American Innovation coin – Connecticut

Every year till 2033, the U.S. mint will release 4 coins honoring the spirit of American Innovation. These will depict the ‘Statue of Liberty’ design on the obverse and a new reverse design for each coin every year to honor an innovation from each state or territory.

The American Innovation coin from Connecticut is the 5th coin in the American Innovation series and the 1st for this year. The coin will be a Reverse Proof finish where the background will be frosted, and the design elements will have a mirror-like finish. The coin honors Heinz Joseph Gerber’s contribution to the world of computer automation in the manufacturing sector.

Heinz Joseph Gerber

"Quicker done than said – Heinz Joseph Gerber”. This was the philosophy that Gerber lived by too. Known as the ‘Thomas Edison of Manufacturing’, Gerber fled from war-torn Austria in 1940 with his mother and landed in New York with just the clothes on his back. They moved to Hartford, Connecticut to work in the tobacco fields. Gerber was a child prodigy and was building radios while he was as young as 8. In Hartford, he finished high school within two years while also working part-time. He then joined the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical engineering. In his junior year he invented the Gerber Variable Scale which was later mass produced by his company - Gerber Scientific Instrument Company. The Variable scale became a quick and efficient tool in stress-strain analysis and architectural design.

Gerber also invented the Gerber GraphAnalogue, Gerber Derivimeter, Gerber Equameter, and other computational devices and systems that were revolutionary in the fields of engineering, in apparel, footwear and textile industry, in printing, sign-making and out-door graphics, in the packaging and labeling industry, and so many other industries.

The Design

The first American Innovation coin this year honors the innovation from Connecticut; the Variable Scale from Heinz Joseph Gerber. The reverse design depicts the Gerber Variable Scale being used to increase a geometric shape by 200 percent, a shape which resembles the State of Connecticut. The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “GERBER VARIABLE SCALE,” and “CONNECTICUT.” The obverse design features a dramatic representation of the Statue of Liberty in profile with the inscriptions “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “$1.” The obverse also includes a privy mark of a stylized gear, representing industry and innovation. The edge-incused inscriptions are “2020,” “S” mint mark, and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”