5 Nevada Goldback

Let Wisdom Rule

Sophia · Wisdom

Another Virtue’s debut appearance is found on Nevada’s 5 Goldback denomination. The Virtue Sophia, or Wisdom, makes her first appearance here as Athena. Sophia represents divine inspiration and progress, and is found surrounded by numerous Nevada-specific symbols, inventions, technologies, and bastions of wisdom. These include several libraries and university buildings from the University of Las Vegas and the University of Nevada, the quartz mill from the State Seal, an antique Hoover Dam hard helmet, various books and scrolls, a wagon wheel, pen and ink, books by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), a silver mine car, the State’s No. 40 Locomotive, and many others. Particularly notable is an open scroll depicting words from the 15th Amendment, significant because Nevada was the first state to adopt it, allowing equal rights to vote in the state regardless of skin color.

Sophia is clothed in battle gear with her traditional raised helm, arm guards, and breastplate, and is armed with her shield and spear. The viewer will also find the traditional symbol of Wisdom’s owl shown on the gorget worn around her neck. Additionally, she holds a pick axe, representative of the mining that was so influential in the development of the state. Each Nevada Goldback design contains a pillar, and Sophia stands atop an open book supported by this design’s pillar bearing the motto of the Great Seal of Nevada, “All for Our Country.” Also present are Nevada’s Mountain Bluebird and the White Pine, nodding to mountainous and rural White Pine County along the central eastern boundary of the state.