March of Dimes Silver Dollar
The latest commemorative silver dollar coins from the United States Mint celebrate 75 years of research, education, vaccines and breakthroughs made possible by the efforts of the March of Dimes Foundation.
On January 3, 1938, during a time when the infectious disease known as polio was on the rise, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who personally struggled with polio himself, created the organization called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The commonly known name today, March of Dimes, came about because of public fundraising efforts to collect dimes for support – with the nonprofit organization first being renamed March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation in 1976, and later shortened to March of Dimes Foundation in 2007.
You can learn more about the March of Dimes by visiting their website at www.marchofdimes.org – where their mission is posted as "We help moms have full-term pregnancies and research the problems that threaten the health of babies."
Further background on the March of Dimes Foundation below is provided by the United States Mint in conjunction with the release of the commemorative coins (the sales from which allow The March of Dimes to receive $10 from each silver dollar sold once the mint’s costs are recovered).
"The Foundation established patient aid programs and funded research for polio vaccines developed by Drs. Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin. Tested in a massive field trial in 1954 that involved 1.8 million schoolchildren known as “polio pioneers,” the Salk vaccine was licensed for use on April 12, 1955, as “safe, effective, and potent.” The Salk and Sabin polio vaccines ultimately ended the polio epidemics in the United States.
With its original mission accomplished, the Foundation turned its focus to preventing birth defects, prematurity, and infant mortality in 1958. It began to fund research into the genetic, prenatal, and environmental causes of more than 3,000 birth defects. The Foundation's investment in research has led to 13 scientists winning the Nobel Prize since 1954.
Since its founding, the March of Dimes has advocated for the passage of legislation critical to maternal and child health at both the federal and state levels, such as the Birth Defects Prevention Act, Children's Health Act, PREEMIE Act, and Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act. The organization actively supports programs and funding related to prematurity prevention, newborn screening, birth defects, access to health insurance and health care, tobacco cessation, and many more issues that promote healthy pregnancies and healthy babies."
The obverse design of the March of Dimes Silver Dollar Commemorative Coin represents the organization’s past, with profile views of two leaders in the fight against polio, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dr. Jonas Salk. Inscriptions include LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and 2015. The reverse of the coin depicts a baby cuddled in the hand of a parent, representing the foundation’s dedication to the health of all babies. The inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $1, MARCH OF DIMES and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Support the March of Dimes Foundation and commemorate their efforts by adding 2015 March of Dimes Silver Dollars to your collection today.
