The American Innovation $1 Coin representing Georgia honors the Trustees’ Garden, established by James Oglethorpe in the early 1730s. General James Edward Oglethorpe was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist who founded the Colony of Georgia. He established the Trustee Garden in Savannah in 1734, two years after the founding of the Georgia Trust, the corporate body that governed the colony from 1732 until 1752.
The garden comprised about 10 acres to the east of the area settled at that time. Dedicated to botany and agriculture, it reflected the scientific and commercial aspirations of the trustees and their backers in England. Its growth and demise over the next 20 years reflected the realities of climate, geography, and the lack of people on the ground, as well as consistent support from London.
- Special proof strike minted in low quantities
- Minted at the U.S. Mint at San Francisco