, 1883-10-06

The Flint Penny Cslnea In America IN
the /" statesman CabinsL

Therei.in possession OF the profristorof The
/ STATESMAN an old copper Jenny that hs
F! prizes every BIT ,s highly - did the thrifty
I fellow Of the scriptures his one talent, which
he wrapped up so esreiuily in napkin and
hid away until fabulous interest shoah &C
crue at compound rates. II il N honest
peray, fairly vel preserved, and vas once,
with its braIen fellows, the pioneer IN Uni
ted States coinage But its o,d fashioned
mates Of coicnia, days have deParted-scAt-
tered 10 one knows ehither-and to what
degree destroyed, Is 70 their particular iden-
tity, no enc car, with sny certainty. tell.
Bat 0: one specimen Of its :ssue extant-snd
the pennies Of this issue were aisurctive.y
the fret ceats Of the United S,ates-there Is
sill authentic record. In the Cheshire r.
publican, of Keese, Vt, March l. 1879,
there appeared the following
The history OF the red cents, IN such com.
mon use before the wal, Is attracting much
attention st this time. The honor OF the m
vention OF this species Of coin Is given 10
Sir. Robert Aorris-the great hnancie- OF
the revolution. These CONS were first Is
sued from the mint about the year 1872, aad
they are nox very rare. SInce ths drswInS
Of the centennial year one OF two OF them
have made their appearance, and recently It
vas the fortune u the writer TO see ore.
The particular coin In question is tire prop
erty of Mr.. :. u. Shoals. CT the Allegheny
council
The writer then proceeded TO describe the
coin. His description is a rictnre OF tie
penny in STITEsMiN's possession, tine type OF
which is described by DR.. Montrevilie VII
son Dickson in ms " American Num'sDatic
Mammal" Dr. Dickson caaracterinnS it as
the first United States cent" thus de.
scri5es tie quaint Old coin:
Deyice-A dial with the hours expressed
upon the face. with ''Fugio" on the lett
and l1S1 on the right, a meridian sun above
the dial, and below tie legend Mind Your
Business" Reverse, thirteen circles linked
together, forming large circle III the CEN
ter OF the same q small circle With the
words - United States around it, and IN
the center We Are 0ne."
Then Dr. Dickson continues and what he
says still further enhances the historical IL
tsrcSt that ci;ngs with the rus. TO Mr.. Par
ker's old piece and to all others Of the issue.
Says tie author OF manual "An crdi-
nance for establishing a mint in the United
States, and ior regulating the value and al
log ot the co.n :hereo:, was passed by Con
cress October lG, l.S6. On July 8. l.S11.
the Government ordered that its copper
coinage. :or the mint Of which 1t had already
entered into contract, should lear the de-
vice, etc, above described This cent, be-
.rg The first legally authorized com Of the
government ~ the UEite,, States oi Ameii-
ca possesses more than ordinary interest ::
il IS = very creditabie relic OF the confeder
atei government. and the devices are very
appgcpliate. ~ a work OF taste IN interest
it throws Inro the shade the very urinter-
es.ing emissions OF TIE same denomination
" hICt. succeed ~, ard Wtich c7nSltute, II
part, The present currency. This cent has
borne the name with some Of the Franklin
Penny. an sppe.lation 70 which it has 10
claim, it being hat a fanciful application,
because the legend WIS one of those sensen
tious utterancss imputed to Franklin. for
which he was Justly distinguished. There
are two types and eight varieties Of this
cent, viz: No. !, thirteen circles with a
PLAIN field. seven varieties lone reading
States Unitedl Nc. ,, thirteen circles. each
containing the name Of ore OF tie states.
The istser variety has also blaze radisting
from the circles
Such vas the frs, cert. with its saucy IN
JUNCTION to tyranuicai Georges monarchies
and things in general 10 mird their business:
With its symbol OF the aying hours and
motto. "I Flee = with ITS thirteen inter
locked circles thst declared 20 the world the
nature of the irrefragYole uHion Of tn. tri-
urphant aad irdependent commonwealth Of
Amer:ca.