Junius Maltby Coin Origins and Meaning

Coin is here: https://qualitysilverbullion.com/product/pre-sale-1-oz-junius-maltby-999-silver-rounds/
The Junius Maltby Coin originated as a way to celebrate reaching 10,000 subscribers, where the 1 oz. fine silver round could also serve as a challenge coin, reminding those who hold it of the discussions and principles we hold as a community.
On the Obverse you see the face of Marsyas as sculpted by the artist Luigi Badia. In Greek mythology Marsyas was tied to a pole and flayed alive by the god Apollo after challenging the god to a musical contest. Marsyas was admired for his intelligence (sunesis) and self-control (sophrosune), not qualities found by Greeks in ordinary satyrs. Among the Romans, Marsyas was cast as the inventor of augury and a proponent of free speech (the philosophical concept παρρησία, “parrhesia“) and “speaking truth to power.” The earliest known representation of Marsyas at Rome stood for at least 300 years in the Roman Forum near or in the comitium, the space for political activity. The statue was regarded as an indicium libertatis, a symbol of liberty, and was associated with demonstrations of the plebs, or common people. It often served as a sort of kiosk upon which invective verse was posted.
The Reverse displays the ancient cuneiform inscription for the Sumerian word “Amagi”. Ama-gi is a Sumerian word. It has been translated as “freedom”, as well as “manumission“, “exemption from debts or obligations”, and “the restoration of persons and property to their original status” including the remission of debts. Other interpretations include a “reversion to a previous state” and release from debt, slavery, taxation or punishment.The word originates from the noun ama “mother” (sometimes with the enclitic dative case marker ar), and the present participle “return, restore, put back”, thus literally meaning “returning to mother”. Assyriologist Samuel Noah Kramer has identified it as the first known written reference to the concept of freedom. Its literal meaning is “return to the mother”. The earliest known usage of the word was in the reforms of Urukagina. By the Third Dynasty of Ur, it was used as a legal term for the manumission of individuals, (the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves). It is related to the Akkadian word anduraāru(m), meaning “freedom”, “exemption” and “release from (debt) slavery”.
On reverse framing the Amagi Cuneiform are the latin words for Gold, Silver and Liberty ( AURUM ET ARGENTUM - LIBERTAS ) .
The U.S. Silver Eagle is marked only “1 OZ. FINE SILVER”, so is the Junius Maltby round. “Fine Silver” in place of the synonymous “.999” is classical, borrowing from the U.S. Silver eagle - my first ever precious metal coin.
To the dedicated few who sit and suffer through the most boring channel on youtube. Thank you. This coin we hold in common, with symbols and meaning that defined the channel from day one is for you.
Junius Maltby
MMXVII

The Coin: https://qualitysilverbullion.com/product/pre-sale-1-oz-junius-maltby-999-silver-rounds/