When turning on the evening news we nightly see a human exodus that is slightly reflective of events of 160 years ago. Today, it’s the wholesale flight of citizens from Gaza seeking safety in Egypt. Over two million have been trying to flee the small Palestinian enclave – now, war zone. Endless lines trek south hoping to escape the terror.
On a smaller scale, the US version of this would have been black slaves traveling north in the 1860s to escape southern states. While the intent was similar, one difference is Palestinians walk during daylight to keep from being shot. Slaves crept along at night to keep from being caught. In addition to darkness, the other best friend slaves had was a woman named Harriet Tubman....
Tubman was a former slave from Maryland who had escaped to Pennsylvania. Similar to Gaza and Egypt, Maryland and Pennsylvania abut each other. Looking across the Mason/Dixon line from the Confederate side, slaves could literally see freedom. In 1849, 11 years before the Civil War, Tubman escaped over the border to Philadelphia. For most, that would have been the final chapter.
Returning to the south would have, of course, been unthinkable. Recapture would result in severe punishment and being re-enslaved. Nevertheless, Tubman went back to retrieve her family and escort them to freedom in the north. She didn’t stop there. Tubman made 13 trips to Maryland eventually leading 70 slaves to freedom. Later, she served as a scout and spy during the war. She also helped freed slaves find work and was integral in women’s suffrage.
Such a woman deserves and has received substantial attention. Her image appeared on a 1978 13-cent US postage stamp as part of the Black Heritage Series. She was again honored on 32-cent stamp in a commemorative Civil War postal sheet issued in 1995. Naturally, in schools, her legacy has long been a staple of US history.
In 2014, one of those school children, a nine-year-old girl, wrote to then-president Obama suggesting Tubman appear on a US national banknote. The wheels began turning. It was soon announced that Tubman’s portrait would replace that of Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.
Some got onboard with the switch when informed/reminded that Jackson had owned slaves. (To that end, every individual on current US paper money has, at some point, been involved with slavery. That includes Abe Lincoln whose wife Mary Todd had family that were slaveowners.) If that attribute becomes the beta, it could someday result in an entire revamp of all US currency. Time will tell.
The plans for a Harriet Tubman $20 bill are still in the works. At last word, production and release of the redesigned $20 bill will debut in 2030. Yes, the wheels in DC grind very slowly.
In the meantime, the US Mint is kicking off 2024 with three new commemorative coins memorializing the historic and heroic acts of Harriet Tubman in clad, silver and gold. Each of the coins contain notable images reflective of her work.
The front of the clad half-dollar coin depicts Harriet Tubman staring forward with arms crossed in front of two Civil War-era boats during the Combahee River Raid in South Carolina. On the reverse, Tubman holds a spyglass near a row of military tents symbolizing her work as a spy for the Union Army.
The front of the silver one-dollar coin shows Tubman with a welcoming hand extended. The reverse design is particularly compelling with silhouettes of escaping slaves crossing a bridge formed by a pair of clasped hands. Above them, the ladle of the Big Dipper constellation points to the North Star in the letter “O” in the word “OF” in “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
Finally, the five-dollar gold piece features a post-war portrait of Tubman gazing toward to the future. The reverse shows two hands of a person holding onto the arm of another. It’s meant to symbolize the aid Tubman offered to others during her life. Surrounding the image are seven words said to be Tubman’s core values: “FAITH,” “FREEDOM,” “FAMILY,” “COMMUNITY,” “SELF-DETERMINATION,” “SOCIAL JUSTICE,” and “EQUALITY.”
The coins will be released beginning January 4, by the US Mint individually and in three-coin sets. The Mint has announced quantities will be limited. For more information about the coins, quantities and pricing, log onto www.USMint.gov.
For more collecting information and advice, log on to: http://prexford.com/.