Benjamin Franklin Styled Lady Liberty’s Look in This Medal He Commissioned to Honor American and French Allies in the Revolutionary War

Franklin combined art with diplomacy to create the Libertas Americana. For the United States’ 250th anniversary, the Paris Mint is giving the design a refresh

Christian Thorsberg | Daily Correspondent

May 12, 2026 12:03 p.m.

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In the early 1780s, as the Revolutionary War was drawing near its end in favor of the upstart American nation, Benjamin Franklin, ever the innovator, sought to honor the victors and their allies with a brand new work of art.

Then living in Paris as the United States’ ambassador to France, the founding father—and first-ever American diplomat to a foreign country—wanted to properly thank France for its help during the war. Franklin envisioned pressing a medal that would express gratitude for the past and commemorate an independent future.

The design by Franklin and French artists Augustin Dupré and Esprit-Antoine Gibelin was evocative.

On the reverse side of the medal, France is represented by Minerva, the Roman goddess of war and wisdom, shielding an infant Hercules (America) from a lion (Britain). The scene honors crucial Continental Army victories in both Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781). In Latin, the phrase Non Sine Diis Animosus Infans (“The courageous child is not without the aid of the gods”) emphasizes France’s role in these milestone victories, writes Ellen Feingold, the National Numismatic Collection curator, for Smithsonian magazine.

The front of the coin, which frames the head of Lady Liberty, features one of history’s boldest hairstyles. Classical depictions of Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty, often kept her hair close to the scalp or styled. But to Franklin, personifying a nation’s hard-fought freedom and uncertain future meant abandoning tradition in favor of a depiction of flowing, wind-blown tresses.

“Her hair indicates a figure in action, not merely one freed from restraints,” wrote Patrick McMahon, the director of renovations and gallery displays at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. “Franklin chose a ‘disheveled’ Liberty for this reason. He knew there was difficult work ahead in building a new nation and he wanted to present America as willing to labor on its own behalf, even while it relied on others for help.”

And engraved under the portrait of Liberty is a date that is figuratively engraved in the American consciousness: July 4 1776.

The medals, known as Libertas Americana, were pressed by the Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint) in 1783. Franklin distributed them to American and European military leaders and dignitaries. Many have since been lost to history. The only two gold medals that were made—for Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette—disappeared during the French Revolution. The whereabouts of roughly 20 silver medals, and more than 100 bronze medals, are known today.

The Paris Mint launched a coin series in 2020 called “History of United States Independence” inspired by archival items. The series features the arrival of Marquis de Lafayette in Boston, the siege of Boston, the seal of the United States and busts of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

Ahead of the 250th birthday of the U.S., the Paris Mint is pressing a new medal that refreshes Franklin’s original design. Set to release on May 26, according to the New York Times, the silver or gold coins will feature Minerva and Lady Liberty, the latter depicted as the well-known New York monument—itself a gift from France—side by side.

The new design’s debut is timed with an exhibition planned for May 26 through 31 in New York City called “Hidden Treasures: 250 Years of Franco-American Luxury Stories,” which will showcase jewelry, champagnes, perfumes, clothes and other elements of luxury that have defined the last 250 years of Franco-American artistry.

Building diplomatic relationships through the exchange of gifts traces all the way back to Franklin’s original idea for the Libertas Americana medal.

“Luxury is a living force,” Bénédicte Épinay, president and chief executive of Comité Colbert, the association organizing the exhibition, tells the Times’ Tina Isaac-Goizé. “The emotion behind what our countries have brought each other is stronger than geopolitics.”

Christian Thorsberg | Read More

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer and photographer from Chicago. His work, which often centers on freshwater issues, climate change and subsistence, has appeared in Circle of Blue, Sierra magazine, Discover magazine and Alaska Sporting Journal.