Black Lady Liberty Coin Depicts First Black Woman On U.S. Currency

For the first time in American History a Black woman will grace U.S. currency. The U.S. Mint announced that a Black Lady Liberty would be depicted on a new 24k Gold coin. It is the first time in a 225 year history that a Black woman will be portrayed on an officially minted coin.

This isn’t quite the Harriet Tubman $20 bill that we were expecting but that won’t be coming for a few years considering that there aren’t even plans to design the bill until 2020.

The Black Lady Liberty is portrayed with a crown of stars in her hair and a toga-like dress. The commemorative coin is worth $100 dollars and is the first in a series that will depict a variety of diverse coins.

The only coin in circulation that has featured a person of color is the Sacagawea dollar. The Susan B. Anthony dollar was the only other U.S. currency which featured a woman. That coin was retired in 2010 and replaced with the Sacagawae coin.

“The 2017 American Liberty 225th Anniversary Gold Coin is the first in a series of 24-karat gold coins that will feature designs which depict an allegorical Liberty in a variety of contemporary forms-including designs representing Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Indian-Americans among others-to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the United States,” reads a press release from the Mint.

Have to wonder if this is part of the President Obama going away campaign. Obviously this was in the works for some time but the timing of a Black Lady Liberty is interesting considering he is leaving office in less than a week.

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