Capping Liberty

The Invention of Numismatic Iconography for the New American Republic

George Washington and the National Coinage

Even during the Confederation period, George Washington supported Thomas Jefferson and other advocates of a national coinage in a variety of metals. His popularity, to the point of adulation by the end of the Revolution, led to calls for his image to appear on the new coinage, a proposition that he is believed to have actively discouraged. He is, however, credited with having supplied the silver for the first coinage produced under the Constitution.