The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-12-24
UNCLE SANS COINAGE.
Some Interesting Things Not Gen.
orally Known.

Law2o Origin of the Motto, sIn God
We Trust" and the an" ON
Liberty's Neck.
The making Of the first mon ey in the
United States began in 1888, but in
stead of the faces of representative
statesmen it bore only the figure of
Liberty. Some few coins were stamped
with the face of Washington, and of
course are highly valued by collectors.
The first coins struck by the United
States mint were some half dimes in
1892; the first dimes were struck in
France from old silver family plate
furnished by Washington, the coins be-
ing known as Martha Washington
dimes, from the circumstance as noted,
and an adaptation of the, Liberty head
to that of Martha Washington.
The United States mint in San Fran
cisco is said to be the largest of the
kind in the world. The process Of
dime making there may not be without
interest. The silver bullion is first
melted and run into two-pound bars.
These in turn are run through inn
mense rollers and flattened out to the
thickness of the coin. These strips are
then passed through machine, which
cuts them into proper size for the
presses, the strips first having been
treated with kind of tallow to pre-
vent their being scrat ched in their pas
sage throug h the cutters.
rrba vslra, 9ssooa fhar, v,t,t inf,
thesfeeder of the printing presses, and
are fed to the die by automatic ma
chinery at the rate of Hooper minute,
$4,000 dimes being turned out in a
regular working day of 10 hours.
As the smoothing pieces are pressed
between the printing dies they receive
the lettered and figured impressions; at
the same time the piece is expanded in
a slight degree and the small corruga-
tons are cut in its rim. The machine
drops the completed coin into a re
ceiver and it is ready for the counters
hands,
The first silver dollar was coined I'M
der the act of February IL, 1792s, and
weighed 416 grains and had fineness
of 1872. 4, which standard was continued
for many years. The first coins struck
for america, however, are supposed to
have been the Sommer Island shilling
and sixpence. The date of coinage, place
and circumstances under which they
were issued are unknown. The Som
mer or Summer islands are the present
Bermudas The shilling was called a
*7slloggs-Penny," composed of copper,
size Wpipht 17T grains
The silver dollar, since the first in-
many changes, all of which have had
more or less effect in establishing a
fixed value among collectors of rare
coins. The issue of 1904 bears the'palm
in this respect, and has won for itself
the name of THE King of American
Rarities." Only seven or eight of the
1904 dollars are known to be in exist
enee
The legend" of the scarcity is that
vessel bound for China had on board
almost the entire coinage, $40, $40, and.
was lost at sea- Another theory con-
corning this mysterious coin runs as
follows: That the entire issue was
Shipped to pay the Yankee tars who
f fought in the war with Tripoli. The
sailors drifted around after the war
closed, and many. of them went to
Africa, where they spent their money.
The native kings collected all the
coins and buried them as trophies.
- Perhaps Stanley might throw some
light on the last version of the 1904
dollar
The national motto, sc pluribus
unum,n on different United States
coins, was never authorized by law to
be SO placed. Although the mint was
established in 1892, the use of the mot
to on any of the gold, silver or copper
coins was not authorized or directed by
any Of the provisions of the act estab-
lshinght None of the coins since 1887
bore the, motto until the standard sill
Yer dollars were coined.
ltremained on the early gold and
silyer' coins until 1884. when it was
omitted from the gold coins. From
the double eagle in 1866 it was also
omitted. In 1885 it was dropped from
the 25-cent piece and the following
year from all silver coins, the trade
dollar only reviying its use. The mot
10 was first used on half-penny or
cent struck in New Jersey in 1857.
The motto ''In God We Trust has a
curious history. Until 1854 no religious
motto appeared on American coins. In
November, 1861 a clergyman addressed
letter to Mr.. Chase, the secretary Of
y Tie treasury, suggesting a Recognition
t.asof the Deity on the coins. This letter
was referred to James Pollock, an ex-
governor of Pennsyrv ania and director
O. the mint at the time, but it was
ionnd that the notices could not be
changed without authority of law.
Ia December, 1865, the director sub
iaittea plans for new three-cent; two
: cent md one-cent piece. on which It
was proposed that one of the followi ng
notices be inserted: Our Country, Our
Tod, God, Our Trust" Mr.. Chase
Suggested in lieu of these notices the
one In God We Trust" 1t was upon
inc two-cent piece authorized April %,
lsSi since abolished). the motto Of
+, larry Chase first appeared.
Has also stamped on the 1865 issue
Che double eagle, eagle, half eagle,
Z silver dollar, half dollar and nickel five
=, sat piece in lien OF the long standing
MOTTO 7, Pluribus Unum." In the
ride collar issle (iS7S) both notices