US Mint commemorating 9/11 with new half-dollar coin

The U.S. Mint presented nearly 3,000 specially marked half dollar coins to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Friday to honor the victims of the 2001 and 1993 World Trade Center attacks.

The Enduring Liberty Half Dollar coins feature a special 9/11 privy mark on the front of the coin that reads “9-11-01” and “ALWAYS REMEMBER.”

The 2,983 coins represent the number of people killed on Sept. 11, 2001, and on Feb. 26, 1993, during the World Trade Center bombing.

The coins were made at the Mint’s West Point facility in New York and delivered as the country marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks on U.S. soil.

“This 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,” Mint Director Paul Hollis said in a statement.

The front of the coin shows a close-up of the Statue of Liberty looking outward, along with the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “IN GOD WE TRUST” AND “1776 ~ 2026.”

The back of the coin depicts Liberty passing her torch to a new generation that includes 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 at the beginning of 2026. It is being produced for one year only at the Mint’s Denver and Philadelphia facilities, according to the Mint.

The coin was authorized under a 2020 law that established new coin designs to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary. A coin with President Trump’s likeness was greenlit earlier this year as part of the celebrations, despite pushback stemming from a federal law prohibiting living people from being depicted on U.S. currency.

The Mint last week launched its $1 Trump coin , releasing 250,000 coins featuring a portrait of the president.