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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gsalexan, post: 2277964, member: 24274&quot;]Just added a great new vignette proof to my collection -- the keyhole version of the Statue of Freedom, which now sits atop the U.S. Capitol dome. However, at the time this vignette was created the dome was yet unfinished and statue wouldn&#039;t be hoisted into placed until 1863.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was engraved by Owen Hanks for American Bank Note Co. and many collectors will recognize it from the 1861 $5 Demand and U.S. Notes. It also appears on a couple of obsolete bank notes and a 10 peso note from Ecuador (PS115). ABNC produced a later version without the black background but this one has more eye appeal, imho.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thomas Crawford was commissioned to create the Statue of Freedom in 1854 by … Jefferson Davis(!), who was serving as U.S. Secretary of War at the time and also charged with construction and decoration of the new Capitol building. In fact, Davis provided Crawford with the basic description for the statue&#039;s design. But on his plaster model Crawford added an element that didn&#039;t sit well -- a liberty cap, the symbol of a freed Roman slave. Davis wouldn&#039;t stand for this affront to Southern slaveholders and demanded the cap be replaced with a helmet featuring the head and feathers of an eagle. He got his way.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]454817[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]454818[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]454819[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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