Super Bowl Surprise

Super Bowl LX, scheduled for February 8, presents an exciting opportunity to educate your friends and family on the joys of collecting. A coin toss has been a part of professional football games since 1892, and this year’s Super Bowl calls for a special coin to honor the nation’s 250th anniversary. 

The NFL contacted the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to assist with finding the right piece for the occasion. Alumni board member and ANA Past President Jeff Garrett helped the NFL source a restrike of a 1782 Libertas Americana medal that honors the war for independence. The NFL will present the medal to the museum following the coin toss so that it can become part of its National Numismatic Collection (NCC). The NCC houses one of the nation’s largest and most impressive collections of coins, paper currency, and coin-related material in the world. Museum director Dr. Anthea Hartig will attend the game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara to accept the coin. 

Regardless of whether you follow the Seattle Seahawks or the New England Patriots, tune in to the broadcast for the chance to spread some hobby knowledge and teach your fellow Super Bowl partygoers about one of the most iconic medals in American history. 

“The NFL will present the medal to the Smithsonian following the coin toss so that it can become part of its National Numismatic Collection.”

Here’s a refresher from the Smithsonian in case you need it:

“Benjamin Franklin commissioned the medal as the Revolutionary War was coming to an end. At the time, he was serving as Minister to France (1776-85) and envisioned an inspiring medal that would commemorate the Continental Army’s victories at Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781) as well as honor the crucial role of French support in America’s liberation from British rule. The obverse depicts a youthful Liberty with flowing hair flanked by a pole with a freedman’s cap above the date 4 Juil [July] 1776. This design became a model for some of the first U.S. coin designs in 1792-93. [It] is an enduring image of America’s struggle for freedom and independence.”

For the reverse, “Franklin hired Augustin Dupré and Esprit-Antoine Gibelin to develop the design, which evolved to show an allegorical battle scene of the fight for American independence in which France is depicted as the goddess Minerva (the Roman goddess of war) who protects an infant Hercules (America) from a pouncing British lion. The Latin message ‘Non Sine Diis Animosus Infans’—which translates to ‘The courageous child is not without the aid of the gods’—surrounds the battle, emphasizing the transcendent power of France’s aid to America.”