Approved obverse and reverse designs for the 2021 Christa McAuliffe commemorative silver dollar have been published by the U.S. Mint.
No issue date remains posted on the Mint’s 2021 numismatic merchandise schedule.
McAuliffe was the first teacher astronaut and a few of the crew of seven members killed when the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into the flight on Jan. 28, 1986.
The enabling act, Public Law 116-65, calls for the creation and launch of 350,000 silver bucks together with Proof and Uncirculated finishes.
Both versions of the commemorative silver dollar are scheduled to be hit at the Philadelphia Mint and bear the facility’s P Mint mark.
Coin designs
The approved coin designs are the favored by the McAuliffe household.
The silver dollar’s obverse was created by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Designer Laurie J. Musser and sculpted by United States Mint Medallic Artist Phebe Hemphill.
The obverse design features a portrait of McAuliffe”using a hopeful gaze and the inscriptions CHRISTA McAULIFFE, 2021, LIBERTY, and IN GOD WE TRUST.
The accepted reverse was designed by AIP Designer Emily Damstra and sculpted by Chief Engraver Joseph F. Menna.
Damstra’s design depicts McAuliffe”as a teacher, smiling as she points forward and upward, representing the future. Three large school-age pupils look on with wonder. The seven stars pay tribute to those who died in the Challenger tragedy.
Around the border are the inscriptions that I TOUCH THE FUTURE. / I TEACH., E PLURIBUS UNUM, 1 DOLLAR, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
The very first organization logo is included in the plan. To begin with, a New Hampshire based organization named by the acronym for”For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” based in 1989, promotes interest in science and engineering among youth.
McAuliffe was a social studies teacher at Concord High School in Concord, New Hampshire. In 1985, McAuliffe was chosen to be the first participant in NASA’s Teacher in Space program.
Each coin will carry a $10 surcharge in its purchase price. Net surcharges, after the U.S. Mint recoups all creation and related costs, are to be paid to the FIRST robotics program, with the intention of engaging and inspiring young men and women, through mentor-based applications, to become pioneers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
