I was gobsmacked when I saw the image in the newspaper. I thought is was an utterly beautiful portrait of a strong woman and a brilliant representation of the concept of Liberty. I guess I'm in the ranks of the "wrongheaded."

Coin design has always been a conservative application of art. I'm using the word conservative not in a political sense but the true definition of the word as defined in Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2010: 2: "tending to preserve establish traditions of institutions and to resist or oppose any changes in these, politicians, art." This is certainly an application on the art side.

I like the girl. The big stars are a bit much.

If you look at American money, not every Miss Liberty was an Athena with a Native American war bonnet. We have had real Native Americans and African Americans on our monetary media. The Marian Anderson gold coins of the Fine Arts Commission are an example, often overlooked by those who are ignorant about American numismatics. The Sacagawea dollar, which became a four-coin set of Native American themes, apparently was non-controversial. If you want controversy, show someone a Peace dollar, and then tell them about the scathing denunciations of the coin, even from the designer himself.

Miss Liberty of 2017 may be the last of her type. This National Geographic photoessay from photographer Martin Schoeller displays 25 "average" Americans.