Time For Change: U.S. Mint Unveils Designs For Negro Leagues Commemorative Coins
Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 02:24PM By Barry Janoff
November 11, 2021: The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the United States Mint have unveiled designs for the 2022 Negro Leagues Baseball Commemorative Coin Program.
The program was approved last September as part of the Negro Leagues Centennial Celebration.
The U.S. Mint will issue a $5 gold coin, $1 silver coin and a half dollar clad coin, with scheduled 2022 release date to be determined.
Money raised after the cost of making the coins will go to the Museum, located in Kansas City, MO.
“The Negro Leagues Baseball Commemorative Coin Program will celebrate the rich history of African-American baseball and its impact on the social advancement of America,” Ventris Gibson, U.S. Mint acting director, said via the bureau of the Department of the Treasury.
“We hope this program will assist the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in its mission to promote tolerance, diversity and inclusion.”
The $5 Gold Coin obverse (heads) design features a portrait of Negro National League founder Rube Foster with his signature. Inscriptions include “Negro Leagues Baseball.”
The $5 Gold Coin reverse (tails) design depicts the “gesture of tipping one’s cap, an important sign of respect for players.” Inscriptions include “Their Legacy Plays On.”
The $1 Silver Coin obverse depicts a pitcher in mid-throw with the baseball in the foreground and baseball stitching as a border. The reverse has a player’s eye view of a pitch being thrown to the catcher.
The Half Dollar Clad Coin obverse depicts a Negro Leagues tour bus that “served as their home on the road when players were refused entry to hotels and restaurants”; and a batter who “exemplifies the determination to play the game he loves, regardless of challenging circumstances.”
The reverse shows a group of five Negro Leagues Baseball players.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Commemorative Coin Program follows a series of moves intended to raise awareness and boost prominence for the Negro Leagues and players.
Last month, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum said Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues candidates would be eligible for Hall of Fame consideration for the first time in 15 years. The players will be named in December.
In 1971, Leroy "Stachel" Paige, became the first player whose primary pro baseball career was in the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The last time players from the Negro Leagues were inducted into the Hall of Fame was 2006.
Last year, as a culmination of celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the founding of baseball’s Negro Leagues, MLB said that seven professional Negro Leagues which operated between 1920-1948 would be granted Major League status.
The move means that some 3,400 players who participated in the Negro Leagues during that time period are “officially considered Major Leaguers, with their stats and records becoming a part of Major League history.”
“All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said at the time via the league.
The seven leagues are: the Negro National League (I) (1920-31), Eastern Colored League (1923-28), American Negro League (1929), East-West League (1932), Negro Southern League (1932), Negro National League (II) (1933-48) and the Negro American League (1937-48). 
Players in the Hall of Fame based on their career in the Negro Leagues also include James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell, Oscar Charleston, Martín Dihigo, Rube Foster, Josh Gibson, Monte Irvin, Judy Johnson, Buck Leonard, Pop Lloyd, John "Buck" O’Neil and “Bullet” Joe Rogan.
The on-sale date for products in the Negro Leagues Baseball Commemorative Coin Program will be published on the Mint’s Product Schedule.
All designs were created by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program Designers and sculpted by United States Mint Medallic Artists.
When available, the Mint will accept orders via a dedicated page on its Web site.
Baseball Hall To Nominate, Induct Negro League Candidates
MLB Adding Negro League Stats To Official Records
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