Coinage, United States
Wampum depreciated in value as currency in consequence of over-production, and a final blow was given to it as a circulating medium in New England by an order from the authorities of Massachusetts not to receive it in payment of taxes. As fast as coin came to the colony of Massachusetts by trade with the West Indies, it was sent to England to pay for goods purchased there. To stop this drain of specie Massachusetts set up a mint, and coined silver threepences, sixpences, and shillings, each bearing the figure of a pine-tree on one side, and the words “New England” on the other. The silver was alloyed a quarter below the English standard, with the expectation that the debasement would prevent the coin leaving the country. Thus the pound currency of New England came to be one-fourth less than the pound sterling of Great Britain; and this standard was afterwards adopted by the British Parliament for all the English American colonies. The “mint-house” in Boston existed about thirty-four years. All the coins issued from it bore the dates 1652 or 1662, the same dies being used, probably, throughout the thirty-four years of coining. Some coins had been made in Bermuda for the use of the Virginia colony as early as 1644.Copper coins bearing the figure of an elephant were struck in England for the Carolinas and New England in 1694. Coins were also struck for Maryland, bearing the effigy of Lord Baltimore. In 1722-23, William Wood obtained a royal patent for coining small money for the “English plantations in America.” He made it of pinchbeck — an alloy of copper and tin. One side of the coin bore the image of George I., and on the other was a large double rose, with the legend “Rosa Americana utile dulci.” In the coinage of 1724 the rose was crowned. This base coin was vehemently opposed in the colonies. A writer of the day, speaking of the speculation, said Wood had “the conscience to make thirteen shillings out of a pound of brass.” The power of coinage was exercised by several of the independent States from 1778 until the adoption of the national Constitution. A mint was established at Rupert, Vt., by legislative authority in 1785, whence copper cents were issued, bearing on one side a plough and a sun rising from behind hills, and on the other a radiated eye surrounded by thirteen stars. Some half-cents also were issued by the Vermont mint. In the same year the legislature of Connecticut authorized the establishment of a mint at New Haven, whence copper coins were issued having on one side the figure of a human head, and on the other that of a young woman holding an olive-branch. This mint continued in operation about three years. In 1786 parties obtained authority from the legislature of New Jersey to coin money, and they established two mints in that State: one not far from Morristown, and the other at Elizabethtown. On one side of this coinage was the head of a horse, with a plough beneath; and on the reverse a shield. The head of a horse and three ploughs now form the chief device of the great seal of New Jersey.
Cents and half-cents were issued in Massachusetts in 1788, exhibiting on one side an eagle with a bundle of arrows in the right talon, an olive-branch in the left, and a shield on its breast bearing the word “cent.” That device was, and is [230] now, the chief on the great seal of the United States. On the other side of the Massachusetts cent was the figure of an Indian holding a bow and arrow; also a single star. As early as the adoption of the “Articles of Confederation” (1781) the subject of national coinage occupied the attention of statesmen. In 1782, Robert Morris, superintendent of finance, submitted to the Continental Congress a plan for a metallic currency for the United States, arranged by Gouverneur Morris, who attempted to harmonize all the moneys of the States. He found that the 1440th part of the Spanish dollar was a common divisor of all the various currencies. Starting with that fraction as a
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| Facsimile of the first money coined by the United States. |
This report was adopted by Congress in 1785, and was the origin of our copper cent, silver dime and dollar, and golden eagle. The following year Congress framed an ordinance for the establishment of a mint, but nothing further was done until 1787, when the board of treasury, by authority of Congress, contracted with James Jarvis for 300 tons of copper coins of the prescribed standard, which were coined at a mint in New Haven, Conn. They bore the following devices: On one side thirteen circles linked together; a small circle in the middle, with the words American Congress within it, and, in the centre, the sentence “We are one.” On the other side a sun-dial, with the sun above it, and the word “Fugio”; and around whole, “Continental currency, 1776.” Below the dial, “Mind business.” A few of these pieces, it is said, were struck in a mint at Rupert, Vt. The national Constitution vested the right of coinage exclusively in the national government. The establishment of a mint was authorized by act of Congress in April, 1792, but it did not go into full operation until 1795.
