Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-03-12
HISTORY TOLD BY COINS.
a Numismatist's Idea as to the Proposed
New Designs.


THE bill now pending in the House relating
to the adoption of suitable designs for the cur
rent coins Of the United States is q good one,"
said Mr.. Paul E. Beckwith. the numismatist, to
a STAR reporter, land il is hoped may be
pushed to successful conclusion. Let us look
atthe knowledge of a numismatist in the history
OF all nations How gliSly he will tell you that
such and such king lived in such a year. He
wiz recognize at glance the hneaments OF
cleopatra, Julius Cesar, Antoninus or any of
the ancient worthless, and Of more modern DAYS
ne Is familiar with the history Of the dynasties
Oh all the reigning families. why2 Simply
rom MS study of the efigies of those rulers
1epieted upon the coinage Of their countries.
"nat would we know of many oriental states
,',i no. Ior their respective coinage? What
H2uiu we know OF many kings and emperors?
what assurance have we of the duration of
many historical erasy The answer il by the
history as depicted upon the coins of various
countries. home had her libraries SO had
Greece. War and fire DESTROYED their archives
and but for the coinage of the times on% lnnui'
edge OF the existence OF such countries vould
be slight indeed. Then, il in the course
OF centuries hence history should repeat itself
and the written history of our DAYS be de-
sroyed' would our coinage teach the people of
that era anything of our history? No. From
the uncouth designs upon our coinage we would
be taken for barbarians Then | saw let us
have a coinage that will teach all nations until
the end Of time that We were a great and glori-
Gus nation. An how may we do this? BY
adopting suitable designs for our coinage"
TO CONFEDERATE EACH ADMINISTRATION.
II would advocate" said Mr.. Beckyith
shat one series of coins say the half-dollar
pieces, sould be struck bearing the effgies of
our Presidents. commencing by issuing one
nj hao rip b.a hao .lrSu
then issuing each six months following as many
bearing the efigy of each President until we
arrive at the present time. After this, to carry
out the idea, series should be issued during
the administration of each President By so
doing you will teach your children and your
childrens children the history of their country
more readily and effectively than by any other
means and leave imperishable monuments of
these links in the history of our country Ask
any one how many Presidents we have had. how
long they were at the head of the administra-
tlon, how many could answer the question
Had we a coinage, one as l have described al
most every one would have a collection of the
coins bearing efigies and inscriptions stating
the duration Of their administrations, which
would familiarize them with our history.
then say let us have a coinage bearing the eff
giles of our Presidents. / am sure there is
nothing antagonistic to a republican sentiment
In this, for we have paper money display
ing portraits of our Presidents and great
men, also on our postage stamps. Can we
hope that in 5000 years from now any of these
paper mementoes will be in existence? No;
but coin lasts forever, for surely we have
coins extant that were issued six centuries be-
fore Christ Ii you are skeptical examine any
good collection of coins and you will find more
imam one OF that age, and some of the eighth
century before Christ and even older: there
fore we now reasonably expect our coinage
would be extant six centuries in the future.
THE PATRIOTIC rnr.
"Show an ancient coin TO a numismatist: he
will not only tell you the name of the king or
emperor during whose reign it was issued. the
history of the country, but, what is more to the
point. he will tell you TO what degree of artistic
refinement and civilization that country had
arrived, whether its prosperity was on the in
crease or not, and how, simply by the purity Of
the metal used and the excellence of the die
l am sure We excel in skIlfullness of die-cutting
and designing.
This new coinage" said Mr.. Beckwith
would also familiarize the world with the
greatness OF our country for all time to come
should we issue, say one million coins of the
denomination OF so cents or OF Is cents how
many would be in circulation in one year?
would venture to say none. They would find
their way to every nook and corner of the globe
De preserved IN museums and private collec-
mons all over the world, and even the little
Hlndoo and Chinese boy centuries hence would
as readily tell their contemporaries all about
George Washington, the first President of the
United States. of President Lincoln aud of our
president President, Gen. Harrison and the en-
tire series, and would be as familiar with the
history OF the present era of the United States
as that OF their own era and country