One United States "First Spouse Coin" is not Really a First Spouse Coin

If you hate learning about history, you might hate to read this post since it is basically the Money and History Blog today. 😄
However, you won't know unless you try! 🙂

The UNITED STATES Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 in Law 109-145 (↗) enacted the production of First Spouse half-ounce gold coins ($10 denomination) and bronze medals (no denomination), but not every U.S. President was married to a wife during their presidential years. However, every President did have a First Lady, otherwise known as "first hostess" especially in years before the 19th century. Whether they were wives, friends, or relatives, every First Lady took on the work involved with tasks, social affairs, and/or nationwide initiatives in the White House. As of 2019, a total of five U.S. Presidents never had a First Spouse during their respective administration.

Thomas Jefferson (3rd President), Andrew Jackson (7th), Martin Van Buren (8th), and Chester Arthur (21st) were married at some point in their lives, but not during the presidency. James Buchanan (15th) was unmarried for life, but he had managerial support at the White House just like the other Presidents. Buchanan's niece, Harriet Lane, was the First Lady or first hostess in 1857 to 1861. The design on the Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren, and Buchanan "First Spouse" coins did not feature living women but the allegorical Lady Liberty instead. Sure, these First Lady non-spouse coins do not make sense for the series' name (First Spouse Gold Coin and Bronze Medal Program), but at least the helpful women in those several administrations valiantly served in the White House, just like the First Spouses.

Anomaly in the Series
According to an article by Chris Bulfinch in the April 2019 issue of Coin World magazine, "...the designs for all but one of the coins issued in conjunction with a president who had no spouse were required to depict a portrait of Liberty." Note that Chris said all but one in that sentence, and that his article mentions the coins with spouses and Liberty on them. So most coins have spouse designs, four coins have the Liberty figure, and then there is an "all but one" coin that does not have either type of design? My anxiously curious mind wanted to figure out what the heck this coin was, so I hopped onto the US Mint's First Spouse Gold Coin Program webpage (↗) and thankfully found it!

The two coin photos in the image above are from the United States Mint.
Click the image to enlarge it in a pop-up lightbox window.

The anomalous "First Spouse" coin does feature a once-living woman ... but she was never a First Lady or a First Spouse. This woman was Alice Paul: a suffragist, activist, and leading strategist whose work was instrumental for women's voting rights in the United States. She was chosen for the President Chester Arthur "First Spouse" coin (year 2012) because she was born on January 11, 1885, near the end of Chester Arthur's 1881-1885 administration. Ellen Arthur née Herndon was Chester Arthur's wife but died before the President took office. It is a wonderful thing to commemorate Alice Paul work by featuring two images of her on this coin, but I just cannot help but think that this coin (and maybe the Liberty ones, too) is out-of-place within the First Spouse series.