Lady Liberty to be portrayed as African-American on US coin

Team Udayavani, Jan 15, 2017, 11:54 AM IST

Houston: For the first time in American history, Lady Liberty, a national symbol generally depicted as a white woman, will be portrayed as an African-American in the new USD 100 gold coin “to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the United States”. 

The new USD 100 coin was unveiled by Elisa Basnight, US Mint chief of staff. “As we, as a nation, continue to evolve, so does liberty’s representation,” she said at the ceremony unveiling the new coin.

The new 24-karat gold coin, which is set to be released in April in honour of the United States Mint’s 225th anniversary, is one of a series of new, diverse commemorative coins the Mint will unveil in the coming years. 

“The future depictions of Lady Liberty, will also feature designs to represent Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Indian-Americans, and others to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the United States,” she said. 

“We live in a nation that affords us the opportunity to dream big and try to accomplish the seemingly impossible,” Basnight said. 

Since the passage of the Coinage Act in 1792, all coins are required to feature an “impression emblematic of liberty,” in either words or images.