A bucking horse is depicted on the obverse (heads side) of the high relief 2021-W $100 American Liberty Gold Coin, marking a notable change from past editions which feature renditions of "Lady Liberty." The West Point-minted 1-ounce .9999 fine gold coin is scheduled to launch Aug. 19.
United States Mint Director David J. Ryder announced the bucking horse design on May 4 in a roundtable discussion with numismatic journalists. Images of the coin have since appeared in U.S. Mint marketing brochures.
Created by Beth Zaiken and sculpted by Craig A. Campbell, the design as described by the Mint shows:
"A wild American Mustang horse bucking off a western-style saddle, evoking the throwing-off of the yoke of British rule during the American Revolution."
The mustang is centered on a rising sun.
Surrounding the scene are inscriptions of LIBERTY, 2021, IN GOD WE TRUST and the artists’ initials.
Sculpted by Phebe Hemphill, the coin’s reverse (tails side) depicts a close-up of an American eagle with its beak open. Inscriptions include E PLURIBUS UNUM, W, 1OZ. .9999 FINE GOLD, $100, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the artists’ initials.
That is one pissed off bird! Lol.
Watch out Tippi Hedren!!
.NumisdudeTX
Yes, isn’t it a bit odd to keep dredging up the past? Is the Mint looking to antagonise its current major ally? Maybe they could have a coin with all the flags of countries which have had US invade since 1776, or had US involvement behind the scenes with narco/political/civil wars. Obviously we’d be needing a 5 or 10 ounce coin for that. I bought the 2017 and 2019 high relief gold coins because I liked the design. Being a collector, I like to collect series’s. I won’t be getting this coin. The design is too busy, in fact it… Read more »
Nice coin for the winner of a rodeo.
Too bad it’s not big enough for a belt buckle.
I like the way you are thinking. Perhaps embed it in the buckle.
I don’t see LIBERTY at all on this coin. Hard pressed to sell something that isn’t depicted in this design.
I was referring to the image and not the words. It seems to drastic a break from the other coins.
I ended up not posted a similar response I had typed out, as I was worried it might be seen as political. The word LIBERTY is in such large lettering, yet I needed a jeweller’s loupe to see “$100”. For a coin, especially the largest denomination coin, I found it odd that it basically looked like a medal/token. And in a world where the First Amendment rights have basically been removed from citizens (including the banning of a former President from communication platforms whilst he was sitting in office), it does make me wonder how there is a focus on… Read more »
sic semper tyrannis…I come not to praise Caligula, but to scrape him out of the treads of my shoes.
A bachelor’s life is grand, especially when incumbered by even first-degree familial connections. I accept no sibling without independent DNA confirmation.
And shame on you for being such a reactionary. Obviously, FB and the rest MUST be compelled to allow Caligula to inflict his sociopathy, delusions and tendency to dissemble on all of us.
Forcing private companies to publish or perish is what freedom of speech is all about, isn’t it?
err, UNincumbered
Child actor McCauley Culkin’s character Kevin, in the movie “Home Alone” said about his relatives – “I hate families – families suck!” lol
NumisdudeTX
Wax on karate kid, wax on.
“Wilbur, don’t buy this horse & pony show gold coin! Did you hear me??!!” – Mr. Ed.
NumisdudeTX
Lol. A big ass Texas-sized macho belt buckle!
NumisdudeTX
Aren’t “big-ass,” “Texas-sized,” and “macho” redundant, duplicative and repetitive? Or, was that some kind of Mike Mezakrap impersonation? If so, dead on, I mean, dead on. That’s right, dead on.
Yes, I like to cover all bases for those who do not have the pleasure of living in Texas (no state, city or county income tax ever!).
Mike Mezack, Mezack, Mezack lives in the penis of the USA – Florida.
NumisdudeTX
I received a large, rodeo-style, star-shaped belt buckle as a thank-you gift from the owner of the arena outside of Wichita, KS, where I had done a half-time promotion. Later that evening, while driving down Douglas Street with colleagues, I was holding the buckle up to the window to get a better look, when some teens in the car next to us thought I was flashing a badge and pulled over. The driver rolled down his window, whiter than a new snow, and started to get out his license. I told him that it was just a buckle, that I… Read more »
When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all all the way, from your first cigarette to your last dieing day… even when your toe shoes ache and officer Krupke’s on the make… although, that Baby Shark thing is pretty catchy.
I had a good friend who actually danced/was in the chorus of WSS on Broadway. He told me his toe shoes would fill with blood every night, but that it was worth it!
The WSS score, is superlative, but I’m quite partial to James Brown’s, “Living in America,” nothing better for a topless drive up I-75.
Mark – That is a priceless true story for sure…I’m LOL…thanks, I needed a good laugh.
NumisdudeTX
Thanks, but I’m just a well-paid hack, and not the kind that’s so popular today, nor the kind that transports Sherlock about London. Although, I am a natural-born numismatist in that I’ve always enjoyed coining new words and phrases, as well as striking blows for truth, justice and the American Way (thus sprach KaL-El, an undocumented alien no less), and I cast the occasional die, sometimes two. I just wrap up and roll along, my puny (punny?) self and my deminted ways, seeking proof of intelligence in this peculiar slice of the multiverse. Also, a woman who is purports to… Read more »
Someone was in that film other than Ms Monroe?
