Would anyone know the meaning of the "cap on a stick" or Liberty Cap on some of the early coins of the US? The Morgan Dollar also has a capped woman, but the early coins seemed to have caps off the head and perched on a wand or pole. My Red Book didn't mention it. BH
Well I seem to remember some college classes.... Caps sitting on spears represented Liberty in Roman times. For the life of me, I can't remember why or more likely, I never knew why
http://fieldnotebook.com/coins/mercurydime.html "The hat is a Phrygian cap, which originally came, oddly enough, from Phrygia (now part of Turkey). In Greek art, popping a Phrygian cap on someone's head means he was a foreigner, but in Rome it was worn by slaves who became freemen (meaning their kids would be free, too). It's used in the iconography of both the French Revolution and our revolution to symbolize freedom in general. Liberty is wearing one, or waving it about on a stick, on many of our early coins." The 1795 Half Cent has a variety listed in The Red Book. They call it "cap with pole.". Hope this is what you were looking for... John
Hi BHerbert; I posed that question once...... http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=29369&highlight=cap+pole
