American Buffalo Commemorative Coin
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On September 28, 1999 thousands of Americans, including many American
Indians, came from all over the Nation to Washington, DC, to witness the
ground breaking ceremony for the Smithsonian National Museum of the
American Indian, which is schedule to open in the year 2004.
Soon a New Landmark
Veiled by fences that surround the only remaining major building site
on the great National Mall, facing the Capitol and adjacent to the Air
& Space Museum, determined bulldozers shape the land to prepare it for
one last magnificent landmark-The Smithsonian's National Museum of the
American Indian (NMAI).
Ten years in planning and development, this 260,000-square-foot
building will be the crown jewel in a Museum that already includes a fine
permanent exhibition facility in New York City and a state-of-the-art
collections research and study center in Suitland, Maryland. In 2004, when
this national architectural treasure opens its doors, it will at last be
able to share with millions of visitors a collection of 800,000 Native
objects spanning 10,000 years, unquestionably the greatest such collection
ever assembled.
Perhaps most significantly, this final Mall edifice-set as it is in the
very heart of the nation's capitol-represents a kind of cultural justice.
It signals a profound and long-overdue reconciliation between those whose
ancestors came to these shores and those who were already here. Since
Indian people have predominantly planned this new Museum, it will enable
the world to explore the past, present, and future through the eyes of
Native people.
About the Coins
This coin is being issued by the Secretary of the Treasury in
commemoration of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
The design of this silver dollar is based on the original 5-cent Buffalo
nickel as designed by James Earle Fraser and minted from 1913 through
1938.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each coin is authorized to
support the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian for the
purposes of commemorating the National Museum of the American Indian; and
supplementing the endowment and educational outreach funds of the Museum
of the American Indian.
Coin Information Provided Courtesy The
United States Mint. |
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