Information about effigy: Liberty, Portrait

The concept of liberty has frequently been represented by personifications, often loosely shown as a female classical goddess. Examples include Marianne, the national personification of the French Republic and its values of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, the female Liberty portrayed on United States coins for well over a century, and many others. These descend from images on ancient Roman coins of the Roman goddess Libertas and from various developments from the Renaissance onwards. The Dutch Maiden was among the first, re-introducing the cap of liberty on a liberty pole featured in many types of image, though not using the Phrygian cap style that became conventional (the Phrygian cap as a symbol dates back to Ancient Rome where such caps were worn by emancipated ex-slaves). The 1886 Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi is a well-known example in art, a gift from France to the United States.

Note that Liberty is called Miss Liberty or Ms. Liberty in an American context, and not Lady Liberty as elsewhere.

The coins listed below depict a portrait of Liberty as imagined on American coinage. On some coin types, Liberty is also depicted seated or standing.

See also presentations on the coinage of other countries:
- Switzerland: Libertas by Karl Schwenzer (1879 - present) and Libertas by Albert Walch (1883 - 1896)

Liberty Cap

United States / Half Cent 1795 Liberty Cap

One of the earliest depictions of the portrait of Miss Liberty on American coins, with a pole and Cap of Liberty in the background.