2020-D Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Denver Mint · 438,209 made
- Mintage
- 438,209
- Metal
- Manganese brass
- Weight
- 8.1 g
- Diameter
- 26.49 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2020-D Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 2020-D Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar rare?
- Yes. Only 438,209 were made, 13th lowest of the 58 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 2020-D Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar silver?
- No. It's manganese brass (88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, 2% nickel). Circulating silver dollars ended with the 1935 Peace dollar. Some Eisenhower dollars with an S mint mark were made in 40% silver for collectors, but circulation Ike dollars are copper-nickel clad.
- Where is the mint mark on a 2020 American Innovation Dollar?
- On the edge, incused with the date. On this coin the mark is D, for Denver.
- How many 2020-D Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar coins were made?
- 438,209.
What to check on your 2020-D
- Make sure the mint mark really is a D. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 2020-P (440,771 made).
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 2020-S Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar Proof (108,400 made) is the one to compare with.
- Judge the grade under good light. These are sold in rolls, bags and sets, so most survive uncirculated. Value depends on luster and freedom from marks.
Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the mint mark and date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 2020-D Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale
Denver made 438,209 of the Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale innovation dollar. That was the biggest Denver run of the 4 designs issued in 2020; South Carolina: Septima Clark had the smallest at 397,800.
Philadelphia struck a similar number of the same design (440,771), so neither mint's version is much harder to find.
Across the whole program it sits 9th of 29 Denver designs by mintage, where the scarcest is Georgia: Trustees' Garden at 368,475.
More on the 2020-D
Connecticut was the fifth state to ratify the Constitution, which is why its coin opened the 2020 Innovation dollars. Denver's run of 438,209 was the largest of the four Denver issues that year, only about 2,500 behind Philadelphia's 440,771 for the same design. With figures that close, the D on the edge matters for completing a set rather than for value.
2020 was a hard year for the Mint. The pandemic cut staffing at the production plants in the spring; later that summer the country ran short of circulating coins. Collector products like this one still shipped in rolls and bags, so the Denver Connecticut never reached cash registers in any number. The design rewards a close look: the expanding guide lines of the scale should be crisp and unbroken on a well struck coin, with any nicks across them easy to spot under a lamp. A clean example is worth face value or a small premium.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 2020
West Point again struck quarters with a W mint mark for circulation, this time on all five 2020 designs.
How to recognize it
The Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale design
The Gerber Variable Scale, invented by H. Joseph Gerber in the 1940s, is the subject of Connecticut's 2020 coin. The handheld device let engineers rescale graphs and measurements quickly, without tedious calculation. Gerber built on its success to found Gerber Scientific in Connecticut, whose automated design and manufacturing systems served many industries. The reverse shows the scale enlarging a geometric shape resembling the outline of Connecticut by 200 percent. Inscriptions read GERBER VARIABLE SCALE and CONNECTICUT.
The American Innovation Dollar design
The obverse shows the Statue of Liberty in profile with IN GOD WE TRUST and $1. Each reverse honors an innovation or innovator from one state or territory, issued in the order the states joined the Union. The date, mint mark and E PLURIBUS UNUM are lettered on the edge, which is where to look for the mint mark.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | American Innovation Dollar (2018–present) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2020 |
| Mint | Denver Mint |
| Mint mark | "D" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 438,209 |
| Face value | $1 |
| Composition | Manganese brass (88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, 2% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.1 grams |
| Diameter | 26.49 mm |
| Edge | Lettered with the date, mint mark and E PLURIBUS UNUM |
| Designer | Various artists |
Other 2020 American Innovation Dollar issues
Mintage: American Innovation dollars (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.