Stanford Coins & Bullion presents 1792 Birch Half Disme(#107759)
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SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 17.5 millimeters
Weight: 1.35 grams
Composition: .8924 silver, .1076 copper
Edge: Diagonally reeded
Net Weight:.03873 ounce pure silver |
Born of the idea that man's destiny was largely the result of his own
effort and imagination, the United States of 1792 had grown to fourteen
states with the addition, in 1791, of Vermont. The army, of about 5,000
men, was fighting Indians in the Northwest Territory. The nation had no
navy and paid an annual tribute to the Barbary Pirates. The migration
West had begun.
Due to the longstanding trade relationships with
the Spanish possessions of Florida and Louisiana, Spanish silver pieces
were the most common silver coins in circulation, followed by the
English shillings and pence of the mother country. Because of the
incompatibility of the Spanish and English monetary systems, the
conduct of business, trade and everyday life was burdened with the need
for intricate conversion tables. Accounts were, of necessity, kept both
in English pounds and Spanish reales. Confusion was immense, and action
was called for.
The need for a rational system for United States
coinage received the early attention of Congress. Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton all strongly favored adoption
of the decimal system. They argued that the decimal system represented
a clean break with the past and was the most scientific way to
reconcile the differences of the Spanish and English monetary systems.
The
decimal system was invented by Simon Stevin van Brugghe (1548-1620) and
first published in a pamphlet, Be Thiende, in 1585. The French
translation was entitled La Disme. Robert Norton's 1608 translation:
Disme: The art of tenths, or, Decimall arithmeticke introduced the idea
to England. It was from these European roots that the concept of
tenths, or 'La Disme' anglicized later to 'dime' immigrated to America.
A
Congressional resolution on July 6, 1785 adopted the dollar as the
monetary unit of the United States. Subsequent resolutions spanning
1786 and 1787 specified weight, fineness and the decimal system for the
relationship of each of the coins authorized. Adoption of the
Constitution on September 17, 1787 reserved the right to coin money and
regulate the value thereof to the Congress. This set the stage for
passage of the Mint Act of April 2, 1792. This Act specified ". . .that
the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars
or units, dismes or tenths, cents or hundredths and that all accounts
in the public offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United
States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation."
Events
moved swiftly from that point. On April 14, 1792 Washington appointed
David Rittenhouse of Philadelphia, the most renowned scientist in
America, Director of the Mint. Henry Voight, a well known clock maker,
was appointed Acting Chief Coiner on June 1. Mechanics began
construction of the necessary coining apparatus and 'engines'.
On
July 9, 1792 President Washington authorized proceeding with the
coining of half dismes. No time was wasted, as just four days later, on
July 13, 1792, Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, recorded in
his household account book: 'rec'd from the mint 1500 half dimes of the
new coinage'.
New research suggests that the single pair of dies
used for these coins was designed and engraved by a British medalist,
William Russell Birch, rather than the Robert Birch who was associated
with the Mint in those early years and previously credited with the
coin's design. Birch purportedly used letter punches supplied by Jacob
Bay, a Germantown, Pennsylvania maker of printing types. As the mint
building was then under construction, the coining machinery was in the
cellar of John Harper, a saw maker, at the corner of Cherry and 5th
Streets, at which place these pieces were struck.
The obverse of
the half disme portrays the head of Liberty facing left, with the date
1792 below. The motto LIB. PAR. OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY encircles the
border. The reverse depicts an eagle flying left with the denomination
HALF DISME in two lines, with a five pointed star in the exergue below.
The legend UNI. STATES OF AMERICA frames the eagle.
On April 9,
1844 Dr. Jonas McClintock, a Treasury official, had a conversation at
the Mint with Adam Eckfeldt, the retired Chief Coiner and only
surviving Mint official who was actually present when the half dismes
were made. Eckfeldt related that President Washington deposited $100 in
bullion or specie for the purpose of coining these half dismes.
Although the entire mintage of 1,500 was presented to Jefferson by Mint
Director Rittenhouse, he obviously passed some on, for they were used
by General Washington as presentation pieces for visiting dignitaries
and VIPs. Many were given to acquaintances in Virginia, and no more
were coined.
Scholor Walter Breen estimated that the majority of
these coins entered circulation. About 200-250 are known today, most of
them being in low grades. About 20 uncirculated examples are also
included in that figure.
These coins were not fully struck up
originally, so that even uncirculated examples will not show full
breast or leg feathers on the eagle. The hair curls above and below
Liberty's ear will also be partly flat. Adjustment marks are common and
should not be considered a defect.
The 1792 half dismes are
generally collected as patterns and are classified as Judd-7. Cast
counterfeits are known, and these can be identified by being heavier
than authorized and having vertical rather than diagonally reeded edges.
President
Washington, in his fourth Annual Address to Congress, November 6, 1792,
spoke of 'a small beginning in the coinage of half dismes, the want of
small coins in circulation calling the first attention to them.' A
small beginning perhaps, but of great national significance, as the
prerogative to coin precious metals has historically been an expression
of national sovereignty. A period painting by John Ward Dunsmore of New
York portrays General and Mrs. Washington, Alexander Hamilton and wife,
Thomas Jefferson, David Rittenhouse, Tobias Lear, Henry Voight and Adam
Eckfeldt inspecting these first coins.
Because of this historic
context, these diminutive pieces are among the most prized of American
silver coins. As the prototype five-cent piece, the half disme was
replaced in 1794 by the first regular issue half dime, the Flowing Hair
type.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete
Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New
York, 1988. Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage, Arco Publishing Co.,
New York, 1966. Judd, J. Hewitt M.D., United States Pattern,
Experimental and Trial Pieces, 7th Edition, Western Publishing Co.,
Racine, WI, 1982. Pollock, Andrew W. III, United States Patterns and
Related Issues, Bowers & Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1994.
Valentine, D.W., The United States Half Dimes, American Numismatic
Society, New York, 1931. Stewart, Frank, History of the First United
States Mint, Frank H. Stewart Electric Company, Philadelphia, 1924.
