Arizona 1 Goldback

Arizona 1 Goldback - Contains 1/1000 T Oz. of 24k gold

Artwork Description ----

This artwork honours the virtue Temperantia, or Temperance. It reflects the Mexican era of 
Tubac, after Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821. In the background stands Mission San José de Tumacácori, one of Arizona’s oldest and most important landmarks. At the center is a regal woman in a 19th-century Mexican dress. Her embroidered skirt symbolizes the union of Indigenous, Spanish, and Mexican traditions that gave Arizona its roots. Around her are many state symbols: the saguaro blossom (the state 
flower), the cactus wren (the state bird), and the two-tailed swallowtail (the state butterfly). In the artwork, you’ll also find a desert tortoise, a Harris’s hawk, a javelina, corn, chiles, and prickly pear. 

Together, Tubac and Tumacácori remind us that Mexico’s presence shaped southern Arizona. At the heart of this scene is the enduring truth from Galatians 5:22–23: “The fruit of the Spirit is temperance.”