The Washington herald., 1907-04-05

Coins of most of the nations bear upon
them the faces of their rulers In the
United States eacn coin has an emblem
OF liberty. representing the American
goddess in a sitting posture or displaying
her profile The first coins struck after
the formation of the Federal union bore
the face of George Washington, Father of
his Country. Gen. Washington disap-
proved Of the custom and it was dropped.
II has never been revived ana probably
never will be. Portraits of prominent
Americans appear upon postage stamps
internal revenue stamps, and paper
money, but never on coins. And Il has
been the custom. considered wise one,
to use no portraits of live men even on
the currency and the stamps In Eng
land. as soon as King Edward succeeded
Queen Victoria, the Queens face gave
way TO that Of Edward on all the coins
and stamps in the British empire.
The rise of a new ruler in most mon
arches means an instant change in the
designs OF the coins. In the United States
the law requires that the design shall not
be changed ofteper than once in twenty
five years. that on each coin shall ap-
pear an emblem of liberty, the year Of
its coinage and the words "E Pluribus
Unum." After those requirements are
fulfilled the President of the United
States may do as he pleases with the
design. President Roosevelt has decided
TO change the design on the gold coins
OF the country, and a celebrated artist has
been commissioned to submit the new
designs. The present gold coin design was
adopted in 1919 and has remained un-
changed ever since, except that in 1906
the words IN God We Trust" were added
10 all but the one dollar piece, which is no
longer coined. AS the last change was
made forty-One years ago, the President
has his way with the gold pieces.
No silver dollar has been coined for
two years. but the design has not been
changed since 1875 so that if their coin
age is resumed the President may make
a change If he so desires The sub
sldiary coins, the half-dollar the quarter
dollar, and the dime are now coined
from a design adopted in 1892, so that
they must remain as they are-quite the
most artistic and beautiful Of American
cOins-at least until 1917. The nickel five
cent piece of to-day dates its design from
1882, and the One-cent piece from 1864.
The emblem of liberty on the one-cent
coin is the goddess in an American In
dian head-dress. but the face shows no
characteristics OF the North American
aborlgine. It is the face of a little girl,
Sarah Longacre Keen. upon whose head
was placed the feathered ornament OF a
Sioux Indian. Her father was an en-
graveT and he took the idea and placed
IA IL ha ,,
LOngacre Keen died in Philadelphia not
long ago, after having served thirty-ive
years as the secretary of her city's branch
of the Methodist Womans Foreign Mis-
si0nary Society.
The first building ever erected in the
United States for the public use Of the
Federal government under the Constitu-
ton was the mint al Philadelphia. Rob-
ert Morris. the patriotic fnancier of the
war for independence, was first 10 bring
up the question of Il national mint, and
it was be who worked with Thomas JEFF
Ierson and Alexander Hamilton TO induce
Congress TO adopt the decimal system of
money arithmetic. Let every b00kkeeper
and every business man and every other
American rise up and bless these three
men for that work. 1t was Jefferson who
adoption of the dollar as a money unit
instead of the English pound sterling.
and il was in his mind that the system of
dimes, cents, and mills was born. He
is best known as the author OF the
Declaration of Independence which freed
this country from English political rule.
but he ought also 10 be remembered as
the author of the declaration of indepen-
denCe which freed the American people
from the cOnfOunding and maddening
system Of reckoning in pounds, shilIings,
and pence.
The first mint was provided for in
bill which President Washington signed
on April =. 1872. and it was erected in
Philadelphia, in that year on Seventh
street, near Arch, on the site OF an Old
6isuneTy II was used as a mint for
forty years. In the early days of the
republic many branch minis We're set up,
most OF which have been abandoned. Al
though the States were prohibited from
coming money private individuals were
permitted TO coin gold and silver, The
coins they issued, however. mad to be
assayed by the Federal mint authorities.
In Georgia and North Carolina, where
the gold mines were Of great Importance
before the California discoveries Of 1917,
private minis were established on a large
scale, and one in North Carolina coined
several million dollars OF gold. although
there was United States mint at Char
lotte, eighty miles away. In 1851 there
were tWenty-seven different kinds Of COLA
coins issued from fifteen private mints.
AT that time the California minis We're
exceedingly busy. one of the curious
products being 81 octagonal coin. Nearly
all of the coinage of the private minis
has been recoined at the government
mints and only a few pieces are now to
10 be found outside of numismatists col
lectiOns.
Coins had been minted for the Federal
government by a contractor before the
first Philadelphia mint was built The
first was a copper coin bearing on one
side thirteen circles, linked together, a
small circle In the middle with the words
United States" around It, and in the
center the words, we Are One" On the
other side was a dial with the hours
marked, q meridian sun above the word
'fugio" on one side and the date ''l7SI"
on the ether, and below the dial the
words, Mind Your Business" Prior 10
this. in the year 1888, under the Articles
Of Confederation had appeared the coins
with the bust of Washington in military
dress and the legend Washington and
Independence. This coin was not OPP
posed by the general. but in 1872 the ap-
pearance of the words Washington.
President" on the coins with classical
undraped bust of the President himself
offended the modesty of the great Amer
lean, and he stopped it. It would be in