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US Mint Unveils Half-Dollar Coin for 9/11 Anniversary

5 sources · updated 2026-09-13
Left 33% Center 0% Right 67%
1 left · 0 center · 2 right

What happened

In September 2026, the U.S. Mint announced a circulating-quality Enduring Liberty Half Dollar, struck at the Philadelphia Mint, for the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The obverse shows the Statue of Liberty, the dates 1776–2026, and a privy mark of “9-11-01” encircled by “NEVER FORGET”; the reverse shows Liberty passing a torch, with “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” “HALF DOLLAR,” and “KNOWLEDGE IS THE ONLY GUARDIAN OF TRUE LIBERTY.” On the anniversary, the Mint presented nearly 3,000 of the coins to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to honor victims of the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Mint Director Paul Hollis announced the issue; pre-orders ran through September 25, with shipping expected December 3, at $40 for a 20-coin roll and $100 for a 100-coin bag.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 3 articles

1 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It started with unnamed sources; a named source appeared 3 hours later.

What these terms mean and how they're counted
On the record · names a source 1 of 2
On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: U.S. Mint
Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 2
Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
Credits another outlet 0 of 2
The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
Unnamed sources 0 of 2
The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
How it developed
When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 11, 22:44 UTC by The Hill, with no named source. First named source 3 hours later, from Washington Examiner.
Not counted 1
Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out

Unpacked

Left-leaning coverage frames the release as a museum ceremony, while right-leaning coverage frames it as a coin the public can buy. A Friday presentation of nearly 3,000 specially marked half dollars to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum appears only in The Hill. That account also extends the honor to the 1993 bombing. That handoff and that earlier attack are absent from Breitbart, which instead describes a Philadelphia-struck issue for pre-order whose date is encircled by the phrase "NEVER FORGET." Right-leaning coverage names the perpetrators; left-leaning coverage does not. Lives lost are tied to an "Al-Qaeda terrorist attack" in Breitbart. Left-leaning coverage refers only to World Trade Center attacks and names no group. Does anything on the coin itself commemorate the 1993 World Trade Center bombing?
Bottom line

Read The Hill and this is a museum gift of half dollars; read Breitbart and it is a NEVER FORGET coin you can pre-order. Neither account includes the other half.

The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
  • The Mint presented nearly 3,000 specially marked half dollars to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum numberin The Hill · absent from right-leaning coverage
  • A 20-coin roll costs $40 and a 100-coin bag costs $100 numberin Breitbart · absent from left-leaning coverage
  • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the half dollars embody the honor and bravery of victims, survivors, and first responders official statementin OAN · absent from left-leaning coverage
  • The coins are Semiquincentennial issues with dual significance for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence contextin OAN · absent from left-leaning coverage
  • Mint Director Paul Hollis said the coins give more Americans a reminder of the day and a way to teach younger generations not yet born official statementin OAN · absent from left-leaning coverage
The Left View
The Hill framed the story as a commemorative handoff to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, presenting the coins as an honor for victims of both the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Its account stayed on that institutional remembrance and the privy mark reading “9-11-01,” without naming the 2001 perpetrators or casting the issue as a national “never forget” or civic-education campaign.
The Right View
Breitbart and OAN framed the half-dollar as a public vow to “NEVER FORGET” “the Al-Qaeda terrorist attack,” with Breitbart writing that “Islamic terrorists” struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and that a third plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back. They led with Bessent’s line that “our promise to the victims and their families remains the same: we will never forget,” and Hollis’s claim that wider distribution “provides us opportunity to educate younger generations, many of whom were not even born, about the sacrifices made.” OAN stressed the Semiquincentennial pairing and Liberty passing her torch; Breitbart called the coin a “fitting tribute” and, in anniversary commentary, argued that September 11 was also “the day we fought back and won.”
Our Take (balanced)
The Hill’s strongest point is what the Mint physically did: deliver coins to the 9/11 museum as an honor for victims, including those of the 1993 bombing, which supports reading the issue as an institutional memorial rather than a political message. Right-leaning outlets’ strongest argument is textual: the privy mark, Bessent’s “we will never forget,” and Hollis’s education language show Treasury and the Mint defining the coin as a “pledge to never forget” an attack they and Breitbart name as Al-Qaeda’s. The central unresolved tension is whether the half-dollar is mainly a victim-centered museum tribute or an assertive civic reminder that names the enemy and obligates a new generation to remember.

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