As the nation takes a moment to remember Christa McAuliffe on the 37th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, tens of thousands of people have an extra way to recall her.
The U.S. Mint reports that it sold 70,229 of the Christa McAuliffe commemorative silver dollar, which was released in 2021. Of those 54,191 were proof coins, a version featuring the highest-quality finish provided by the Mint, and 16,038 were uncirculated coins with a slightly less brilliant finish.
The coins sold for up to $74 and a portion of the proceeds were donated to FIRST Robotics, which was founded in New Hampshire.
McAuliffe, a social studies teacher at Concord High School, was part of the seven-member crew when the Challenger space shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff on Jan. 28, 1986.
The front of the coin is a portrait of McAuliffe, based on a photograph that was taken while McAuliffe was being briefed on the flight suit and personal equipment she would use onboard the Challenger. The reverse side shows McAuliffe beside three students, pointing upward and smiling, with McAuliffe’s words, “I touch the future. I teach,” and the FIRST logo.
The coins are still offered on resale sites like eBay.
The Mint has created commemorative coins since 1982 and usually releases two of them a year. Sales of the McAuliffe coin were relatively low for a silver dollar, doing better than only the dollar honoring the women’s suffragette centennial. The 2019 coin honoring the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, for example, sold nine times as many coins.