28.  Who in the 'New World' was on the first U.S. Commemorative?  The first U.S. commemorative coin was produced in 1892 for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It featured Christopher Columbus, the man then credited with discovering the "New World." In 2000, another commemorative coin was produced to honor Leif Ericson, whom we now know reached the shores of the New World almost 500 years before Columbus.