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Lewiston High grad who invented medical device may appear on US dollar coin

A Lewiston High School graduate may appear on the U.S. dollar coin.

Bernard Lown was a cardiologist and researcher who invented the direct-current defibrillator.

ME-08 -- 2024 American Innovation $1 Coin - Maine
U.S. Mint
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A proposed design for a $1 coin featuring Lewiston High School graduate Bernard Lown.

The Sun Journal reports that an advisory committee for the U.S. Mint recently endorsed a coin with Lown's image and the medical device that's saved countless lives for its American Innovations coin program.

Lown was born in Lithuania. He moved to Lewiston as a young teen and got his bachelor's degree from the University of Maine.

He went on to become a pioneering cardiologist and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 as a co-founder of an international organization of physicians against nuclear war. He died in 2021 at age 99.

Pending approval by the U.S. Mint, the dollar coin with Lown's image is expected to be released in 2024.