Speaker
Mary N. Lannin
(American Numismatic Society)
Description
When the Coinage Act of 1792 authorized the national monetary system of the United States, Congress stipulated that “there shall be an impression emblematic of liberty” on the obverse of each coin. Immediately, those responsible for designing the coins rendered this into a female personification of the concept. Through the course of the nineteenth century, females were making headway in their rights as both individuals and as a group. During this period, the United States Mint continued to design and strike coins with allegorical images of women, essentially using them as the face of monetary sovereignty. This talk discusses the paradox of women as an allegory and as a marginalized, second-class group.
Primary author
Mary N. Lannin
(American Numismatic Society)
