse)

Obverse:
Features George Washington portrait

Reverse:
Features Louis and Clark and a third man, York, who was Clark’s Black slave

2007

Commemorates the 400th anniversary of the colony at Jamestown, VA, the first permanent English settlement in America. Features an African woman

Obverse:
Features the Three Faces of Diversity

Reverse:
Features three ships - Susan Constant, Godspeed, Discovery, which brought the first settlers to Jamestown

2007

Commemorates the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, in Arkansas

Obverse:
Features nine students, accompanied by an armed soldier, walking to school

Reverse:
Features Little Rock Central High School

2009

The D.C. Quarter commemorates Duke Ellington, the first Black person and musician to be prominently featured on a coin authorized for circulation

Obverse:
Features George Washington Portrait

Duke Ellington, D.C. native son, was an internationally renowned jazz musician and composer

Reverse:
Features famous jazz musician Duke Ellington at the piano

2013

Commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts of the USA

Obverse:
Features three girls, including a Black girl scout, who represent the different ages and diversity of Girl Scouts

Reverse:
Features iconic profiles of Girl Scouts of the USA

2014

Commemorates the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act

Obverse:
Features three people holding hands at a civil rights march. Man holds sign that reads “We Shall Overcome"

Reverse:
Features three flames intertwined to symbolize freedom of education, freedom to vote, freedom to control one’s own destiny

Design inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2016

Harpers Ferry Historic Park Quarter commemorates the site of many significant historic events, which was declared a National Historic Park in 1944

Obverse:
Features George Washington Portrait

Reverse:
Features John Brown’s Fort, the site of John Brown’s last stand during his raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory

2017

The Frederick Douglass Historic Site is the first Black National Historic Site to be prominently featured on a coin authorized for circulation

Obverse:
Features George Washington Portrait

Commemorates Frederick Douglass and his Washington, D.C. home which was declared a National Historic Site in 1962

Reverse:
Features Frederick Douglass at a writing desk, his home in the background

1998
Bessie Coleman brass concept coin recommendation for the new gold dollar coin

Obverse:
Features Bessie Coleman portrait, 13 stars above the horizon, symbolizing future colonization of space

Bessie Coleman was the world's first Black woman aviator, first Black woman to earn an international pilot’s license 3 years before Earhart

Reverse:
Features eagle soaring across the sun, 50 rays

1998

Bessie Coleman silver concept coin recommendation for the new gold dollar coin

Obverse:
Features Bessie Coleman portrait, 13 stars above the horizon, symbolizing future colonization of space

Bessie Coleman was the first Black woman to make a public flight, learning to fly in France because U.S. flying schools would not admit her

Reverse:
Features eagle soaring across the sun, 50 rays

1978

Marian Anderson was the first Black person and Black woman to be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, featured on a U.S. Commemorative Bronze Medal

Obverse:
Features Marian Anderson portrait

Reverse:
Features world held in two cupped hands

1982

Joe Louis was the first Black man and Black athlete to be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, featured on a U.S. Commemorative Bronze Medal

Obverse:
Features Joe Louis portrait

Louis' defeat of Max Schmeling delivered a stinging defeat to Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy

Reverse:
Features Heavyweight belt won in 1937, American Eagle on center buckle, Pair of boxing gloves

1984

Roy Wilkins was the first Black civil rights leader awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, featured on a US Commemorative Bronze Medal

Obverse:
Features Roy Wilkins portrait

Roy Wilkins was a civil rights activist who helped turn the NAACP into a nationally prominent force for civil rights

Reverse:
Features the goddess justice

1988

Jesse Owens was the first American track & field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Obverse:
Features Jesse Owens portrait

Reverse:
Features Owens as an Olympic sprinter

1991

Colin Powell is the first Black person to serve as Secretary Of State and the only Black person to serve as Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff

Obverse:
Features General Powell portrait

Colin Powell is the first Black member of the military awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, featured on a US Commemorative Bronze Medal

Reverse:
Features General Powell congratulating a US soldier

1998

Nelson Mandela is the first South African awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, featured on a US Commemorative Bronze Medal

Obverse:
Features Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela portrait

