When you can buy Harriet Tubman coins in 2024

According to the U.S. Mint’s 2024 product schedule, the coins will be available beginning at noon Jan. 4. 

The U.S. Mint will sell up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins and 750,000 clad half-dollar coins. Buyers will pay a $35 surcharge for the gold coins, $10 for the silver coins and $5 for the half-dollar coins. 

The proceeds from the surcharges will benefit the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. 

It was nearly four years ago that former U.S. Rep. John Katko, along with U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, introduced the Harriet Tubman Commemorative Coin Act. The purpose of the coins is to celebrate Tubman’s 200th birthday, which was in 2022. The initial version of the bill would’ve directed the funds to Project Legacy, a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn. 

When Katko and Meeks reintroduced the bill in 2021, the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati replaced Project Legacy as the beneficiaries of the coin surcharges. Katko’s former congressional district included the city of Auburn. 

Congress passed the legislation and it was signed by President Joe Biden in August 2022. 

The U.S. Mint began the process to finalize the design of the coins this year. There were several proposals considered, with the final designs selected in July. The coins were designed by members of the U.S. Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program, while the Mint’s Medallic Artists handled the sculpting. 

The observe of the coins feature Tubman’s likeness. The reverse side of the coins recognize some of Tubman’s major roles, including her work as an abolitionist and leading the Combahee River raid during the Civil War. 

The coins won’t affect the U.S. Treasury’s plans to make Tubman the new face of the $20 bill, replacing former President Andrew Jackson. But the redesigned $20 bill isn’t expected to be released until 2030.