There were many topics of discussion on the table for the June 23rd Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. One of those design discussions was about a silver dollar commemorative being produced in 2021. The results and design favored by the CCAC mirror the same ones recommended by the Commission of Fine Arts on June 18th to Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. The design itself features the late astronaut Christa McAuliffe.
McAuliffe, a high school teacher from New Hampshire, was one of six other United States astronauts that were killed in the takeoff of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28th, 1986. There were a total of 12 obverse designs and 15 reverse designs submitted to the panel for review. Legislation for the silver dollar required the focus to be on McAuliffe as the obverse favored features the first-ever teacher scheduled to go into space in a slightly turned profile view.
The reverse design recommended by the CCAC in conjunction with the family of the late Christa McAuliffe depicts the teacher herself pointing her finger to the stars. Depicted standing beside her are three high-school-aged students eager to share the same knowledge about space exploration.
The Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act of 2019 was officially introduced on January 28th, 2019. It was passed by the Senate on July 19th of the same year and placed on the House floor on September 13th. The House passed the bill, S. 239, on September 19th as President Trump signed the bill into law on October 9th. In addition with the legislation featuring McAuliffe on the silver dollar, surcharges generated by the sale of the silver dollars will be donated to an organization founded in the teacher’s memory called FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
To view all the designs submitted for the Christa McAuliffe Silver Dollar Commemorative Coin, click here.
Source: United States Mint; Coin World
