Liberty Abroad

Lady Liberty has been a long-standing fixture on U.S. coinage, but how would global engravers depict her? This is the question GovMint seeks to answer with its Light of Liberty collection. The series will include three coins. Each will feature a version of Liberty designed by an engraver from outside the United States.

Susan Taylor, a retired senior engraver of the Royal Canadian Mint, has designed the first release in the series. Taylor received the American Medal of the Year Award in 2016 for her Remembrance Medal, as well as the 2023 Coin of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. She designed Lady Peace for the 2019 Peace and Liberty medals, the Canadian Peace dollar, and the 2018 International Art Medal Federation (FIDEM) Congress medal. 

Taylor depicts Lady Liberty standing on a beach holding the American flag in her right hand and a torch in her left, with the sun rising above the ocean behind her. The year of issue appears below, with the legend LIBERTY at right. John Mercanti, the 12th chief engraver of the U.S. Mint, designed the common obverse that depicts a bald eagle soaring over a rugged landscape at sunset.

The piece is available in 1-, 2-, and 5-ounce .999-fine silver and 2- and 5-ounce .999-fine gold versions. All coins are legal tender in Samoa. Future issues will be designed by South African engraver Natanya Van Niekerk and former Royal Mint engraver Jody Clark. 

A version of this article appears in the May 2024 issue of The Numismatist (money.org).