50 New Hampshire Goldback

Description

Virtue: Libertas (Liberty)

Enduring Principle: “Stand Fast in Liberty.”

The New Hampshire 50 Goldback celebrates Libertas, the embodiment of Liberty, set amid the towering evergreens and rugged beauty of the White Mountain National Forest. At the center, she stands as a guardian of freedom, her gown embroidered with fish, honoring the state’s early fishing economy, while a bundle of five arrows in her hand represents New Hampshire’s original counties. Behind her rises the eastern white pine, a symbol of the state’s critical role in timber exports for naval masts.

Along her hem, the Latin phrase “Vis Unitas Fortior”—“Strength Through Unity”—recalls New Hampshire’s historic seal. A medallion with a torch and a necklace of laurel and stars tie her to both classical ideals and the state’s visual heritage. Beneath her, white-tailed deer roam, emblematic of family, unity, and the passing of liberty through generations.

Libertas stands atop a felled pine marked with King George’s emblem, a broken axe at her feet, and holds a pine switch in her left hand—references to the Pine Tree Riots of 1732–1734, when citizens courageously defied British restrictions on cutting large pines. By raising a white pine flag bearing the plea “An Appeal to God,” she evokes that spirit of early resistance, showing that liberty is both earned and defended through courage and vigilance.

This artwork embodies the timeless truth that freedom requires active stewardship, unity, and the willingness to stand boldly against injustice.