Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the United States is preparing to mark one of the darkest days in modern American history with a symbol meant to endure: a new U.S. Mint half-dollar bearing the date of the attack and the words “NEVER FORGET.”
The coin is designed to do more than commemorate a date. It serves as a reminder of the nearly 3,000 Americans and others who lost their lives, the families forever changed, and the courage of ordinary Americans who ran toward danger while others fled.
“As we approach the 25th anniversary of September 11, we honor the memory of those we lost and the courage of those who risked their lives to save their fellow Americans,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday in announcing the issue.
That message carries particular weight as the country approaches the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. Another struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth went down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers aboard Flight 93 fought back against the hijackers.
They were moments of unimaginable terror—but also moments of extraordinary courage.
Firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and ordinary citizens confronted the threat knowing they might not come home. Many never did.
The Mint has commemorated the attacks before. In 2011, for the 10th anniversary, it issued a one-ounce silver September 11 National Medal depicting Lady Liberty holding a “Lamp of Remembrance,” accompanied by the inscription “ALWAYS REMEMBER.”
Now, a quarter-century later, the message has been reduced to two words that require no explanation:
NEVER FORGET.
There is something fitting about putting that message on American coinage. Coins pass from hand to hand, generation to generation. They enter wallets, cash registers and collections. Unlike a speech that disappears from the news cycle, a coin can remain for decades.
The United States Mint was established by Congress in 1792 and became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. It remains the nation's sole manufacturer of legal-tender coinage.
And this time, the Mint is using that enduring institution to preserve an enduring memory.
Twenty-five years can make history feel distant. The people who were children in 2001 are now adults. A new generation has grown up without remembering the smoke over Manhattan or the images of the towers collapsing.
That is precisely why the words matter.
NEVER FORGET is not merely a slogan about September 11. It is a promise that the sacrifices of that day—and the courage displayed in response—will not be erased by time.
America remembers the fallen. America remembers the heroes. And America remembers why September 11 changed the nation forever.
