The United States Mint is honoring the contributions of 19th-century abolitionist and feminist activist Harriet Tubman with a commemorative coin program in her name.
“Harriet Tubman was a trailblazer and a pioneer,” said Ventris C. Gibson, the first Black female director of the U.S. Mint, to The Informer. “She led people to freedom 13 times and never lost anyone.”
Gibson’s reference to Tubman comes as September was noted as International Underground Railroad Month, honoring the series of homes, churches and public places that served to shelter Black people seeking freedom from slavery throughout the U.S. in the 19th century. The Harriet Tubman Commemorative Coin Program is designed to honor Tubman for her bravery, sacrifice and leadership during slavery, the Civil War and afterwards fighting for people’s rights.
The U.S. Mint’s program is not to be confused with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s effort on having Tubman’s likeness on the $20 bill, starting in 2030. Tubman will replace former U.S. President Andrew Jackson’s portrait on the bill and will be the first Black and first woman honored in that manner.
Tubman’s Story
Tubman was born a slave as Araminta “Minty” Ross on a Dorchester County, Maryland plantation, around 1822.
Tubman freed herself from slavery in 1849 with the help of the Underground Railroad Network. Though she found freedom in Pennsylvania, she braved the perilous journey repeatedly, returning to Maryland 13 times over the next decade to personally guide about 70 people from slavery to freedom.
She provided instructions to approximately 70 additional people who found their way to freedom on their own. Despite laws that put her life at risk and made the journey increasingly dangerous and long, Tubman stated at a women’s suffrage convention in 1896 that she “never lost a passenger” as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
In 1862, Tubman joined the Union Army as a nurse. She served in multiple roles, including as an Army scout and spy.
Tubman proved an exceptional leader, recruiting newly freed men into regiments of Black soldiers. She became the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil War, the Combahee River Raid.
The raid resulted in the freedom of more than 700 enslaved people in South Carolina.
After the Civil War, Harriet Tubman spent the remaining 54 years of her life living in Auburn, New York. There, she continued to work to provide the means necessary to care for newly freed enslaved people, including the young and elderly.
She gave speeches in support of women’s suffrage, civil rights, and access to health care – not only for African Americans but for all people. Tubman was also active in the AME Zion Church.
She died on March 10, 1913, in Auburn.
Details of the Coin Program
The coin program celebrates the bicentennial of Tubman’s birth through the Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act, enacted by the U.S. Congress directing the U.S. Mint to issue coins as part of the program.
The Tubman Coin Program is a limited edition and ceases operation on Dec. 31. Gibson said the set can be purchased individually or as a set.
There are three specific Tubman coins. There is the Silver Dollar Coin that portrays Tubman as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The Half-Dollar Coin reflects Tubman’s service during the Civil War, featuring her with a spyglass, symbolizing her work with the Union Army.
The $5 Gold Coin depicts Tubman in her later years as a proud activist.
Surcharges from the sale of each coin support two Tubman-related nonprofits, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn.
Gibson said presently, about $1 million has been raised from the coins.
Other African Americans on U.S. Currency
Tubman joins other noted African Americans on U.S. currency. The late author-poetess Maya Angelou’s likeness was placed on an edition of quarters in recent years, becoming the first Black woman to be featured in such a manner, according to a February 18, 2022, article written in Rutgers magazine by Magaret McHugh.
“This is a big deal!” said Ruth Anne Robbins, distinguished clinical professor of law at Rutgers Law School in Camden, New Jersey. “The design of money is deliberately tied to marking parts of history. We have to have diversity to show it from all dimensions.”
Angelou was part of the American Women Quarters Program highlighting female achievers.
African Americans, including Tuskegee University Principal Booker T. Washington and major league baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, have been featured on coins, but most often, those were collectibles, not coins in general circulation. Jazz musician Duke Ellington was the first to appear prominently on a circulating coin, the quarter honoring the District, released a few years ago.
“Having Black Americans on commemorative coins isn’t the same because they are not in circulation, so most people aren’t seeing them,” Robbins said.
In 2022, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said diversity in currency was important in an internal Black History Month message.
“We know that putting Dr. Angelou on the quarter is just the beginning of the work ahead to make our currency and coinage reflect the totality of the diversity of this country, including placing Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill,” Yellen said, according to a February 13, 2022 article in The Griot.
Azie Taylor Morton was the Treasurer of the United States during the Carter administration from September 12, 1977, to January 20, 1981. She remains the only Black person to hold that office, and her signature was printed on U.S. currency during her tenure.
Gibson on Tubman and Program
In 2022, Gibson was confirmed as the 40th director of the U.S. Mint by the U.S. Senate. She served as its deputy director prior to her presidential appointment.
She said she believes the Tubman coin program is special.
“Black history is American history,” she said. “She accomplished what she did against overwhelming odds.”
Gibson, 68, emphasized Tubman’s success as a “conductor” even though she was subject to frequent blackouts due to a head injury caused by a metal object thrown by a white man for another slave that hit her when she was a girl.
Tubman’s life can be a model for young people, said Gibson.
“Harriet Tubman’s life is an example of [the message]: you can achieve your passion,” she said. “You can do what you are called to do. It is important to appreciate those who risked their lives so that you can have freedom, liberty and justice. We can persevere. Don’t ever give up.”