The U.S. Mint on Friday transferred nearly 3,000 specially struck half dollars to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, a symbolic tribute to the lives lost in the 2001 and 1993 World Trade Center attacks.
The so-called Enduring Liberty Half Dollar carries a privy mark on its obverse reading “9-11-01” and “ALWAYS REMEMBER.” The number of coins—2,983—matches the combined death toll from the September 11, 2001, attacks and the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
Struck at the Mint’s West Point facility, the coins arrive as the nation approaches the 25th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Mint Director Paul Hollis said the coin “is a tangible representation of the strength it took for our nation to look forward, both 250 years ago at its founding, but more poignantly 25 years ago, as the world was changed forever.”
The obverse features a close-up of the Statue of Liberty with the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “IN GOD WE TRUST,” and “1776 ~ 2026.” The reverse shows Liberty passing her torch to a new generation, accompanied by the phrase “KNOWLEDGE IS THE ONLY GUARDIAN OF TRUE LIBERTY.”
A standard version of the Enduring Liberty Half Dollar—without the 9/11 privy mark—entered circulation in January 2026 and will be produced for one year only at the Mint’s Denver and Philadelphia facilities, according to the agency.
The coin program stems from a 2020 law authorizing new designs to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial. That legislation also paved the way for a $1 coin bearing President Trump’s likeness, which sold out within hours of its launch last week, despite a federal statute that generally bars living people from appearing on U.S. currency.
The 9/11 memorial coins come amid broader public reflection on the attacks’ lasting impact. Recent polling suggests that for nearly half of Americans, the events of September 11 remain a defining national moment, even as younger generations have no direct memory of that day.
The Mint’s gesture underscores how the government continues to use numismatics to honor national tragedy and resilience. The special half dollars are not for sale; they were presented as a gift to the memorial museum, where they will be preserved as part of the institution’s collection.
