10 Idaho Goldback Alpha

The Idaho 10 Goldback honors the virtue Perseverantia, or perseverance, through the history of Silver City, one of Idaho’s most important mining communities. The scene takes place at the Owyhee Mountains during the height of the silver rush in the early 1860s. The miner in the artwork rests beside a cart filled with raw silver ore. Behind her is the Idaho Hotel and the Masonic Lodge. Eventually, silver production declined, and the town was abandoned, but Silver City is still preserved today.

The artwork also acknowledges how Idaho earned the nickname the “Gem State.” Idaho is one of the few places in the world where star garnet, the state’s official gemstone, is naturally found. The state has also produced sapphire, opal, jasper, aquamarine, topaz, and quartz. These stones are subtly worked into the composition. Perseverantia reflects the men and women who stayed, worked, and built in difficult conditions. They shaped Idaho’s identity with their grit and determination. 

Along the bottom is a passage from James 1:12: “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial.”