Wikipedia:WikiProject Numismatics/newsletter/February 2020
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The WikiProject Numismatics newsletter |
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| Issue XI | |
Article of the Month edit
The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873, 17 Stat. 424, was a general revision of the laws relating to the Mint of the United States. In abolishing the right of holders of silver bullion to have their metal struck into fully legal tender dollar coins, it ended bimetallism in the United States, placing the nation firmly on the gold standard. Because of this, the act became contentious in later years, and was denounced by some as the "Crime of '73".
By 1869, the Mint Act of 1837 was deemed outdated, and Treasury Secretary George Boutwell had Deputy Comptroller of the Currency John Jay Knox undertake a draft of a revised law, which was introduced into Congress by Ohio Senator John Sherman. Due to the high price of silver, little of that metal was presented at the Mint, but Knox and others foresaw that development of the Comstock Lode and other rich silver-mining areas would lower the price, causing large quantities of silver dollars to be struck and the gold standard to be endangered. During the almost three years the bill was pending before Congress, it was rarely mentioned that it would end bimetallism, though this was not concealed. Congressmen instead debated other provisions. The legislation, in addition to ending the production of the silver dollar, abolished three low-denomination coins. The bill became the Act of February 12, 1873, with the signature of President Ulysses S. Grant.
When silver prices dropped in 1876, producers sought to have their bullion struck at the Mint, only to learn that this was no longer possible. The matter became a major political controversy that lasted the remainder of the century, pitting those who valued the deflationary gold standard against those who believed free coinage of silver to be necessary for economic prosperity. Accusations were made that the passage of the act had been secured through corruption, though there is little evidence of this. The gold standard was explicitly enacted into law in 1900, and was completely abandoned by the U.S. in 1971. (Full article...)
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| January 11 |
 The Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial half dollar is a fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1925 as a commemorative coin in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It was designed by Chester Beach. Members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation introduced legislation in 1924 to authorize a commemorative half dollar for the anniversary. The bill passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Calvin Coolidge. Beach had to satisfy committees from both Lexington and Concord, and the Commission of Fine Arts passed the design only reluctantly, feeling he had been given poor materials to work with. The coins were sold for $1, and were vended at the anniversary celebrations in Lexington and in Concord; they were sold at banks across New England. Although just over half of the authorized mintage of 300,000 was struck, almost all the coins that were minted were sold. Depending on condition, they are catalogued in the hundreds of dollars. (Full article...) |
Picture of the Day edit
| January 4 Chosen at random from a selection of four; all alternatives shown below |
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A Louis d'or is a French gold coin, first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640, featuring a depiction of the head of a King Louis on one side of the coin, from which its name derives. The coin was replaced by the French franc at the time of the revolution and later by the similarly valued Napoléon.
This picture shows a coin worth half a Louis d'or, minted in 1643, during the reign of Louis XIII. To prevent the illegal practice of shaving slivers of gold from the edge of the coin, Jean Varin installed machinery in the Paris Mint that made perfectly round coins so that such damage could be readily detected. The obverse (left) features the king's head in profile and an abbreviated Latin inscription translating to 'Louis XIII, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre', while the reverse (right) features four royal monograms (double "L"s surmounted by a crown) and four fleurs-de-lis, with the abbreviated Latin for 'Christ reigns, conquers, commands'. This coin is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. |
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| January 13 | .jpg) |
The Finnish markka was the currency of Finland from 1860 to 2002. The currency was divided into 100 pennies and was first introduced by the Bank of Finland to replace the Russian ruble at a rate of four markkaa to one ruble. The markka was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2002 and ceased to be legal tender on 28 February later that year.
This picture shows a 20-markka banknote issued in 1862, as part of the first issue of markka banknotes (1860 to 1862), for the Grand Duchy of Finland, then an autonomous part of the Russian Empire; 1862 was also the first year of issue for this particular denomination. The banknote's obverse depicts the coat of arms of Finland on a Russian double-headed eagle, and was personally signed by the director and the cashier of the Bank of Finland. The text on the obverse is in Swedish, whereas the reverse is primarily in Russian and Finnish. |
| January 24 Chosen at random from a selection of nine; all alternatives shown below |
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Greenbacks were paper currency issued by the Union government from 1862 to 1865, during the American Civil War. Issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 dollars, they were legal tender but were not backed by gold or silver. The obverse of the banknotes was printed in green, black and red, while the reverse was printed in green, giving the notes their popular name of "greenbacks". They were signed by Lucius E. Chittenden, Register of the Treasury, and Francis E. Spinner, Treasurer of the United States.
This picture shows a one-dollar greenback issued in 1862, featuring a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, the secretary of the treasury at the time, on the obverse. This banknote is part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. |
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