The Freedom Man cowboy | silver shield coins

Western European men have, throughout their existence, wanted the freedom to run their own lives, to make their own decisions, and to thereby, create their own futures for themselves and their families. Choosing how they would protect and provide for their families was always a priority. Most Real men did not want anyone to interfere with these obligations or duties. Not anyone!

The Foundation of Freedom

*2025 "The Freedom Man" Silver Proof Round, by Chris Duane*

From Tribes to Trade: The Dawn of Settlements

As men began to realize that they were better able to protect their families by establishing clans, tribes or encampments, they also began to settle down in one location. These settlements also allowed them to begin growing their own food rather than remaining simply hunters and gathers.

The men who were the leaders of most of these settlements were bound together by family ties or friendship. And, although they had to cooperate with each other to accomplish their bigger goals, they maintained their freedom to provide for their families as they saw fit.

The Rise of Silver: A Measure of Freedom

Over the centuries, this type of “group” living was so successful that the settlements began to trade their crops and livestock with other settlements, thus creating the barter system. This system eventually proved to be very inefficient because there were too many variables, i.e. were 6 chickens consistently worth one sheep? A system of weights and measures was finally developed and silver became the regulated form of exchange. Silver coins were then considered money and the more a man had, the more freedom he had to pursue his dreams for himself and his family.

Silver coins were then considered money,

and the more a man had, the more freedom he had to pursue his dreams for himself and his family.

This trade agreement not only improved the living conditions within the settlements, but also created “wealth” for the groups as well. Through men’s innate sense of inventiveness and ingenuity, they continued to advance their settlements until they created enough wealth to establish permanent hamlets, villages, towns and finally cities.

Eventually these communities became countries headed by kings, but the individual men continued to value and pursue their individual freedoms. On one occasion, those freedoms were threatened and history was made.

Milestones of Liberty

The Magna Carta: A Landmark Agreement

In 1215, the wealthy barons of England determined that they were losing their freedoms to the ruthlessness of King John and so they revolted. Once the king was subdued, twenty-five barons wrote, and the king begrudgingly signed, the Magna Carta. This agreement codified their freedoms and changed the civilized world forever.

The Magna Carta, or Great Charter, was a revolutionary concept which had never existed before. For the first time, it placed the people’s rights and freedoms on par with their king. One of the most important, and revolutionary aspects of the agreement was the establishment of private property rights and laws to protect it. The king could no longer arbitrarily take someone’s property without due process or just compensation.

The rights contained in the Magna Carta became so essential, and elemental, to men's sense of freedom that, 572 years later, many of those same rights were included in the United States Constitution. Those freedoms became a rallying call. And that call has never been silenced for long because freedom defines men’s ambitions.

King John signs Magna Carta | Silver Shield

Symbols of Freedom

Iconic Figures: From Spartans to Cowboys

Freedom has also been defined through many historic figures - the Spartans, Centurions, Crusaders, Musketeers, adventurers, explorers, pioneers, but especially by the cowboy. The American cowboy has become an iconic symbol of freedom.

Our American cowboy, who is represented on Chris’ new coin, “The Freedom Man’, pursued freedom with a vengeance. Those men literally blazed new trails never traveled before. They established new towns by the hundreds and then didn’t hesitate to move on when they felt their freedoms were being impinged upon.

Cowboys not only valued their independence but they protected their freedoms to the death. They followed in the footsteps of all the freedom-seeking men who came before them.

And, just as with the barons of England,

**uncorrupted physical silver always remained at their side allowing them the freedom to pursue their dreams.**

The Modern Context

Fiat Currency and Digital Illusions

Today, men are less fortunate than their ancestors because silver is no longer considered money. And, as a result, humanity has become slaves to the preposterous promises surrounding a fluctuating fiat currency, or worse yet, other digital illusions of wealth which only live on paper. And worse yet, with the recent invention of the crypto currency, freedom is no longer defined by how much physical silver you’ve accumulated, or even the dollars shown on your bank statement, it is literally defined by THIN AIR!