I was reading an article about Frank Gasparro's proposed design for the small dollar in the late 70's. I had never really looked closely at it, but it was explicitly mentioned that Lady Liberty has a pole with a cap on it behind her on the obverse. http://www.smalldollars.com/dollar/page04.html Does anyone know the significance of this design element? Just curious....seems an odd thing to include if there wasn't a reason...
It's a nod to the large and half cent designs of 1793-96. The cap and pole are a liberty cap and a liberty pole(like the liberty cap on some Mexican coins).
check this out http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/liberty/glossary.html "the cap was joined to the pole as a symbol of freedom when Salturnius conquered Rome in 263 B.C. where, in a burst of inspiration, he raised the cap on a pikestaff to show that the slaves who joined his fight would be freed"
Interesting. I never knew the significance of the pole, and also never really wondered about it either. Neat information.
