From allegorical women to mythological to real, we have covered several categories that have made a significant impact. As we follow along with Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest Women on Coins series, author Ron Guth continues to help us understand how significant these women were and still are. Today, we will circle back to a very real woman whose work in women’s suffrage made such an impact that her status continued to grow post-humous.
#72 – Evita Perón
Growing up in poverty in Junin, Argentina, Evita was born to Juan Duarte and Juana Ibarguren. Details of her birth are confusing as the dates and names on her certificate were contradictory. She moved to Buenos Aires in 1934 where she became a model and actress in film and on the radio. With her radio work, she met Juan Perón in 1942. He was a colonel in the army. In 1945, they would marry, with Juan becoming president of Argentina shortly after in 1946.
Evita thought about becoming the vice president alongside her husband but decided against it despite the millions of working people that supported her. The military, however, was not one of them as they did not want her to be president if Juan were to pass. He was 24 years older than Evita, stoking the concern even more.
All of that would seem to be the right decision in the end as she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1950. She would go through numerous treatments and surgeries, but the cancer would ransack her body. By 1952, she would die. Millions of fans in Argentina would show up to her state funeral in Buenos Aires.
Evita would not appear on a coin until 1997 when the 50th anniversary of the women’s suffrage law was commemorated. She would again be honored on a coin in 2002, appearing on a silver peso and a copper-nickel two-peso coin honoring the 50th anniversary of her passing. The reverse shows the millions that showed up in the streets at her funeral with the obverse depicting Perón.
Guth states that it is easy to collect these coins as they are inexpensive and easy to come by.