The image of the mother in the world coin

Author | Ma Tianyi

Source| Financial Expo Fortune

Maternal love is invisible, selfless and priceless, and is one of the most precious emotions of human beings. Singing the praises of motherhood and interpreting maternal love is never outdated. As a carrier of spreading culture, the coin depicts various images of the mother in a variety of expressions, which has important propaganda value.

Maternal love can be as tender as water, but also can be righteous

There are many ways to express maternal love, and depicting the image of a mother holding a baby is one of the common design techniques used by commemorative coins to express maternal love.

In 2007, Latvia issued a gold-plated commemorative silver coin with the theme "Coin of Life". The obverse of the commemorative coin shows two heart-shaped leaves connected by silver threads like tender buds, which are both a symbol of new life and a symbol of human emotions such as lips and kisses. In the back pattern, a mother holds a baby in her arms, and the mother and child close their eyes slightly and smile. When the newborn has not yet formed self-awareness, it can feel the mother's heartfelt love and naturally smile.

2007 Latvia "Coin of Life" commemorative silver coin

The famous Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt is known for depicting various female figures, and his oil painting "Three Periods of Women" depicts an elderly woman and a woman with a baby in her arms, vividly summarizing the life of a woman. In 2018, Cameroon issued a colored commemorative silver coin with the theme of "Motherhood in Art", which was taken from the above oil painting, with a sleeping girl on the front and a mother and daughter in the original work. The ornamentation in the motif subtly obscures the naked body of the mother and daughter, allowing the viewer's attention to focus on the face of the character.

2018 Cameroon "Motherhood in Art" commemorative silver coin

Coincidentally, Niue issued a commemorative silver coin with the theme of "motherhood" in 2021, and the back motif also depicts the image of a mother holding a child in her sleep, conveying the deep feelings of a mother who cares for her child. The reliefs are stunning. The mother's long hair forms the background, and the tenderness overflows the picture. Four artificial crystals are inlaid on the right side of the coin, juxtaposed with six stars, including silhouettes of large birds and small birds, echoing the main body of the pattern.

2021 Niue "Motherhood" commemorative silver coin

Mother's love can also be righteous. During the Second World War, the Soviet Union was involved in the brutal Great Patriotic War, and countless young people gave their precious lives. Why don't the mothers of these young people love their children? It's just that when the motherland needs it, both the mother and the child can be righteous. The great Kyrgyz literary figure Chingis Aitmatov published his novel Mother's Land in 1963. The story recounts in a retrospective way about a mother who once had a happy family, lost her husband and children because of the outbreak of war, but her faith sustained her to continue her life. In 2009, Kyrgyzstan issued a commemorative silver coin with the theme "Mother's Land". In the obverse of the silver coin, a lonely mother contrasts with two smiling soldiers behind her. Whose children are they? Whose husband? Whose father? The old-fashioned locomotives are parked aside, and it is the trains that take the warriors to the battlefield and the survivors back home. The unfolded book shows that everything came from the book, but the story reflected in the book is a projection of real events. The splashes on the books are like a passing life, short and beautiful. This commemorative coin does not depict the mother's action of caring for the child, but the picture shows the mother's longing for the child.

2009 Kyrgyzstan "Mother's Land" commemorative silver coin

The image of a mother that embodies national characteristics

The love of motherhood in the world is more or less the same, but the image of mothers of different ethnic groups is different.

Sakagavia, a native of the Hushuni Indians, became a household name in the United States due to the issuance of "golden dollar" circulating coins. In 1805, Sakagawa and her husband joined an expedition led by Lewis and Clark. Carrying young children on her back, she served as the team's guide and interpreter, helping the expedition members complete the great journey from the western United States to the other side of the Pacific. In 1997, the U.S. Congress decided to resume production of $1 coins to meet the needs of the vending machine industry. In 1998, the Coin Design Advisory Committee finalized the design of the commemorative coin. Modeled by Sculptor Glena Goodclair, a Hughesian schoolgirl Randy, the Sakagavia has created a classic image of Sakagawa, whose facial features are typical of Native Americans, with a resolute and optimistic face that symbolizes a spirit of positive pioneering. It is worth mentioning that the Sakagawaja "Golden Dollar" was issued from 2000 to 2008, and the first edition of the coin won the most popular coin award at the 2002 World Coin Awards.

