2017-06-17 Sat

The CFA- suggests 2019 Native American dollar reverse design featuring mathematician Mary Golda Ross and astronaut John Herrington, among others.

Since the reverse of the 2019Native American dollar coin had too many endorsements from several groups, the Commission of Fine Arts Chairman Earl A. Powell didn’t like the design.

However, U.S. Mint Sculptor found an easy way out and suggested ways in which the design could be simplified. The conclusion was that the group’s wishes were accepted.

That vote seemed to symbolise how far the commission was willing to go to meet the demands of groups that had helped the U.S. Mint create designs for the new six coins reviewed at the CFA’s meeting.

The 2019 Native American dollar will acknowledge contributions made by the Native Americans for the space program.

Mary Golda Ross, a Cherokee is a key contributor among others, who is considered to be the first female Native American engineer, according to the Mint. Ross helped develop the Agena spacecraft for the Gemini and Apollo programs.

She is featured in the design, working on math calculation and in the backdrop an Atlas-Agena rocket roars into space, with an equation embedded in a cloudy exhaust. In addition, NASA Astronaut John Herrington, another Native American, was shown in a spacewalk overhead, along with a smattering of stars.

Too much, agreed Everhart. He suggested removing some of the stars and changing the rocket’s size. On the other hand, Elizabeth K. Meyer, vice chairman of the panel, suggested adding a phrase about Native Americans in space.

With all those suggested changes, the Commission endorsed the proposed design.

The recommendations of the Native American groups were also considered for the endorsed reverse design for the 2020 Native American dollar.

An Alaskan woman was honoured by the commission after she led the fight for one of the country’s first anti-discrimination laws. Elizabeth Peratrovich, a member of the Tlingit Nation, pressed the Alaska Territorial government in 1945 to bring the law into effect. The design endorsed by the Commission shows a portrait of her and the symbol for the Tlingit raven moiety of which she was a member.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, the commission took two steps forward, issuing a set of four curved coins in 2019. The set will consist of a gold $5 coin, a silver dollar, a copper-nickel clad half dollar and a Proof 5-ounce silver dollar, the first such commemorative coin of that weight.

The law sanctioning those coins requires that all four share a common reverse that is based on a photograph taken of Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon.

The photo shows a reflection in the mirror visor Aldrin wore. It shows the lunar lander, an American flag and astronaut Neil Armstrong.

After the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had endorsed the third set of drawings, some members of the Commission were of the opinion that the lander appeared to be distorted.

Commission Secretary Thomas Luebke noted that the staff would prefer that the value of the coin be spelt out and not be numerals.

Edward D. Dunson and Liza Gilbert, and assistant secretary Frederick J. Lindstrom will sit on a jury that will select the obverse designs for the 2019 Apollo 11 coin set.