Republic of Ghana - 1 Cedi Justice Aurum® 24k Gold Bill

African Justice, embodied as a young Ghanaian woman, strong and confident, looks to the future. Her profile emphasizes the strengths that identify Ghana, whose etymological name means “strong warrior king.“

The obverse features the prominent Star of Ghana; the denomination and overall layout follow the paper Cedi. On the reverse, Ghana’s Coat of Arms follows Ghana’s traditional coins. The Coat of Arms is flanked by the tawny eagle in heraldic and protective mode.

The image of African Justice was crafted by Joel Iskowitz, one of the world’s most prominent living numismatic and philatelic artists. In African Justice, Mr. Iskowitz uses his famous gravure style to blend traditional and forward-looking design.

Mr. Iskowitz explains: “In portraying Lady Justice, I wanted to remember the lineage that goes back to the medieval Ghanaian kingdoms and trace its progress to present-day Ghana. Because Lady Justice follows my personification of African Liberty portrayed on the One Cedi Gold bill for the Republic of Ghana, I wanted to continue some of the themes I addressed in my designs for African Liberty to maintain consistency. I kept Lady Justice draped in traditional Kente, Ankara, and Adinkra garments to emphasize that this is an image emblematic of contemporary Justice as well as a continuation of historical and traditional values.”

In the full portrait, African Justice overlooks the Ghanaian Coat of Arms, which is emblematic of the country’s industrial mineral wealth and its treasured landscape. The tawny eagle is behind her in a heraldic and protective mode, an important symbolic element. The sword she holds is an emblem of the cost that must be paid by the unjust. Striding powerfully forward, Justice raises the balance scales delicately suspended from her sensitive fingers. She does not wear a blindfold, indicating that she is capable of disinterested fairness in an open-eyed manner.

The United States Mint has accepted over fifty designs by Mr. Iskowitz, and he has designed more than 2,000 stamps for a total of 40 countries. Mr. Iskowitz has previously created a philatelic portrait for Ghana: a portrait of Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations Secretary-General from 1997-2006. For this portrait of African Justice, Mr. Iskowitz was inspired by Mr. Annan’s lifelong career serving humanitarian causes and liberty and Mr. Annan’s ancestral history of Akan tribal chiefs and Ashanti and Fante aristocratic families.

African Justice commemorates timeless treasure and ancestral history. It observes today’s Africa with its rich resources and young vitality.