Release: MONDAY AUGUST 14, 2020
As a young kid in the early ‘60s, “prop” airplanes were the norm. TWA had fleets of them. My friends and I would see four-propeller passenger planes climbing skyward overhead – their engines grinding until they were out-of-sight. We’d dream about where the lucky travelers might be going.
A few years later, jets appeared. This was a whole new dimension. The unprecedented “jet age”. Military jets were even breaking the sound barrier – a boom we’d hear a few times a month. When any jet soared by, we would look up transfixed. Picture that today. Jets are ubiquitous – so common, no one cares to notice.
100 years ago, this November, in 1920, I’d wager there was a similar element of amazement nationwide at polling places. Woodrow Wilson was about to be elected president. Prior to that, that the only people going to vote were men. Before 1920, women weren’t allowed anywhere near polling places....
Envision that today. It seems impossible. Even then, it was ridiculous. After all, in 1920, women constituted 46 percent of the US population. How could they not vote much less be excluded from key offices? Today, women are close to 51 percent. The female vote often swings elections.
So, what did it take to get women here? After all, African American men gained the right to vote with the 15th Amendment in 1870 – a mere five years after slavery was abolished.
A group of 300 US women actually asserted their equality as early as 1848 in a meeting in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who had been at the Seneca Falls rally, actually proposed an amendment of rights to the Federal Government in 1878. It was rejected. The new century finally brought the reality of women voting to fruition.
A small taste of the effort to afford women that right is now showcased on a new collectible “Forever” stamp issued by the US Postal Service, as well as a silver dollar coin issued by the US Mint.
The First Class postage stamp features a stylized image of four women marching and carrying striped banners with stars down the middle. The women have a vintage feel akin to a throwback when they marched in cities across America to attain the right to vote. At the bottom of the stamp are the words, “WOMEN VOTE 19TH AMENDMENT FOREVER USA.” The stamps are currently available at post offices nationwide.
The US Mint has also created a commemorative silver dollar and a special silver medallion honoring the anniversary. Each contain one ounce of silver.
The coin has an image of three women wearing hats from different eras. Each hat has a message promoting the vote. The reverse shows a ballot box with the year date 2020 being lowered into the voting slot. On the front are the words, “VOTES FOR WOMEN” and “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” At the bottom is, “IN GOD WE TRUST.”
The silver medal has an image of five hands reaching upward to support a platform with the words, “WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE CENTENNIAL.” On the reverse are the 28 words of the 19th Amendment which changed history, “The Right of Citizens Of The United States To Vote Shall Not Be Denied Or Abridged By The United States Or By Any State On Account Of Sex.”
The combined coin and medal set priced at $120 is limited to just 10,000 – a very low mintage for collectors. A total of 400,000 of just the silver dollars will be produced at $65 each.
For more coin information, log onto www.USMint.gov.
For more collecting advice, visit www.peterexford.blogspot.com