AMERICAN INNOVATION
George Washington Carver: The South’s agrarian economy & the Jessup Wagon (Missouri)"P"

This dollar is the fourth in 2024 and 24th overall in the American Innovation Dollars Program.

The United States Mint American Innovation $1 Coin Program is a multi-year series honoring innovation and innovators with $1 coins from each State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands. The American Innovation $1 Coins have uncirculated finishes and are minted at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints.

The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Missouri represents George Washington Carver. He was born into slavery in Diamond, Missouri. He went on to become the agricultural scientist who helped save the South’s agrarian economy. Following the abolition of slavery, many formerly enslaved people became small-scale farmers, but struggled to thrive on nutrient-depleted land due to single-crop overuse. Dr. Carver knew that his lessons on crop rotation and practical farming methods could help if they could reach farmers outside of his classrooms at Tuskegee University.
In 1906, Dr. Carver designed and built an agricultural school and laboratory on wheels known as the Jessup Wagon. The wagon visited farming communities throughout the South to provide demonstrations and distribute simple but informative pamphlets to those who needed them most. These efforts helped many small farmers improve their yields, earn profits, and save their livelihoods with soil-enriching crops like the peanut, which Dr. Carver used to develop more than 300 products and uses. His research and outreach not only improved the lives of individual American farmers but changed Southern agriculture forever.

The reverse (tails) design presents a depiction of George Washington Carver gently smiling while examining a sample of his work in his laboratory. The leaves, blossoms, and fruits of a peanut plant weave between scientific equipment. Inscriptions include “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “MISSOURI,” and “GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER.”

The obverse (heads) of American Innovation $1 Coins features a dramatic representation of the Statue of Liberty in profile with the inscriptions “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “$1.” The obverse also includes a privy mark of a stylized gear, representing industry and innovation.

The year of minting or issuance, the mint mark, and “E PLURIBUS UNUM” are incused on the edge of the coin.

AMERICAN INNOVATION - GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER: THE SOUTH'S AGRARIAN ECONOMY & THE JESSUP WAGON (MISSOURI) "P" (BU) - 2024 UNITED STATES COINS 24 is categorised COINS AND PAPER MONEY / 09- UNITED STATES COINS / 6- 1 DOLLAR and sold by l'Imaginaire, a store and specialised website.