OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Bob Ferguson has chosen legendary musician Jimi Hendrix as Washington’s submission to the U.S. Mint American Innovation $1 Coin Program, said Governor Ferguson’s office on Monday.
Washington state’s dollar coin is scheduled for official release in 2029.
The U.S. Mint launched the American Innovation $1 Coin Program in 2019 to honor innovation from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. The program issues four new $1 coins each year through 2032.
To select Washington’s representative, Ferguson designated Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti as the state’s official liaison to the Mint. Pellicciotti created an Innovation Coin Advisory Committee composed of history and innovation leaders, who unanimously submitted five finalists for the governor’s selection.
Born in Seattle in 1947, Hendrix revolutionized electric guitar playing and launched his musical career in his home state, the news release said. He attended Horace Mann Elementary School, Washington Junior High School, and Garfield High School in Seattle, where he played his first musical gig. Hendrix and his band, the Hendrix Experience, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
Music publication Rolling Stone named Hendrix the greatest guitarist of all time in 2023, calling him “a true master of the instrument.” The publication highlighted his influence on musical genres and cultural history before his death in 1970. “He popularized the use of feedback, invented his own fusion of blues and psychedelia and influenced the development of rock, metal, funk and much more,” Stone noted. “In an era when music was still largely racially segregated, the emergence of Hendrix — a Black artist who left white crowds gaping in awe — was a seismic event that obliterated cultural barriers.” Guitarist Carlos Santana praised his artistic scope, noting, “Everyone was using tiny brushes and doing watercolors, while Hendrix was painting galactic scenes in Cinemascope.”
Hendrix was selected from a panel of five finalists approved by the state’s advisory committee. The other finalists included Treaty Rights innovation featuring Billy Frank Jr., Indigenous ecosystem management and reef-net fishing innovation, martial arts innovation represented by Bruce Lee, and paramedic innovation through Medic One and Medic Two.
The coin will next enter design development, which includes consultation with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and public review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury will make the final design selection.
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