African-Americans on US Coins: Circulating Coins (Part 3) By
Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek ….. In the past
two articles, Hubert and I have catalogued the history of
African-American representation on U.S. commemorative coins. But
commemorative coinage is a niche product of the Mint and has
rarely been widely distributed. Today, very few people outside
of the numismatic community are even aware that African-
Americans have ever graced our national coinage. In part three
of our series, we tear down the veil of secrecy and reveal the
identity of the model behind our most famous circulating coin,
an African-American model that one notable sculptor compared to
a “goddess”. We take a look at a mysterious third man, who
appeared on a canoe alongside two famous explorers, as well as
Washington D.C.’s favorite son, a Jazz musician whose music
broke racial and cultural barriers. We also take a look at what
might have been, telling the story of a black aviatrix whose
daring exploits captivating Americans