2020-P Massachusetts: Telephone Innovation Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 436,750 made
- Mintage
- 436,750
- 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-P Massachusetts: Telephone 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-P Massachusetts: Telephone Innovation Dollar rare?
- Yes. Only 436,750 were made, 11th lowest of the 58 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 2020-P Massachusetts: Telephone 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 P, for Philadelphia.
- How many 2020-P Massachusetts: Telephone Innovation Dollar coins were made?
- 436,750.
What to check on your 2020-P
- Make sure the mint mark really is a P. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 2020-D (436,825 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 Massachusetts: Telephone 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-P Massachusetts: Telephone
Philadelphia made 436,750 of the Massachusetts: Telephone innovation dollar. Among the 4 designs of 2020 it was the second smallest Philadelphia run, between South Carolina: Septima Clark (432,850) and Maryland: Hubble Space Telescope (438,700).
Denver struck a similar number of the same design (436,825), so neither mint's version is much harder to find.
Across the whole program it's one of the Philadelphia designs made in the smallest numbers, 4th from the bottom of 29.
More on the 2020-P
Philadelphia's 436,750 Massachusetts dollars put it second lowest among the four Philadelphia issues of 2020, ahead only of South Carolina at 432,850. Denver's version of the same design came in only 75 pieces higher, one of the closest matches between the two mints anywhere in the program. If you want the pair, neither half will be harder to track down than the other.
Bell's first successful call, to his assistant Thomas Watson in March 1876, was made in his Boston workshop, which is the link that earned the telephone its place on the Massachusetts coin. Emily Damstra's design keeps it simple, with the dial filling the center and plenty of open field around it. That open space is the weak point on a Philadelphia coin from a bag, since every scuff shows. Hold yours at an angle under a single light and look for a smooth, unbroken sheen. Most examples are worth face value or a small premium; only a top certified grade earns more.
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 Massachusetts: Telephone design
Massachusetts honors the telephone, which Alexander Graham Bell developed in Boston and patented in 1876. Bell's device turned the human voice into electrical signals that could travel over a wire and be converted back into sound. The reverse shows the dial of an early rotary telephone, with the inscriptions TELE-PHONE and MASSACHUSETTS. Emily Damstra designed the coin and Eric David Custer sculpted it. Telephone networks soon spread across the country, reshaping business and daily communication.
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 | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | "P" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 436,750 |
| 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.