Move over, white dudes on U.S. currency. The United States Mint is releasing a new commemorative coin portraying Lady Liberty as a Black woman, and we're here for it.
Yep, you read that right: A Black Lady Liberty. It only took, you know, over 200 years for it to happen.
The 24k-gold coin will be released in April in honor of the Mint's 225th anniversary. It will be worth $100.
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
On top of that, in the next two years the Mint plans to depict Lady Liberty in a few other ethnicities and races.
"The 2017 American Liberty 225th Anniversary Gold Coin is the first in a series of 24-karat gold coins that will feature designs which depict an allegorical Liberty in a variety of contemporary forms — including designs representing Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Indian-Americans among others — to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the United States," the Mint said in a statement.
This is a historical move, and a move in the right direction. After all, the face of America looks more and more diverse as time goes by, and the faces of its coins should reflect that.
"We boldly look to the future by casting Liberty in a new light, as an African-American woman wearing a crown of stars, looking forward to ever brighter chapters in our Nation’s history book," the Treasury Department said in a statement.
And that, friends, is a beautiful sentiment we can get behind.