The United Cherokee Nation (UCN) (formerly known as the Cherokee Nation of 1839) is one of approximately two hundred US-based groups claiming to have Cherokee ties. Many such groups are dismissed as bogus by Federally-recognised organisations such as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO), The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee in Oklahoma (UKB), or the Eastern Band of Cherokee (EBC) of North Carolina - and it is because of this that the coin above has become the centre of ongoing litigation and controversy.

It was designed and minted as a fund-raiser by the current Chief of the United Cherokee Nation, Robin Mayes, who is the great-great-grandson of Chief John Ross; Ross was the longest-serving Cherokee Chief, heading the tribe from 1827 to 1866. However, whilst the UCN membership is comprised of Native Americans of Cherokee heritage, its unrecognised nature left it open to litigation by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, who object to the right of competing groups to use the name "Cherokee Nation", or to sell or distribute tribal membership cards, vehicle license plates, coins or other items featuring that name. As a result, sales of the UCN's 1 Adela coin were effectively halted after only a few had reached the open market, and the matter remains unresolved.

The apparent English "D" on the coin's obverse is actually a character from the Cherokee syllabary and is the first character in the word Adela pronounced "ah", in the center of the character D is 1 signifying the coin's denomination - 1 Adela; the Arabic numeral "1" was used because there is no single character representing "one" ("sa-wu" in Cherokee). The word "Adela" itself - pronounced ah-day-la - means "money". The remainder of the script is translatable as the closest approximation to "Cherokee Nation" in the Cherokee language.

The arc behind Ross's head, signifies the rising sun, and the bird signifies a phoenix reborn - both of which symbolise the UCN's aim of reviving of the Cherokee Nation Government with in the bounds of the 1839 Constitution of the Cherokee. The Cherokee name for the bird is "coowescoowee", which means the great white bird. Coowescoowee was also Chief John Ross's Cherokee name.

The reverse of the coin has a likeness of the original 1839 Cherokee Nation Seal (also used as a the Seal of the UCN), which differs from the one used by Federally-recognised Cherokee groups, insofar as it has a wreath of oak leaves rather than laurel. The uppermost point of the seal's 7-pointed star represents the "Creator", while the two downward points represent the perpetuation of creation.