CINCINNATI — Harriet Tubman is one of the newest faces to be seen on American currency, thanks to a bipartisan bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.
What You Need To Know
- The Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act was recently signed into law by President Joe Biden
- A series of coins will be minted with Tubman’s face, in an effort to celebrate her accomplishments and her 200th birthday.
- Tubman was an African American woman who not only helped free slaves through the Underground Railroad, but also a spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War
- The commemorative coins can be purchased between Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024
That bill is the Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act. A series of coins will be minted with her face to celebrate her accomplishments and her 200th birthday.
The creation of the coin is something Cody Hefner, marketing and communications vice president at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, said has been in the works for a year-and-a-half.
“We finally made it across the finish line,” said Hefner. “Now we begin the process of figuring out what these coins are going to look like and how we get these in front of people.”
Tubman was an African American woman who not only helped free slaves through the Underground Railroad, but also was a spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War.
“Minting Harriet Tubman on a U.S. legal coin adds her to this pantheon of American heroes,” he said. “It adds her amongst the George Washingtons, the Abe Lincoln, these individuals that we think of as founders and builders of our country.”
Nearly 1.2 million $5, $1 and half dollar gold and silver coins will be created, but they will need to be purchased, because they’re commemorative coins and aren’t in circulation.
They can be purchased between Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024.
“People are going to use these to commemorative this moment to help honor her legacy.”
The proceeds from coins will go to the Freedom Center and the Harriet Tubman home in New York. Maintaining and updating exhibits are just some ways they plan to spend the money.
“We’ll also using it to look at new exhibits, look at social justices used today,” he said. “How are we taking these lessons of the Underground Railroad and bring them forward to today so that they can inspire a new generation to be conductors of freedom?”