In 2000, the American Sakagawa "Golden Dollar" commemorative coin was circulated

In the Latvian National History Museum, a plaster model of the 1922 edition of 20 lat gold coins made by the famous Latvian and Soviet sculpture artist Theodos Chakar (1876-1972) is preserved. The front motif depicting a kind-faced mother wearing a headscarf, based on Courland refugees during the First World War, conveys Latvians' belief in the habit of suffering and the courage to overcome it, and shows that the mother is the heart of the family and the country. The pattern on the back shows a corner of the table, food symbolizes fertility and abundance, and the knife symbolizes strength, and only when abundance and strength are combined, the home and country will be complete. However, the design of the coin was not initially adopted. It was not until 2008, in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the restoration of the status of the lat to legal tender, that the Bank of Latvia commissioned the Austrian Mint to produce commemorative coins, and finally made the 1922 edition of the 20 LAT gold coin come out. The coin won the Best Coin Award and the Coin of the Year Award at the 2010 World Coin Awards.

2008 Latvian Latvian Coin Commemorative Gold Coin

The turban, which can be used to shade and keep warm, can also play a certain decorative role, and is more associated with the mother image of a specific ethnic group. In 2011, Belarus issued a commemorative silver coin with the theme "Fertility", which belongs to the "Slavic Tradition" series, and the obverse motif depicts the "Tree of Life" in an abstract way, the branches and fruits of the Tree of Life symbolizing the branches of the family lineage. The motif on the back depicts a mother with her baby in her arms. The mother wears a headscarf, her eyes are soft and bright, vividly showing the characteristics of the appearance of Slavic women. Babies hold pigeons, and in Slavic mythology, birds bring good luck, prosperity, and happiness. The star pattern on the right side of the picture symbolizes children.

2011 Belarus "Slavic Tradition" series "Fertility" commemorative silver coin

The figure of a mother with special symbolic significance

In addition to showing the human emotion of "motherly love", the image of the mother on the coin has some other special symbolic meaning.

The World Day of Migrants and Refugees is a Vatican campaign launched in 1914 to express the Church's concern for a wide range of vulnerable people, to pray to support them in the face of challenges, and to promote awareness of the opportunities offered by migration. In 2010, to commemorate the 96th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the Vatican issued a commemorative silver coin. The silver coin has a façade designed by Pope Benedict XVI, and the reverse depicts Joseph fleeing to Egypt with Mary and Jesus, showing the spirit of a family in distress. "Escape to Egypt", a common subject in Western religious painting, is derived from Matthew's Gospel chapter 2 verses 13-15 and tells the story of Jesus' family fleeing to Egypt to escape the harm of herod, the Jewish king. What is rare and valuable is that in the picture, although Mary has a halo on her head, she teases her children like an ordinary mother, with less divinity and more humanistic care, which also reflects the changes in religion with the times.

Silver coin commemorating the 96th World Day of Migrants and Refugees in the Vatican in 2010

The earth is also often given a personified symbol, presenting the image of a mother. In 2020, the Vatican issued a commemorative coin for the 5th Anniversary of Earth Day, which included a gold-plated gold coin. The reverse motif of the silver coin depicts the image of a mother touching the earth. The mother's hair is covered with long ears of wheat, representing time limits beyond the past and the future, implying eternity. The act of touching expresses the expectation that people should love the earth as they care for their children.

Silver coins commemorating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in the Vatican in 2020

In addition, the establishment of a mother image on commemorative coins is also a kind of political propaganda. In 2022, St. Helena released the third commemorative silver coin in the "Queen's Virtues" series, "Charity". The obverse of the silver coin is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and the back is taken from a sculpture on the Victoria Monument outside Buckingham Palace, showing the image of a mother holding an infant. Combining the theme and the picture performance, it is not difficult to understand the intention of the design of the commemorative coin, that is, to link the queen's political cause to virtues such as "charity", subtly establishing a positive impression for the British royal family.

2022 St. Helena "Queen's Virtues" series "Charity" commemorative silver coins