Dr. Bernard Lown walks on the bridge renamed in his honor in 2008 in Lewiston. He was a Massachusetts cardiologist who invented the first reliable heart defibrillator and later co-founded an anti-nuclear war group that was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Sun Journal file photo
The U.S. Mint plans to issue a special dollar coin May 16 honoring Lewiston High School graduate Bernard Lown, inventor of the direct current defibrillator.
The U.S. Mint plans to release a new dollar coin May 16 honoring Bernard Lown, who graduated from Lewiston High School and went on to become a prominent cardiologist and peace activist in Boston. US Mint
The coin is part of the American Innovation series that aims to highlight “historic ingenuity from every U.S. state and territory.”
The mint agreed in 2022 to feature Lown on its Maine coin.
Lown, who died in 2021, had a long career of medical and technical innovation as well as peace activism. He accepted a Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 on behalf of a group he helped to create called International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
A pioneering cardiologist, Lown invented the direct current defibrillator in 1962, a device the Lown Institute says has saved countless lives and helped make open-heart surgery possible.
Lown’s daughter, Anne, told the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee that her father “refused to get a patent as he did not want to profit off his invention but to have it globally available.”
The coin features a profile of Lown above a depiction of the defibrillator.
The coins in the American Innovations series don’t circulate generally. They are sold through the U.S. Mint.
Though all of the options for purchasing the coin are not yet available, the mint has priced a 25-coin roll of the Lown coin at $34.50 and a 100-coin roll at $117.50.
The coins are being produced at the Denver and Philadelphia mints. It is one of four American Innovations dollar coins the mint plans to issue this year.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.