LIBERTAS AMERICANA SUPER BOWL LX TOSS COIN

An email sent to Friends of the National Numismatic Collection on Thursday announced that the National Museum of American History and NNC supporter Jeff Garrett helped the National Football League create a timely numismatic tribute for the official "toss coin" at today's Super Bowl. Great idea! -Editor

Restrike of the Libertas Americana medal with the NFL logo and "HEADS" and "TAILS" on its respective sides. Image courtesy of The Highland Mint

Dear Friends of the National Numismatic Collection past and present,

I write to share the exciting news that the National Museum of American History was approached by the NFL with a request to help them honor the nation's 250th anniversary as part of the coin toss at this year's Super Bowl LX. Our dedicated alumni board member Jeff Garrett helped the NFL source a re-strike 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 and announce that it will become part of the Museum's National Numismatic Collection (NFL press release). Museum director Dr. Anthea Hartig will be on hand in Santa Clara at the Levi's Stadium to accept the coin, which we anticipate will take place on the field. Additionally, the Museum will be featured on the TODAY Show this Friday morning leading up to the game.

This is a wonderful opportunity to reinforce the important work of the Smithsonian and the role the Institution plays in commemorating the nation's 250th. Curator Dr. Ellen Feingold's corresponding blog post detailing the history of the Libertas Americana medal will be promoted on our website and social media this weekend to complement the event. As Friends of the NNC, I hope you will tune in and take particular pride during this moment in Sunday's broadcast!

The "coin" to be tossed at the Super Bowl this Sunday is unlike any other. Soon to join the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection, this unique object is not a coin, but rather a small silver medal whose story begins with the founding of the nation 250 years ago.

The National Football League's (NFL) medal is a modern restrike of the Libertas Americana —a medallic masterpiece first made in 1782–1783 to celebrate American victory in the Revolutionary War. The front of the medal features a portrait of the allegorical figure of Liberty, and the back depicts an allegorical battle scene representing the fight for America's independence.

This historic medal was the brainchild of Benjamin Franklin. While he was serving as an American diplomat to France, he personally commissioned the medal as the Revolutionary War was coming to an end. Franklin 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.

France indeed features prominently on the back of the medal; the nation is depicted as the Roman goddess of war Minerva, who protects an infant Hercules (America) from a pouncing British lion. The Latin message Non Sine Diis Animosus Infans ("The courageous child is not without the aid of the gods") surrounds the scene, emphasizing the transcendent power of France's aid to America.

But it is the engraving of Liberty herself that makes this medal so historically significant and resonant today. Designed in Paris under Franklin's direction by French artists Augustin Dupré and Esprit-Antoine Gibelin, the Libertas Americana's Liberty became the iconic image of the founding ideal underpinning the new nation. This medal showed the world what American liberty looked like: a confident young woman, hair flowing behind her as she charges forward toward possibility and promise, unafraid of what is ahead.

Beyond giving a face to American liberty, the medal helped solidify the practice of representing the new nation as an idea rather than a living person. In other words, the Libertas Americana showed what Franklin thought the nation should be like—a country governed by values rather than individuals.

This image of Liberty became so important to the budding American identity that it was replicated on some of America's first federal coins after the founding of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1792. Use of the image of Liberty established a paradigm for American coin design. While her look evolved over time, Liberty regularly appeared on American coins and banknotes—until the early 1900s, when she was increasingly replaced with historic male figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson.

The Libertas Americana's unique design distinguishes it from other major American medals developed during and after the Revolutionary War. Beginning in 1776, the Continental Congress began authorizing production of medals honoring significant Revolutionary War battles and officers in a series, authorized by Congress, that became known as the Comitia Americana.

The first medal commissioned by Congress in the series recalls the Siege of Boston in March 1776 and recognizes George Washington's pivotal leadership with his portrait on the front.

The Libertas Americana, though often considered part of the Comitia Americana series, was never formally authorized by Congress and thus remained a personal project of Franklin's. In 1783 the medal was struck at the Paris Mint. Franklin then quickly began distributing the medals to American, British, and European leaders and dignitaries. As the Treaty of Paris was formally ending the Revolutionary War, Franklin was passing the original medals to those in power, both in America and abroad, thus giving a face to the aspirations of the national project.

The medals were primarily made in silver and bronze. Franklin reserved the only two medals made in gold for the French King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette—a grand gesture of American gratitude which Franklin felt had been in too short supply. These two invaluable treasures are thought to have been lost in the French Revolution just six years later. Still about 20 silver and more than 100 bronze original Libertas Americana medals survive today. One beautiful silver specimen is held in the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection, deposited by Henry Adams, a descendent of President John Adams, in 1900.

As curator of this vast collection, one of my responsibilities is to collect objects that continue to grow our record of the past as well as objects that reflect the present—not just documenting what is new, but also how our history continues to shape our daily lives. The restrike of the Libertas Americana tossed at Super Bowl LX will become the National Numismatic Collection's next acquisition. It was made at the Paris Mint in 2015 and is based on the dies used to strike the original medals. The NFL has additionally engraved the words HEADS and TAILS and the NFL shield on the medal's surface, recording its active use at a major national event.

By placing the Libertas Americana at center stage—or, as it were, the 50-yard line—of the Super Bowl this year, the NFL is recognizing the national milestone of 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. My hope is that this tiny medal's surprising role on football's biggest night also sparks conversations in locker rooms, sports bars, and homes around the country about the importance of our sacred founding value—liberty—and why, like the metal it is made from, it is precious and worth preserving.

"How cool is this! Good for the NFL for seeking a solid historical connection for the coin toss. They chose wisely in the Libertas reproduction, and it's terrific that the medal will end up at the NNC afterwards.

"This should provide a nice boost for numismatics, particularly if significant explanation is offered as the coin toss is happening.

"Ellen's blogpost really seized the opportunity to explain the historical significance of the Libertas, and to recognize the good choice made by the NFL. And of course, she does a fine job of introducing the world to the NNC.

"I would say that it truly is Super Sunday for numismatics!"

"Wow! This is amazing! What a great promotion for numismatics! I think numismatics might be entering a phase of being considered "cool" by more of the younger generation. My son is 20 at college, and he used to tease me about it. But now, when I tell him about the silver prices and how I heard the FUN show was sensational, I can tell he is beginning to reconsider, and I think his friends are beginning to talk :) This Super Bowl coin will make an impact."

The Smithsonian has six Libertas Americana medals in its collection, five bronze and one silver. Representatives from the NFL's department of public policy and government affairs visited the museum in December to tour the collection and look for an object that could signify the nation's 250th birthday.

The Smithsonian doesn't loan objects from its collection, so using one of the original medals wasn't an option. The Paris Mint, which struck the original medals in 1783, has produced a series of restrikes, and the NFL acquired one that was sent to a U.S. mint for engraving with the NFL shield.

The NFL owns the medal that will be used in Sunday's coin toss and plans to donate it to the Smithsonian after the game. The medal will be transported by courier from Santa Clara, Calif., to the National Museum and put on display as part of the numismatic collection.