2020-P Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 440,771 made
- Mintage
- 440,771
- 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 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-P Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar rare?
- Yes. Only 440,771 were made, 15th lowest of the 58 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 2020-P 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 P, for Philadelphia.
- How many 2020-P Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale Innovation Dollar coins were made?
- 440,771.
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 (438,209 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-P Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale
Philadelphia made 440,771 of the Connecticut: Gerber Variable Scale innovation dollar. That was the biggest Philadelphia run of the 4 designs issued in 2020; South Carolina: Septima Clark had the smallest at 432,850.
Denver struck a similar number of the same design (438,209), so neither mint's version is much harder to find.
Across the whole program it sits 6th of 29 Philadelphia designs by mintage, where the scarcest is Mississippi: First human lung transplant at 399,275.
More on the 2020-P
At 440,771 coins, the 2020-P Connecticut was the biggest of all eight 2020 Innovation dollars, counting both mints. That sounds impressive until you see how tightly the year was bunched. The smallest 2020 issue, the Denver South Carolina, came in at 397,800, so every coin of the year sits within about 43,000 of the others. Being the largest of the year doesn't make this one common in everyday life, since none of them went out through banks.
H. Joseph Gerber came to the United States from Austria as a teenage refugee in 1940 and later turned his scale into the foundation of a manufacturing business in Connecticut. It's an unusual subject for a dollar coin: an engineer's drafting tool instead of a famous consumer invention, which makes this one people often ask about. Philadelphia coins straight from Mint rolls are usually bright, so look for unbroken luster in the open field around the scale and on the Statue of Liberty side. Face value or a small premium covers almost every example you'll see.
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 | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | "P" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 440,771 |
| 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.