Liberty and justice for all.
"Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus"
With America's 250th Anniversary approaching, we wanted to mint something special. To come up with a design that would both commemorate and provoke a necessary reflection on the ideals this country has promised, we've spent the last several weeks brainstorming and collaborating with NYT best-selling illustrator, Nate Taylor.
Lady Justice Wax Seal Coin
The concept was inspired by activist and poet Emma Lazarus, who penned the words now immortalized in bronze beneath the Statue of Liberty - her invitation for America to open its arms to immigrant and refugee families seeking a new life beyond the "golden door" - a literal foundational piece grounding Lady Liberty on Ellis Island's shore.
The reverse depicts strong arms supporting Lady Liberty's torch - this can't be done alone.
Our hope was for this memento to reflect the sentiment that everyone who makes up America's beautifully diverse landscape is deserving of liberty and justice, no matter what.
When I started brainstorming for this coin, I was following the idea of “patriotic idealism, but not the current definition.” I wanted to evoke what America is supposed to be striving towards: liberty, justice, inclusion. This central idea was what lead me to the many hands holding the Liberty torch. Once that was approved, Lady Justice just felt like a natural focus for the other side of the coin, though that one took multiple tries to find the right design.
Going through the steps of conceptualizing and settling on a final vision of this design was pure joy, and it re-filled my hope-meter in spite of, well, everything. It reminded me there are ideals that heal instead of harm, and they are worth fighting for, even if I can only fight with art. I hope it can do the same for others.
Nate Taylor
Shop the Liberty and Justice 250th Anniversary USA Coin and Lady Justice Wax Seal Coin!