Commemorates Nelson Mandela for his life-long dedication to the abolition of apartheid

Reverse:
Features compass points and a decorative spindle. Children linked together. Overlapping branches

1999

Commemorates Rosa Parks for her “contributions to the Nation” as the “first lady of civil rights” and “mother of the freedom movement"

Obverse:
Features Rosa Parks portrait

Reverse:
Features swag of oak leaves, scales of justice, world

1999

Commemorates The Little Rock Nine for their “selfless heroism" in desegregating Little Rock Central High School

Obverse:
Features students being escorted up school steps by US soldiers

Reverse:
Features names of The Little Rock Nine, inscription “Courage Bravery Justice Opportunity"

2004

Commemorates Dr. Dorothy Height for her contribution “as one of the preeminent social and civil rights activists of her time"

Obverse:
Features Dr. Dorothy Height Portrait

Reverse:
Features Dorothy I. Height building in Washington, D.C., U.S. Capitol

2004

Commemorates Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, Levi Pearson for their “contribution as pioneers in the effort to desegregate public schools"

Obverse:
Portraits of honorees

Reverse:

The goddess of justice, quote from Judge J. Waties Waring Dissenting Opinion

2005

Commemorates Jackie Robinson for his “legacy and personal achievements,” “advancement of civil rights in the US” and “many contributions to the nation”

Obverse:
Jackie Robinson portrait

Reverse:
Laurel branches surrounding a plaque

2007

Commemorates the Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black aviators to serve during WWII

Obverse:
Features three airmen, eagle symbolizing flight, nobility, the highest ideals of the Nation

Reverse:
Features three types of aircraft the Tuskegee Airmen flew in World War II: P-40, P-51, B-25

2008

Edward William Brooke was the first Black United States Senator elected by popular vote and served with distinction for two terms

Obverse:
Features Edward Brooke portrait

Reverse:
Features United States Capitol Building, Massachusetts State House between two olive branches

2011

Commemorates the Montford Point Marines, the first Black Marines, who served during World War II

Obverse:
Features Montford Point Marines in an action scene from training

Reverse:
Features Montford Point Marines in formation during training, signature water tower

2013

Commemorates the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing victims

Obverse:
Features silhouette of the four little girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

Reverse:
Features view of the 16th Street Baptist Church

2013

Commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King for their contributions to the Nation on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement

Obverse:
Features Dr. and Mrs. King Portraits

Reverse:
Features Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change

2014

Commemorates Lee Andrew Archer, Jr., Tuskegee Airmen and the first and only Black American Fighter Ace

Obverse:
Four pilots, representing WW I, WW II, the Korean War and Vietnam War

Reverse:
Four aircraft used by American Fighter Aces, five stars representing the minimum number of aerial combat victories required for qualification

2014

Commemorates Willa Brown, the first Black officer in the Civil Air Patrol, receiving the rank of Lieutenant in 1942

Obverse:
Features two CAP volunteers watching the skies

Reverse:
Features partial laurel wreath, representing honor and service, surrounding CAP insignia’s

2015

Commemorates Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March

Obverse:
Foot soldiers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge

Reverse:
Hand placing ballot in ballot box with American flag image in the background

2017

President Barack Obama is the first Black President Of The United States and first Black person to be commemorated on Presidential Bronze Medals

Obverse:
Features Barack Obama Portrait

Reverse:
Features Quote from President Obama beneath the Presidential Seal, date of President Obama’s first inauguration, President Obama’s signature and 50 stars around the border

2017

President Barack Obama is the first Black President Of The United States and first Black person to be commemorated on Presidential Bronze Medals

Obverse:
Features Barack Obama Portrait

Reverse:
Features Quote from President Obama beneath image of the White House, date of President Obama’s second inauguration, President Obama’s signature and 50 stars around the border

1980

Marian Anderson was the first Black woman and Black person to be featured on a United States Commemorative Gold Medallion

Obverse:
Features Marian Anderson portrait

Reverse:
Features world held in two cupped hands

1982

Louis Armstrong was the first Black man to be featured on a US commemorative gold medallion

Obverse:
Features Louis Armstrong portrait

Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential jazz artists of the 20th century

Reverse:
Features trumpet and musical notes