Todat is the 225th Anniversary of the establishnent of the U.S. Mint.
golden
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" An act establishing a mint, and regulating the coins of the United States " the Mint Act of April 2,1792. This act started the Mint and served as the basis for all U.S. coins. By mid-July, 1792 1500 Half Dismes had been struck, from silver deposited by Thomas Jefferson ,and delivered to back him. Post any U.S. coin from our first year of coinage.
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The myth that George Washington donated his silverware for the 1792 half dismes has been debunked, but the truth is almost as good. The lead article in this month's "Coin World," "Jefferson's Wald to Our First Coins," states that Jefferson withdrew 75 Spanish silver dollars from his personal account at the First Bank of the United States and took them to John Harper's workshop. There they were melted, formed into ingots, rolled out in strips, cut into planchets and struck up as 1,500, 1792 half dismes.
From there Jefferson took them on his summer trip to Monticello and gave them out as tips to servants along the way. There was also an additional 200 or 300 pieces made in the fall of 1792 at the first U.S. Mint according to author, Joel J. Orosz.
Having a coin that was made of silver owned by Jefferson and more than likely handled by the author of the Declaration of Independence is almost as good as having one that was made from Washington's silver.
(not my coin, but found the saved images while looking for pics of my half disme, disme, and Birch cent)
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Happy Birthday. As a present, I got "1792: Birth of a Nation's Coinage" by Pete Smith, Joel Orosz and Len Augsburger. Reading it todat.
Todat is the 225th Anniversary of the establishnent of the U.S. Mint.
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True dat.
Scan from 1979 Garrett auction catalog:
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"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
@Bill Jones, Thanks once again for an excellent history lesson.
The old Mint superimposed on the new building:
A map of Philadelphia showing the locations of important places. Only the Graff House remains.
Here is the mint location:
Here is Jefferson's house location. Now a parking lot:
Across the street was the Dept. of State:
The Jacob Graff house. Where the Declaration of Independence was written:
Google Earth view of the Mint and Jefferson's residence::
Google Earth view of the Mint and John Harper's Sawmaker shop:
Thx EE.
I love this kind of historical perspective.
Thanks for the pics Rick!
The last time I was in Philadelphia I visited (among other historical sites) the U.S. Mint there. Nearby was a small graveyard near a church with headstones for recognizable historic figures from the late 1700s.
Ironically, when I flew out on the airplane a feature in flight movie was "National Treasure" starring Nicolas Cage. The very places I had walked hours earlier were seen again including, if I recall correctly, that very same graveyard.
Incidentally even though parts of the film were filmed on location in Philadelphia, the Independence Hall you see in the movie is the replica at Knott's Berry Farm. Another piece of movie trivia, the Arctic scenes were filmed in Utah.
My copy of the new book arrived! It was here when I got home from the Baltimore show.
W. David Perkins Numismatics - http://www.davidperkinsrarecoins.com/ - 25+ Years ANA, ANS, NLG, NBS, LM JRCS, LSCC, EAC, TAMS, LM CWTS, CSNS, FUN
Great pictures... I have been to Philadelphia several times... never did tour the Mint. Visited all the other historical spots... Cheers, RickO