Snowboard company Burton posted to Instagram one day ago that they collaborated with the US Mint (apparently they do collaborations) and Governor Phil Scott to create Vermont's one-dollar coin for the "American Innovation" series.
Check out the coin below.
According to Burton, this multi-year series honors innovation and innovators by issuing $1 coins for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories.
The reasoning for putting a snowboarder on Vermont's coin is due to "snowboarding's technological development and transformation from a novel recreation to a worldwide phenomenon" being closely tied to the state of Vermont.
Specifically, this coin shows Burton founder Jake Burton Carpenter to represent Vermont's unique role in pioneering snowboarding's art, community, and culture.
Although Jake was born in New York, he went skiing for the first time with his family at Bromley Mountain in Vermont and was immediately hooked by the sensation.
This is an amazing achievement. There also deserves at least one joke about the US government's priorities. It's low-hanging fruit. We are making a coin and putting someone new on it, and we choose... a white male?
According to the US Mint, in 1893, Queen Isabella of Spain became the first woman featured on a United States coin, the Queen Isabella Commemorative Quarter.
"It was almost 100 years later, in 1979, that the first U.S. circulating coin depicted a woman. Since then, there have been very few other coins celebrating women."
Of course, there's no real bad blood here. Jake Burton was an amazing US citizen who accomplished a lot and puts on a good face for America. He is someone we can all be proud of.
The joke here has nothing to do with him, but the priorities of our government, no matter which side you're on politically. Because putting a snowboarder on a $1 coin feels a lot like the ongoing TikTok ban debate going on within the US Government.
While prices are soaring ever-higher, the country is full of political strife, and people across the country beg for tangible differences to be made, the government decides that it is the perfect time to ban a fun social media app. Huh?
Then again, putting Jake Burton on a $1 coin is something we can all be happy about. It's a win for Vermont, a win for the skiing and riding community, and a spark of light amidst a sometimes glum feeling environment in America.
Maybe it was the perfect decision after all.
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