American Slavery & the Liberty Cap

Instructor: Jeff Pritchard

The Liberty Cap has been an enduring image on U.S. coinage since the 1790s and appears on some of our most popularly collected US coins. Originally the symbol of manumission (slaveholders freeing slaves) this presentation examines three historical numismatic vignettes in which the intersection of the Liberty Cap with American slavery is poignant, thought provoking, and at times tragically ironic.