2020-05-20 Wed

The United States of America had issued this $1 coin with the theme of Native Americans in the year 2017. This commemorative coin was issued by the United States of America to commemorate Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee Syllabary.

Sequoyah is often spelled as Cherokee, he was was a Native American polymath of the Cherokee Nation. In the year 1821, he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible. He adapted this writing to the Cherokee language by devising symbols for each syllable. During that time it was one of the very few recorded histories that a member of pre-literate people created an original, effective writing system. His achievement is one of a handful of examples in world history regarding the development of an original writing system. After this invention, many people of the Cherokee Nation rapidly began to use his syllabary and officially adopted it in 1825. Their literacy rate quickly surpassed that of surrounding European-American settlers.

The obverse of this coin depicts the portrait of ‘Sacagawea’ with the inscription ‘LIBERTY’ at the top and ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ at the left side of the coin. The reverse of this coin depicts the profile of Sequoyah writing “Sequoyah from Cherokee Nation” in syllabary along the border of the design.

Image Courtesy: usmint.gov