2019-D New Jersey Innovation Dollar in BU

The American Innovation $1 Coin representing New Jersey recognizes the invention of the light bulb. Early work on electric light bulbs began in the 1830s, but these early ones had very short lifespans, used too much energy, or were simply too expensive to produce. It wasn’t until the innovations of Thomas Edison and his researchers that light bulbs were made available to the public. By 1879, the team had managed to produce a bulb with a filament that could last 14.5 hours. With continued work, they managed to improve to a filament with a lifetime of 1,200 hours.