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The U.S. Mint releases new commemorative coins honoring Harriet Tubman
The U.S. Mint has released the 2024 Harriet Tubman Silver Dollar as part of the Harriet Tubman Commemorative Coin Program. The coins include $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half-dollar coins honoring the bicentennial of her birth.
U.S. Mint
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U.S. Mint
The U.S. Mint has released the 2024 Harriet Tubman Silver Dollar as part of the Harriet Tubman Commemorative Coin Program. The coins include $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half-dollar coins honoring the bicentennial of her birth.
U.S. Mint
Three commemorative coins featuring famed abolitionist and human rights activist Harriet Tubman have now been released to the public, the U.S. Mint said.
The coins, which were released Thursday as part of the Harriet Tubman Commemorative Coin Program, include $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half-dollar coins that honor the bicentennial of her birth.
The designs featured on the coins follow the three periods of Tubman’s life and her work as an abolitionist and social activist.
“Every coin produced by the United States Mint helps to tell a story that teaches us about America’s history or connects us to a special memory,” U.S. Mint Director Ventris Gibson said in a statement.
Gibson signed 250 Certificates of Authenticity for the 2024 Harriet Tubman Three-Coin Proof Set, which will be randomly inserted into unmarked sets, the U.S. Mint said.
“We hope this program will honor the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman and inspire others to learn more about this amazing woman,” Gibson said.
The silver dollar design portrays Tubman’s time as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. The half-dollar design showcases Tubman holding a spyglass in front of a row of Civil War-era tents, symbolizing her work as a scout and spy for the Union Army during the Civil War.
The $5 gold coin design represents Tubman’s life after the Civil War, as she is shown “gazing confidently into the distance and towards the future,” the U.S. Mint said in its description.
The release of Tubman’s commemorative coin comes on the heels of continuous efforts by some lawmakers to replace President Andrew Jackson with the abolitionist on the $20 bill, after previous attempts to do so failed.
Last June, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, introduced the “Woman on the Twenty Act of 2023” bill, which would require all U.S. $20 bills printed after December 31, 2026, to feature a portrait of Tubman on the front face of the bill.
The Biden administration announced in January 2021 that it would resume efforts to redesign the $20 bill to feature Tubman, saying they were “exploring ways to speed up that effort.”
So far, there have been no updates from the administration on the progress of the bill’s redesign.
In April 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that Tubman’s portrait would be on a redesigned $20 note, to be unveiled in 2020. The image of Jackson, a slaveholder, would be moved to the bill’s reverse side.
However, the initiative made little progress under the Trump administration.
Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland around 1822. She later married John Tubman, a free Black man, around 1844 and changed her name from Araminta to Harriet. She escaped slavery in 1849 and helped many others to freedom.
US negotiators to head to Pakistan and Iranian cargo ship seized – a recappublished at 00:37 BST 20 April
Tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday
Here’s a recap of the latest developments.
US negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday with the intention of holding further talks on ending the war, Trump says – but Iranian state media cites unnamed officials as saying Tehran has “no plans for now to participate”.
The prospect of further high-level negotiations – a White House official says Vice-President JD Vance will attend – comes amid reports of fresh attacks on commercial vessels.
Trump says the navy intercepted and took “custody” of an Iranian tanker attempting to pass through the US blockade, “blowing a hole” in the ship’s engine room in the process.
Earlier, in the same post announcing his representatives would travel for more talks, Trump renewed his threat to destroy Iranian energy sites and bridges if no deal is reached.
Reports in Iranian media over the weekend suggest Iran is continuing to work on plans to potentially apply a toll to ships passing through the strait – although it’s unclear if such a move will be implemented.
Iranian state TV cites unnamed officials as saying that “continuation of the so-called naval blockade, violation of the ceasefire and threatening US rhetoric” are slowing progress in reaching an agreement.
Trump also accused Iran of violating the ceasefire, saying more commercial ships have been attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
A UK maritime agency reported two commercial ships came under fire in the strait on Saturday.
Iran’s foreign minister had said on Friday that the strait would be opened – which was shortly followed by Trump saying the US naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place until a deal is reached. Iran has since said the strait is closed again.
new video loaded: 8 Children Killed in Louisiana Shooting, Police Say
By Christina Kelso
April 19, 2026
An aerial view shows damage from a tornado, on Saturday in Lena, Ill.
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Communities across the Upper Midwest are cleaning up after tornadoes and severe weather impacted the region over the weekend, damaging and destroying dozens of homes and knocking out power for tens of thousands.
“Numerous” severe storms were tracked across parts of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. At least 66 tornado reports were submitted in multiple states including Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Iowa, the NWS Quad Cities IA/IL office said Sunday.
No deaths have been reported from the severe weather and tornado outbreak.
In Marion Township in Minnesota, about 30 homes were damaged and a dozen have significant damage because of a tornado, according to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office. The tornado also damaged at least 20 homes in Stewartville and there is a temporary shelter in Rochester for people displaced by the storms, according to MPR News.
“Tornado disaster recovery continues to occur at full speed,” the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said on Saturday.
In Illinois, McClean County officials declared a disaster emergency because of severe storms in Bloomington. “At this time, no injuries have been reported, and emergency response agencies remain actively engaged to ensure public safety and continuity of essential services,” officials said in a statement.
But further north in the village of Lena, an EF-2 tornado caused the “most significant damage” where “many homes and outbuildings were damaged, trees uprooted, and power lines downed,” the NWS said. Numerous roads have also been blocked by debris, the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Office also said.
People continue to clean up following a tornado, on Saturday in Lena, Ill.
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There have been no fatalities and no reports of serious injuries associated with the storm, Chief Deputy Andy Schroeder from the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Office told NPR on Sunday.
More than 43,000 customers lost power in Illinois but power was restored to almost all of them by Saturday night, according to electric utility ComEd.
Several tornadoes also occurred across Wisconsin, according to the NWS office in La Crosse. Twenty-six tornado warnings were issued by the office on Friday, the most in one day since the weather service office was built in 1995.
In one Marathon County town, 75 homes were destroyed by a tornado, according to Ringle Fire Chief Chris Kielman.
“It took out a whole residential area,” Kielman said, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
The American Red Cross of Wisconsin said volunteers are helping those impacted by the storm with meals, shelter and support.
Parts of the state are still dealing with multiple rounds of severe weather and tornadoes from earlier in the week that brought flooding to some communities.
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