Uncovering America's Heritage... Coin by Coin

1997 U.S. Botanic Garden Commemorative Silver Dollar

Even with my duties as Mint Police Dog, I still make time for my garden.  And since April is National Gardening Month, it's the perfect time for April's coin of the month.  It honors a great American garden: the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.

What makes a garden "botanic"?  Well, botany is the study of plants, so a botanic garden has greenhouses where people can grow, see, and study all kinds of plants.

The dates on the back of this dollar show the anniversary it celebrates.  Can you figure it out?  The coin says the garden was started in 1820 and the coin was designed in 1995.  How many years would that be?

If you figured 175, you figured right.

And if you figured that it's a beautiful coin, you're right again!  The coin is made mostly of real silver, and the images have lots of detail.  As usual, part of the money that was earned when this coin was sold was used to make the garden bigger and even better.