.
I suspect the explanation of the allegorical image was cooked up AFTER the image already existed, i e. creative backfill.
While I think the image is like way groovy, I’ve had a strong sense that something’s fishy about that horse, and I’m up to my gills with the ebb and flow of the mint’s antics, they should deep six and wave bon voyage to capon Ryder, if you sea what I mean, get my drift, etc.
Seems strange in these days with an emphasis on Diversity and Inclusion, that they would take LADY Liberty off a coin, and put a horse on instead.
With a couple of hundred years of allegorical Lady Liberty and eagles, a bucking bronc IS diversity and inclusiveness. Or, does that spoil your attempt to mock and dismiss the well-meaning efforts of folks who just want peace, justice and fewer gullible cultists?
The USA founding fathers loved their expensive tea & their silver and gold coins, but they did not trust the “average Joe” at the time (poor, uneducated etc.) & I think they really envisioned a time when we would have a “4-year nightmare,” – and it happened!
NumisdudeTX
No way! Not according to Faux News at least. And the well-meaning mob of knuckle-dragging insurrectionists in the Rotunda were merely tourists.
They are often called extremists, I say not so! Excrementists is a more precise epithet.
Mark –
When do the public Capitol tours begin again in the D.C. former swamp??!! – I want a ticket to go on that tourist ride, & I want the hat, t-shirt & coffee mug too!
Is Disney taking over the ticket sales & concession business there??
Is there going to be a Congressman Gaetz “ride” for the kiddies??
NumisdudeTX
Copy that comrade. BTW, swamps have really gotten a bad rap for the last couple of centuries. Outside of Yellow Fever and the like, swamps are great at absorbing floods and preventing destruction of man-made environments plus, they excell at sewage treatment, which would be especially handy the next time the Caligulites need to leave their special messages on the Rotunda’s walls. “We will not be diapered!!!” Swamps also help keep drinking water less toxic before it recharges in our lead pipes. And since we’ve got most of the swamp-borne ailments on the retreat, I for one advocate for swamp… Read more »
Well, at least Franco is still dead or, so I heard on SNL several times.
El Cid re-did?
I’m making this entire thread my personal manifesto.
Maybe I’ll even drive to Illinois and nail it to the door of Honest Abe’s cabin (actually, I’d likely use one of those 3M Quick Release thingys so as not to damage an important heritage site).
Most of you hated the lady liberty designs. A lot of trolls under Coin News bridge these days.
The irony being I liked those coins so much, that I bought 3 of the 2017 coins and one of the 2019.
They are the only gold Lady Liberty coins I own.
Then again, my country doesn’t have a 400(?) year old wedge of slavery being used as a tool to drive animosity amongst its citizens.
I actually like this design. However I thought this was supposed to be a 5 coin series? Anglo American, African American, Native American, Asian American, and Hispanic American. Not sure if in that order. I have the first 3. Seems kind of racist not to continue with the original concept.
yeah must be racism… sigh
I kind of like this coin
I love the design of the horse, hate the birdseye. Kinda creepy. Tyranny is not ancient or passe, it’s ever present. The representation of a wild American bucking bronco tossing a saddle to be unrestrained and free carries the message quite well. It is right and just to symbolize detachment from tyrants. Read the full text of The Declaration Of Independance, remember 1812, the war of rebellion in 1865, the vicious acts of the kaiser in WW1, the following world war’s evil. Sadam and Kuwait. That bronco bucks for all people who pray to toss off oppression and to live… Read more »
That is the ugliest Liberty gold coin by far. I’m shocked this made it to approval. With such excellent coins up to this point I guess the series was due for a dud, here it is. I’m not paying $700+ premium for that.
I have no interest in this coin. It ruins this series for those of us who were drawn to it for the revival of the “Lady Liberty” in the design, especially from an inclusive, multi-ethnic angle. With the simple name of “American Liberty”, and the retro styling, the series *was* extremely appealing to collectors of old US coins. Though the price tag for the 1 ounce gold was prohibitive, the one year that the coin was offered as a 1/10 ounce gold version was thankfully the best design so far. I also really liked the 2019 design, but unfortunately, I… Read more »
The Mint page for this coin says that it’s a proof. Is it?
High relief proof. This is going to be a beautiful coin imho.
Thanks. I know some high reliefs have been designated proof and others uncirculated.
The 2009 double eagle was struck as ultra high relief. Many ended up labeled as proof like. This one also is a beautiful coin. My favorite modern coin.
Do you think it will be a fast sellout ?How many of you plan on purchasing this coin?
I bought it! Best looking coin I have seen so far!!!!!
It’s art to me! Much like an oil painting. You can argue all day about how it’s good or bad. But if you don’t see the artistic value you are just a different type of collector. The world is full of art collectors who have over looked priceless paintings.
Do you know why Morgan dollars are called morgan dollars?