page_title: Oliver Bosbyshell
section_title: Mint superintendent (1889–1894)
hierarchical_section_title: Oliver Bosbyshell / Mint superintendent (1889–1894)
caption_attribution_description: English: Oliver Christian Bosbyshell, Superintendent of the Mint at Philadelphia and a Colonel in the National Guard
context_page_description: Oliver Christian Bosbyshell was Superintendent of the United States Mint at Philadelphia from 1889 to 1894. He also claimed to have been the first Union soldier wounded by enemy action in the Civil War, stating that he received a bruise on the forehead from an object thrown by a Confederate sympathizer while his unit was marching through Baltimore in April 1861.
  Bosbyshell was born in Mississippi. His parents were of old Philadelphia stock, and he was raised in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. After briefly working on the railroad and then studying law, Bosbyshell enlisted in the Union cause on the outbreak of war. Following a brief period of service in the 25th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, he joined the 48th Pennsylvania, remaining in that regiment for three years. He saw action in such battles as Second Bull Run and Antietam. He rose to the rank of major and led his regiment, but was mustered out upon the expiration of his term of service in October 1864, having been refused a leave of absence.
context_section_description: On October 17, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison commissioned Bosbyshell as superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint.  As the Senate was not sitting, Bosbyshell received a recess appointment. Bosbyshell filed his oath of office on November 1, 1889.  On his first day on the job, he was greeted with a bouquet of flowers and a large pile of mail from office-seekers.  He gave receipts for the Mint property he was now responsible for, and found no errors in the accounts of his predecessor. On December 16, 1889, with the Senate in session, Harrison nominated Bosbyshell. The following day, Vermont Senator Justin Morrill, on behalf of the Senate Finance Committee, to which Bosbyshell's nomination had been referred, recommended that he be confirmed. The Senate did so on December 19.
  In 1890, Bosbyshell deposited $4,200 of federal funds in the Keystone National Bank, which then went bankrupt.  Bosbyshell was responsible for the debt, which was only $300 less than his annual salary, and paid it off by stages, completing the payments in 1894. In August 1890, Bosbyshell was elected colonel of his National Guard regiment; the vote was unexpectedly close, as he was disliked by some of his fellow officers.  Following the Homestead Riots in July 1892, Pennsylvania Governor Robert E. Pattison ordered militia to the strike-torn town to restore order.  Bosbyshell led his guard regiment to Homestead, where the strikers offered no resistance.  In August 1893, he resigned from the regiment.
  Before Congress abolished the practice in 1873, the government made silver legal tender alongside gold.  This led to one of the great political controversies of the late 1800s, as many called for a return to pre-1873 laws, which would require the government to take all the silver offered it and then return it, struck into silver dollars. On January 3, 1891, two "free silver" advocates called at the Philadelphia Mint with a large ingot of silver, and asked for it to be coined.  When the weighing clerk declined, they asked to see Bosbyshell, who received them, but refused their demand.  He did, however, write at their request a letter stating that the laws forbade coinage of silver provided by the public.
  Bosbyshell was Mint Superintendent while the Mint created new coin designs, including the Barber coinage, Columbian half dollar, and Isabella quarter. In the case of the quarter, issued in 1893, Bosbyshell was involved in the consultations within the Mint over the design, and sent a letter to Caroline Peddle, who was initially hired to design the piece, requiring that the image of Queen Isabella on the coin not wear a crown.  Soon after, Peddle withdrew from the project.
  Cleveland was elected for a second non-consecutive term in November 1892.  With the Democrats in power again, new Mint Director Robert Preston in late March 1894 ordered Bosbyshell to turn over the Philadelphia Mint to his successor, Dr. Eugene Townsend.  This required the counting of every coin in the facility, including cents and nickels.  After consulting with the sureties on his bond as superintendent, Bosbyshell objected to resigning until the count (expected to take three months) was complete, but nevertheless left office as directed on March 31, 1894.
caption: 1893 woodcut of Bosbyshell in National Guard uniform
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