During the interval of about three years its operations were chiefly experimental. and hence the variety of silver and copper coins which appeared between 1792 and 1795, now so much sought after by coincollectors. The most noted of these is the “Washington cent,” or “Liberty-cap cent,” so called because it has the profile of Washington on one side and a libertycap on the other. The subject of a device for the national coin caused much and sometimes warm debate in Congress. The bill for the establishment of the mint originated in the Senate, and provided for an eagle on one side of the gold and silver coins. To this there was no objection. The bill proposed for the reverse a representation of the head of the [231] President of the United States for the time being, with his name and order of succession to the Presidency and the date of the
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| Liberty-cap cent. |
David Rittenhouse, of Philadelphia, was chosen the first director of the mint. At that city (being the seat of government) it was established, and was never moved from it. It was the sole mint until 1835, when Congress created several branches. The dies used in coinage in all the mints in the United States are under the supervision of the engraver of the mint at Philadelphia. By the act of 1792 the golden eagle of 10 dollars was to weigh 270 grains, the parts in the same proportion; all of the fineness of 22 carats. The silver dollar, of 100 cents, was to weigh 416 grains, the fractions in proportion; the fineness, 892.4 thousandths. The copper cent was to weigh 264 grains; the half-cent in proportion. In 1793 the weight of the cent was reduced to 208 grains, and the half-cent in the same proportion.
Assay offices were established at New York in 1854; at Denver, Col., in 1864; and at Boise, City, Ida., in 1872. In 1873 Congress made the mint and assay offices a bureau of the Treasury Department, the title of the chief officer of which is Superintendent of the Mint. An act was passed in June, 1834, changing the weight and fineness of the gold coin, and the relative value of gold and silver. The weight of the eagle was reduced to 258 grains, and the parts in proportion, of which 232 grains must be pure gold, making the fineness 21 carats. The silver coinage was not then changed, but in January, 1837, Congress reduced the weight of the silver dollar to 412 1/2 grains, and the parts in proportion. By act of March 3, 1849, there were added to the series of gold coins the double eagle and the dollar; and in February, 1853, a 3-dollar piece. On March, 3, 1851, there was added to the silver coins a 3-cent piece (a legal tender for sums not exceeding 30 cents), and this piece continued to be coined until April 1, 1853, when its fineness was raised and its weight reduced. By act of Feb. 21, 1853, gold alone was made a legal tender, and the weight of the half-dollar was reduced to 206 grains, and smaller coins in proportion. Silver was made a legal tender only to the amount of 5 dollars. The silver dollar was not included in the change, but remained a legal tender. The copper cent and half-cent were discontinued in 1857, and a new cent of copper and nickel was coined. In 1864 the coinage of the bronze cent was authorized; also 2-cent pieces. By act of March 3, 1865, a 3-cent piece was authorized, of three-fourths copper and one-fourth nickel. May 16, 1866, a coinage of 5-cent pieces, three-fourths copper and one-fourth nickel, was authorized. The coinage act of 1873 prescribed the fineness of all gold and silver coins to be .900. The gold coins were of the same denomination as before; the silver coins were a “trade-dollar,” weighing 420 grains; a half-dollar, or 50-cent piece; a quarter-dollar, and a dime. There were also 5-cent and 3-cent silver coins issued. The issuing of coins other than those enumerated in the act is prohibited. It was provided that upon the coins of the United States there shall be the following devices and legends: Upon one side an emblem of Liberty, with the word “Liberty” and the year of the coinage; and upon the reverse the figure of an eagle, with the inscriptions “United States [232] of America” and “E pluribus unum,” and a designation of the value of the coin; but on the gold dollar and 3-dollar pieces, the dime, 5, 3, and 1 cent pieces, the figure of the eagle shall be omitted; and on the reverse of the silver trade-dollar the weight and the fineness of the coin shall be inscribed, with the motto “In God we trust” added when practicable.
