U.S. Mint Shows 2028 American Innovation $1 Candidate Designs

Candidate designs have been published for the four 2028 American Innovation $1 coins, with proposed reverses highlighting innovations and innovators from Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The themes focus on center-pivot irrigation in Nebraska, the Pueblo Chile in Colorado, unmanned aircraft systems in North Dakota, and the Dupree family’s efforts to help save the American buffalo in South Dakota.

The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) reviewed the portfolios Sept. 17, and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee  (CCAC) is scheduled to consider them Oct. 6. Recommendations from both panels are advisory, with final designs selected by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Authorized by the American Innovation $1 Coin Act (Public Law 115-197), the program began in 2018 and honors innovations and innovators from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Four new reverse designs are issued each year, while all coins share the same Statue of Liberty obverse.

Nebraska — Center-Pivot Irrigation

Nebraska’s candidates recognize center-pivot irrigation, an agricultural innovation developed by Frank Zybach that transformed how water could be delivered efficiently across large fields.

Zybach’s system used elevated irrigation pipes mounted on wheeled towers that rotated around a central pivot, reducing the labor required by earlier irrigation methods and producing the circular field patterns now familiar across agricultural regions.

The proposed reverses show center-pivot equipment operating across Nebraska farmland, with corn and soybeans incorporated into the designs.

Colorado — Pueblo Chile

Colorado’s candidate reverses celebrate the Pueblo Chile, particularly the Mosco variety, which emerged from generations of chile cultivation in the Arkansas River Valley and has become closely tied to the state’s agricultural and culinary identity.

The modern Mosco Pueblo Chile was developed through the work of Colorado State University vegetable crop specialist Dr. Michael Bartolo and his team at the Arkansas Valley Research Center. The variety is known for its large, thick-walled peppers and distinctive upright growth.

Candidate designs depict Pueblo Chile plants and harvested peppers in several settings, including compositions incorporating Colorado’s mountainous landscape and imagery reflecting the chile’s role in cultural traditions such as the Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival.

North Dakota — Unmanned Aircraft Systems

North Dakota’s design portfolio highlights its development of unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, through aviation research, education and statewide infrastructure.

The state is home to the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, while the University of North Dakota has played a prominent role in UAS education and research. North Dakota also developed Vantis, a statewide network supporting beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations through radar, communications and other aviation infrastructure.

The candidate reverses feature several types of unmanned aircraft along with imagery representing the networks and infrastructure that support their operation. Some designs emphasize the technology’s national reach, while others show its connection to rural North Dakota and services provided to communities.

South Dakota — Dupree Family and American Buffalo

South Dakota’s proposed designs honor Frederick Dupree, Mary Good Elk Woman (Hehaka Waste Win) and their family for their early efforts to help save the American bison, commonly called buffalo, from extinction.

Beginning in the 1880s, the Dupree family captured and raised buffalo near Cherry Creek, South Dakota, as the species’ population had fallen dramatically across the Great Plains. Their herd expanded over the following years and later contributed to the lineage of the Custer State Park herd and other conservation herds.

Design candidates portray the Dupree family, buffalo and the South Dakota landscape, reflecting both the family’s conservation work and the animal’s importance to Lakota culture and Great Plains history.

Common Obverse and Edge Inscriptions

All American Innovation dollars share a common obverse designed by Justin Kunz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. It features a profile of the Statue of Liberty with the inscriptions IN GOD WE TRUST and $1.

Since 2019, the obverse has also carried a stylized gear privy mark symbolizing industry and innovation, with its appearance changing slightly each year.

Incused edge inscriptions show the year of issue, the mint mark of the production facility and E PLURIBUS UNUM.