The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-04-06

Them Every IS Years-An Arts,
Now at Work on New Ideas for the
Gold coins-The Little Girls Face
on the One cents-Men Who Made
the Dollar the unit-Many Private
MINIS Years Aso-MaryIand's shlll.
lnas.
Coins Of most of the nations bear
up them The faces Of their rulers. In
! the United States each coin has an
emblem Of liberty, representing the
American goodies 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.
General Washington dIsapproyed Of
the custom and It was dropped. II
has never been revived, and probably
never will be. Portraits Of prominent
Americans appear upon postage
stamps, internal revenue stamps and
paper money. but never on coins. And
tt has been the custom, considered a
wise one, to use no portraits of live
men even on the currency and the
stamps. In England, 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
monarchIcs means an instant change
In the designs Of the coins. In the
United States the law requires that
the design shall not the changed Of
tener than once in % years; that on
each coin shall appear an emblem Of
liberty, the year Of It's coinage and
the words "E Plurlbls Unum-" After
these requirements are fulfilled the
President OF the United States may
do as he pleases with the design. Pres
ident Roosevelt has decided to change
the design on the gold coins Of the
country, and Il celebrated artist has
been commissioned 10 submit the,new
designs. The present gold coin de-
sign was adopted In 1919, and has
remained unchanged ever since. ex
cept that In 1866 the words in God
We Trust were added to all but the
one'lollar piece, which is no longer
coined. AS the last change was male
II years ago, the President has his
way with the gold pieces.
Face on the Cents.
No silver dollars have been coined
for two years, but the design has not
lbeen changed since 1878, so that II
/ their coinage is resumed the Presi.
dent may make a change II he so dc.
sired. The subsidiary silver coins
the half.lollar, the Quarter.dOlIar and
the dlme-are now coined from de.
Sign adopted In 1892. so that they must
remain as they are-qr!re the most ar.
tIstic and beautiful OF American coins
at least until 1917. The nickel five.
cent piece OF to-day dates lis design
from 1852 AMI the one.ceut piece from
1864.
The emblem of liberty OF the one.
cent coin is the goddess in an Ameri.
can Indian headdresS, but the face
shows no characteristics Of the North
American ab0rlgiae. II Is the face Of
q little girl-Sarah Longacre Keen
upon whose head was placed the feaih.
cred ornament Of a Sioux Indian. Her
father was an engrayes, and he took
the Idea and placed his daughters
head on the coin. Sarah Longacre
Keen died in Philadelphia not long
ago. after having served IS years rs
the secretary Of her city's branch o!
the Methodist Women's Foreign Miss.
sionary Society.
The Dollar as the Unit.
The first building ever erected In
the United States for The public use
of the federal government, under the
constitution, was the mint at philnhel.
phIa. Robert Morris, the patriotic Il.
nancler of the War Of Independence,
vas first TO bring mp the question Of
national mint. and It was he who
worked with Thomas jefferson and