The following table shows the coinage of the mints of the United States from their organization in 1792 to June 30, 1900:
| Denomination. | Value. |
| gold. | |
| Double-eagles | $1,538,826,060.00 |
| Eagles | 319,061,160.00 |
| Half-eagles | 259,066,545.00 |
| Three-dollar pieces (coinage discontinued under act of Sept. 26, 1890） | 1,619,376.00 |
| Quarter-eagles | 29,015,635.00 |
| Dollars (coinage discontinued under act of Sept.26, 1890） | 19,499,337.00 |
| ————— | |
| Total gold | $2,167,088,113.00 |
| silver | |
| Dollars (coinage discontinued, act of Feb. 10, 1873, and resumed under act of Feb. 28, 1878） | *$506,527,453.00 |
| Trade-dollars | 35,965,924.00 |
| Dollars (Lafayette souvenir), act of March 3, 1899. | 50,026.00 |
| Half-dollars | 144,988,509.00 |
| Half-dollars (Columbian souvenir) | 2,501,052.50 |
| Quarter-dollars | 63,763,021.50 |
| Quarter-dollars (Columbian souvenir) | 10,005.7 |
| Twenty-cent pieces (coinage discontinued, act of May 2, 1878） | 271,000.00 |
| Dimes | 35,931,861.20 |
| Half-dimes (coinage discontinued, act of Feb. 12, 1873） | 4,880,219.40 |
| Three-cent pieces (coinage discontinued, act of Feb. 12, 1873) | 1,282,087.20 |
| ————— | |
| Total silver | $796,171,159.55 |
| minor. | |
| Five-cent pieces, nickel | $17,967,308.10 |
| Three-cent pieces, nickel (coinage discontinued, act of Sept. 26, 1890） | 941,349.48 |
| Two-cent pieces, bronze (coinage discontinued, act of Feb. 12, 1873） | 912,020.00 |
| One-cent pieces, copper (coinage discontinued, act of Feb. 21, 1857） | 1,562,887.44 |
| One-cent pieces, nickel (coinage discontinued, act of April 22, 1864） | 2,007,720.00 |
| One-cent pieces, bronze | 10,072,758.59 |
| Half-cent pieces, copper (coinage discontinued, act of Feb. 21, 1857） | 39,926.11 |
| ————— | |
| Total minor | $33,503,969.72 |
| ————— | |
| Total coinage | $2,996,763,242.27 |
| * Silver-dollar coinage under act of April 2, 1792, $8,031,238; March 3, 1891, $498,496,215. Total, $506,527,453. |
On May 3, 1901, the United States treasurer issued the following statement concerning the amount of gold held by the treasury:
The gold fund in the treasury now amounts to $501,469,468. This is made up as follows: Reserve fund, $150,000,000; held against gold certificates, $283,441,989, and the general fund, $68,027,479. This total includes both coin and bullion, and the average fund held during the last month has been the highest in the history of the government.
The highest figure ever attained by the fund was reached on April 24 of this year, when the total reached the $502,173,119 mark. The diminution since then has been a little less than $1,000,000, and, of course, there is virtually no significance in the drop. When it is considered that six or seven years ago this fund amounted to a sum less than $100,000,000 the exact amount now held can be better appreciated. When the fund was ebbing at that time it was found necessary by the national administration to issue bonds to stay the inroads which were being made upon it, due to demands for gold from the money centres, and it was not without involving the government in considerable debt that the fund was maintained at the lowest figure permissible.
There is not a country on the face of the earth which holds so much gold in its treasury as the United States now has in its coffers. Russia, England, France, and other great money powers of Europe, have from time to time held amounts of commensurate value in their treasuries, but at the present time we have any and all of them beaten by a large margin. See bimetallism; circulation, Monetary; currency, National; Monetary reform.
