For the 225th anniversary of the United States Mint and Treasury, the department has unveiled a new and progressive currency to commemorative the landmark year. On the new 24-karat gold coin, Lady Liberty will be portrayed as a black woman, CNN reports.
For the rollout of the commemorative coins in the collection, each coin will portray the allegorical U.S. figure as either African-American, Hispanic-American, Indian-American or Asian-American “to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the United States,” reads a press statement from the Mint.
The new gold coins are worth $100, and they also feature a bald eagle emblem as well. Since the coins are made for collectors, you may not be seeing it in circulation for quite some time.
“Our coins are the metallic footprints of our nation’s history and symbolize what America values and what America honors,” said U.S. Mint chief of staff, Elisa Basnight.
Before now, there was only one coin in the U.S. that portrayed a person of color, the Sacajawea coin. Last year, it was also confirmed that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will serve as the new face of the $20, however, many were quick to bash the decision to replace former President Andrew Jackson with a black woman. While America has made progress in the representation of women and women of color in a historical sense, it’s clear we still have work to do.
Treasury & Mint officials unveiled the 2017 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin! https://t.co/HkfcPN5Enq #USMint225 @USTreasury pic.twitter.com/0ShGHPn5oF
— United States Mint (@usmint) January 12, 2017