1/1000 Troy Oz. "African Liberty" 1 Cedi Note, Bill Sleeve, Golden Life Card

Description

T
his One Cedi "African Liberty" Bank of Ghana Aurum
® Gold
Note is legal tender
currency and the first banknote in the world issued by a major government using Aurum
®
technology.
Created by one of the most prominent living numismatic and philatelic artists, Joel Iskowitz, the Obverse design features a front-facing relief of a Ghanaian woman inspired by African Liberty. Her figure is accompanied by the face value in Ghanaian Cedi and a coat of arms. Joel Iskowitz explained his concept for the Note this way: “My personification of African Liberty attempts to create a beautiful, modern Ghanaian young woman with features that evoke the regal ethnic Akan and other diverse groups of her heritage." Her garments and accouterments are composed of both ancient Adinkra Design elements as well as contemporary African print patterns such as traditional Kente and modern Ankara styles. She emerges from a Golden background with the legend, “Freedom and Justice,” emblematic of Ghana’s Gold Coast and mineral wealth. In full portrait, African Liberty overlooks the Ghanaian Coat of Arms, symbolic of this nation’s most preciously held resources and treasures. Joel Iskowitz is famous for his gravure style, and in this One Cedi Note he has employed an intaglio approach on both sides of the Note.
The One Cedi "African Liberty" was limited to 10,000 individually-serialized gold notes, starting with a serial number using “AA” and concluding with seven numbers after the two-letter start of the code: AA0000001 to AA0010000.
In 2018, the Republic of Ghana surpassed the Republic of South Africa as the largest producer of gold on the African continent. Ghana mined 4.8 million ounces that year, the first time a nation other than South Africa was the leading producer of gold. The One Cedi value in Republic of Ghana currency is difficult to peg due to inflation that nation has suffered since independence from being a British colony. Cedi is the word for "shell money," a form of currency that circulated goods and people throughout Europe, Africa and the New World. The traditional cedi shell is pictured on the reverse of the note. The 1 Cedi Note was manufactured by Valaurum, Inc., a company founded in 2012 by Adam Trexler. Using a proprietary method derived from the computer chip industry, vaporized gold is sprayed in a vacuum in layers onto a substrate of polyester. The resulting Gold Note is durable and full-color, and can be printed on both sides as on this 1 Cedi Note. Like all Aurum
® and gold notes, common assay procedures involving burning off the substrate of the notes leaves behind nothing but pure 0.999 fine gold. The 1 Cedi Note is protected in a bill sleeve and is attached to a Golden Life Card with a "mini-bio" of the Note opposite it [see photo]. A Certificate of Authenticity from the Republic of Ghana guarantees the purity [.999 fine] of the Note and its weight [1/1000 oz.], Mintage [10,000], size [130 x 65.28mm], Face Value [1 Cedi], Artist [Joel Iskowitz] and Quality [
Proof like
].
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