The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-05-19
NEW DESIGNS IN COINS.
WHY UNCLE SAM DOES NOT En-
COURAGE ORR ARTISTS.
The Requirements of the Law-Points With
Which Most People are Not Aoquaint-
ed-MakIng Model. at the Mint.

There f. no CHARGE worth mentioning
that the treasury will accept any Of the
designs for A new silver dollar. which are
shown al the exhibition Of the American
Sculpture Society. opened May 9Th. at the
Academy Of Fine Arts ia New York. the
offer Of prizes Of $50 and S9o for the
Lest and second best models was merely
a private enterprise. az the bottom OF
which were certain gentlemen interest
"a in numismatlcs They persuaded inc
artists % get up this sch eue, with a
view TO the aesthetic Improvement OF
United States coins.
Q Unfortunately. artists generally are
wrefched coin designer. They will NOT
realize that a piece Of money D. not a
thing 10 paint a picture upon. and the
MOD Is hey offer are mostly the Widest
freaks.
One trouble with the artists "a that they
will not submit 90 the requirements OF me
law ia making such designs COin-makns
| is AN Old art. and It's principles are set
| tied In England. for example the pound
sterling which is the unit Of value. Us
coined IN gold and stamped at the British
mint. This piece Is called a sovereign.
on one side of it is tho head OF the
! queen. and on the other side is tho coat
of-arms of the nation. In nearly all cOun-
tries the practice is the same-that is 20
say. each coin bears on ms diverse
| IA portrait OF the ruler and on its re-
.erss the arms of the state.
Uncle sam has always held 90 the same
| idea. This country being "a republic, how
| ever. picture of the Goddess OF Liberty
! has been substituted for the sovereign a.
! the monarchy IL has often been urged
/ that 10 would Doe a good thing to use th,
] heads Of the presidents 900 our coins. Thus
/ making cacu issue 20 represent an epoch
| ia American history. s. dollar of 1880.
for example. would bear Mr. ltveland'
! portrait. DO lsHf according 10 this no
! ton. his physio+uolny would he rtplar ID
| by that of nIs successor. This idea WEI
never 81 carried out in an probability,
| because 10 is Too suggestive of royal
prerogatNe. Nevertheless iu the early
days. when this great nation was as yci
| in swaldliuC clothes. copper cents cents
were issued with the head OF Washing
ton on them.
WHAT IHE LAW REQUIRES.
The law demands that ON ono side on
the dollar shall appear something crl-
blcmatic OF liberty, with the word lib.
ortv" and the date OF coming ON tne
| reverse must bc The Inscription, "I uitei
| States Of America. T. llurhus Julm.
and Tho value The eagle stands for the
ccat-of-arms of the Onion. Designs offer
al by Artists show that they imagine
that any eagle will d0 for the purpose.
This IS big mistake. The eagle gee
ounce is the heraldic eagle, 'hcWius the
tird a. 10 is represented d the coat-Oi-
arms OF the United States. This pe.ul ir
| kind OF eagle is ass much part of orr
arms as the dOunlc-head. l eagle is 900
essential part of the arms OF Austria.
Attempts 10 vary it ON tec coins hafg
Deen notably unsuccessful Eagles have
been nailed upon the wall it tle mint ODD
| Philadelphia 90 serve ass models iu various
attitudes hm the designs thus produced
have been mcrrilcssiy rid.rulel Ihe
flying eagle ON tho nickel cent was ro-
moved because people insisted tH1t 10 WAS
a huzzari
10 is not possible 20 have the same de-
signs on all OF the coins of % nation ne-
cause there would Doe nothing to distIu-
gulsh one denomination from another
save fhe kind of metal and the size. Ac-
cOriinglv. The minor pieces exhibit more
or less variation. For instance. 0n the
dime. nickel. and cent, tho toat-of-arms
is Omittcd-that is to say. The eagle is
LEFT of. Ou the cent the head of au
Indian appears in place of Liberty. boo
England a crown or other simple device
are similarly utilized. The statues of
the United States formerly required that
the words "ln God We Trust should
appear on the coin Whenever practicable
Although the Revised Statutes have abe
rOgafei this requirement the inscription
ls still used ln Difference fo public Ouin-
ion. Tho question as 90 whether %
should bee retained or not came up dur
ing the Hayes administration and was
thus decided.