From Coin World:
2021 American Innovation dollars, bearing reverses representing New Hampshire, Virginia, New York and North Carolina, were released April 7 by the United States Mint. Bags and rolls of the first of four 2021 American Innovation dollars struck in circulation quality are scheduled to be offered for sale as numismatic products on June 8 by the Mint. The American Innovation, New Hampshire dollar will be the first release.
The New Hampshire dollar reverse recognizes Ralph Baer and his creation of the first in-home video game console. The design depicts Baer’s brown box game. The left side of the coin features NEW HAMPSHIRE and PLAYER 1 on an incuse background. IN-HOME VIDEO GAME SYSTEM and RALPH BAER encircle the outside of the coin in a text that is meant to pay homage to Ralph Baer’s Odyssey game. The design of the coin is also symbolic of an arcade token. The design was created by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program Artist Christina Hess and sculpted by Mint Medallic Artist Eric David Custer.
The American Innovation dollars will be offered in 25-coin rolls and 100-coin canvas mini-bags from production at either the Denver Mint or the Philadelphia Mint. The rolls will be offered at $34.95 per roll and the 100-coin bags at $117.95.
None of the dollar coins in the American Innovation Dollar Program will be released by officials for general circulation. The last dollar coin to be issued into general circulation was the 2011 James A Garfield, Presidential dollar. On Dec. 13, 2011, then Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner issued a directive prohibiting officially adding any further dollar coins into commerce channels, because a glut of dollar coins held by the Federal Reserve filled contracted armored carrier vaults.
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While this coin, and the story, are a wonderful tribute to Ralph H. Baer along with his and his team’s inventiveness amid the backdrop of the solid and long running NH tech scene, there is one misdirection in this article; to wit, the seminal game illustrated is tennis, which proved to be the most popular amongst the myriad of initial paddle and ball games. In fact, Ralph’s seminal document which presciently predicted and outlined the future of the video game industry – something he wrote while waiting for a bus heading back to NH on September 1, 1966 – prominently suggests tennis as a cornerstone of what he and his team would ultimately build.