The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-01-29
UNCLE SANS COINAGE.
Some Interesting Things Not Gen
orally known
u PIuribus Unum'' Never Authorized by
Iaw-Origin of the Motto. '-In God
We Trust" and the M Or
Liberty Neck.

II. Piuribus Unum'' >-ver Authorized by
Iaw-Origin of the Motto. lin God
We Trust" and the M o"
Liberty'- Neck.
The making of the first money in the
United States began in l7SG, but in
stead of the faces of representative
statesmen il 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 CONS struck by the jnited
States min; 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 rs noted.
and an adaptation of the Liberty head
TO that of Martha Washington
The United States mint IN san Fran
cisco i sand To bc 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 ran into tuo-pound bars.
These in turn are run through i'm
mcnSe rollers and llattcncd out To the
thickness of the com. These strips are
then passed through machine, which
cuts them into proper size Tor the
presses, the strips first having been
treated with kind OF tall ow to pre-
vent their b2In" >crat ched IN their pas
sagc throu- the cutters.
The silver pI,cc. are then put into
the ice,.cr of the printing presses, and
are fed 20 the die by automatic ma
chinery at the rate of 100 per minute,
aln Il -Trf-r ont in "a
regular working day of L hours.
As the smoothing pieces arc pressed
between the printing dies they receive
the lcttcrcd a;rd figured impressions; at
the same time the piece IS expanded in
4 slight decree and the sma. cOrruga-
ons are cut IN its rim. The machine
draDS the completed coin into Il re-
ccivcr and il il ready for the counters
hands
The first silver dollar was coined un-
der the act OF February u, 1872. and
weighed ilG grams and had Il fincncSs
OF Sy2 I. winch standard was continued
for many years. The first COINS struck
for tme-lca, however, are supposed 20
have been the Somincr Island shilling
AMI IEpcncc. The date of coinage, place
and circumstances under winch they
were issued are unknown. The som
-ncr or summer islands are the present
Icrgludas- The shIiIng was cal.c a
-.Iioggs- Penny composed of copper,
size 10. weight Ia grams
The silver doi4ar, since the first in
PRODUCTION of the coin. has undergone
Inany changes all OF which have had
more or less effect in establishing i
fixed value among collectors of rare
% rs The issue OF 1904 bears the palm
- aYsfr
the name of The X .ng of American
RarItics-" Only seven or eight OF the
1904 dollars are known to be IN exist
cncc.
The legend of the scarcity Is that
vessel bound for China had on board
almost the cutlre coinage. Sl9.51O and
was lost at sea Another theory con
corning this mysterious com runs a.
follows: That the cnurc issue was
shipped to pay the Yankee tars who
fought in thu. war with Tripoli- The
sailors drlited 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 1894
dollar.
The national motto. e pluribus
unum." on different United States
CONS, was never authorized by law to
be 50 placed. Although the mint was
established in 1872, the use of the mot
to ON any of the gold silver or copper
coins was not aut thorIzcd or directed by
any 81 the provisions of the act cstab-
fishing it. None of the coins since 1871
bore the motto until tEe standard sill
yer dollars were coined.
1t remained on the early gold and
silver COINS until 1854, when it was
omitted from the gold CONS. From
the double eagle in 1866 it was also
omitted. In $50 it was dropped from
the 2j-ccnt piece and the following
year from all silver coins, the trade
dollar Only rcviving its use. The mot
TO wa, first used on half-pcnny or
cent struck in New Jersey in 1867
The motto In God We Trust has q
cur;ou~ history. Until 1864 no religious
mot % appeared on American coins. In
November. 1851. 4 clergyman addressed
a letter 10 Mr.. Chase, the secretary of
the treasury, suggesting a recognition
of the Deity on the CONS This letter
was referred To James Pollock. an cX-
governor Of Pcnnsyi Y ania and director
of the mint at the time, but it was
found that the notices could not be
changed without authority of law.
In December, 1856. the director sub
mittcd plans for new three-ccnt, two
cent and onc-ccnt piece, on which it
was proposed that one of the follow ng
mottocs be inserted: Our Country. Our
God" God. Our Trust" Mr.. Chase
suggested in lieu of these notices the
one In GoI We Trust" It was upon
the twocent piece authorized April -,
1864 tsincc aboliShcd), the motto of
Secretary Chase first appeared
1t was also stamped on the 1866 issue
of the double eagle. eagle, half eagle,
silver dollar, half dollar and nickel five
cent piece in lieu of the long standing
mottp~E Pluribus Unum.'' In the
trade dollar issue Qs73) both notices
were retained, in God We Trust ap-
pearing on the diverse.
This Il popular idea prevalent that
the minute letter M stamped on the
Goddcss of Liberty just at the point
where the largest lock of hair crosses
the neck ataEds for mint and i, an
cviGcncc OF thc sgenuincncs5 OF the coin
bearing it. But this is a mistake.
The M st2nl5 for Mor,rla-ticOrge
L. Morgan, who is the originator of the
design. He also stamped the letter
M Oh tho reverse side OF the coin. on
the lcit half of the loop of ribbon tied
abcut the wreath.
REGARDING the Liberty heal on the
diverse side MIR. Zoellar, the designer
of the soldiers monument which is tC
be placed in Garfield square, Potts
vile. says: IL have sought cvcrywhcrc
almost for a true head of Liberty, and