Coming Soon: United States Mint 2020 Women’s Suffrage Centennial Silver Dollar and Silver Medal

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees the right of American Women to vote. It was passed in 1920. To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the passage of this hard-fought, landmark amendment, the U.S. Mint is releasing two issues of particular interest for collectors: the Women’s Suffrage Silver Dollar coin and the limited mintage Women’s Suffrage Silver Medal.

Women’s Suffrage Centennial Silver Dollar

The obverse design on the coin features the three different women wearing different attire. The various hats obliquely reference that the struggle for Women’s Suffrage spanned over many decades. The woman in the foreground is wearing an art deco hat that features a button marked with the year 1920, the year that the 19th Amendment was adopted. The inscriptions “LIBERTY,” “$1” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM” surround the image of the women.

The reverse design features a ballot box with a ballot marked “2020” being deposited. The design on the box features art deco elements, further referencing 1920. The inscriptions “VOTES FOR WOMEN” “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “IN GOD WE TRUST” appear on the ballot box. Christina Hess of the U.S. Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program designed both the obverse and reverse of the coin. The U.S. Mint’s Phebe Hemphill engraved both sides of the coin.

The coin will be struck in both Proof quality and the standard collector finish on .999 fine silver planchets weighing 26.73 grams.

Women’s Suffrage Centennial Medal

The obverse of the medal features women’s hands and arms, pushing up what appears to be an immense “cornerstone” from a building’s foundation. The inscription “WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE CENTENNIAL” seems as if engraved on the stone. The obverse was designed by the Artistic Infusion Program’s Beth Zaiken and inscribed by the U.S. Mint’s Renata Gordon.

The reverse of the medal features a stylized depiction of the American flag. The text from the 19th Amendment: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” the year “1920” appears in the stripes of the flag. It was designed by Artistic Infusion Program’s Patricia Lucas-Morris and engraved by the U. S. Mint’s Renata Gordon.

Women’s Suffrage Centennial Set

The 99.9% pure silver medal will only be available in the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Proof Silver Dollar and Medal Set, which has a production limit of 10,000 sets.

A Brief Overview of the 19th Amendment

The Seneca Falls Convention, which occurred in 1848, is widely considered to be the birth of the Women’s Suffrage movement. Over the second half of the 19th Century, the movement gained momentum and spawned several notable groups fighting for voting rights and equal rights for women and others. Various states and municipalities granted women the limited right to vote, but no national consensus was reached.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party was the first political party to support Universal Women’s Suffrage in 1912. It wasn’t until 1918 that both major parties supported equal voting rights. After some wrangling in Congress, the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920.