Hail
to the Chiefs
You’re probably used to looking at your
change and seeing the beautiful profiles of many prominent Americans. Today, every circulation American coin
portrays an actual person, a prominent figure in our history. But it has not always been this way. With the inception of the mint in 1792, only
figures of Liberty graced our coins.
She changed quite a bit over the years, from just a bust to a seated
pose to walking upright, and she’s had many variations and decorations
too. To Americans, nothing else was
necessary on our coins to depict the ideals and values of their nation.
Then in 1909, things changed. Only forty-four years earlier, perhaps the
second-most revered president in United States history was shot dead while in office. Sentiment was still very strong in the
country and people wanted to do something in his honor. Thus, the mint decided that to honor the 100th
anniversary of his birth, Abraham Lincoln would be immortalized on the
penny. It was a risky decision, because
never before had a real person been on an official U.S. Mint circulation issue. Also, there were those who thought that the
public would look down on the fact that it was only the penny for such an
amazing man. After all, his image on
currency was fancy and ornate. But in
the end, Victor D. Brenner’s cent won over the people and the coin was accepted
into circulation.
Similar to the Lincoln cent, the Washington quarter was meant to commemorate a birth
anniversary. However, John Flanagan’s
design was only supposed to be a brief issue and break from the then-current
Standing Liberty quarters. Washington was born in 1732, and after the success of the Lincoln cent, the mint wanted to honor the 200th anniversary
of the birth of our country’s very first President. The coin was so popular and so well-liked,
though, that it became a permanent issue.
The fact that neither the cent nor the quarter had any special honorary
inscriptions (such as the 1776-1976 dual date) probably contributed to the
public acceptance of them as regular change and nothing too special. Both coins survived and both men remain on
the front of our pennies and quarters today.
In 1938, yet another past president found his
way onto the nickel. Thomas Jefferson,
our third Chief Executive, was chosen as a result of Felix Schlag winning a
national contest for a new design. The Buffalo nickel had run its 25-year course, and the mint
wanted a new historical figure to compliment the first two. For the first time, there was little
speculation over whether the new coin would be liked and it was assumed that it
would be in circulation for a while.
Obviously, if you check your pocket, you’ll see that “a while” has
turned into sixty-six years.
The next time the mint changed over from Liberty to person was in response to a tragic event that
rocked the country. President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt passed away in 1945, after being re-elected for a fourth term
in office. We had to finish the war
without him and the wonderful leadership that he provided, even from his
wheelchair. To honor and memorialize
another national hero, the mint turned to John R. Sinnock, who provided a
profile of FDR for the new dime. The first
dated year of the Roosevelt dimes was 1946, and they are the last coins to still
bear their original figures.
Shortly after the change in the dime, the mint
redesigned the half dollar as well. This
time, the chosen figure was not a president, but an amazing American
none-the-less. Benjamin Franklin,
statesman and scientist, was to be on the new coins as soon as 1948. Sinnock’s newest work was only used for 16
years, though, as President John F. Kennedy was shockingly assassinated in late
1963. In an immediate response, the mint
ordered the half-dollar, the only circulation coin at the time without an actual
president, to be given a new face. From
1964 through today, Gilroy Roberts’ portrait of JFK has been the mark of America’s most under-used modern coin.
The final piece of the Presidential puzzle
was the one dollar coin. Interestingly
enough, even though the last of the then-current coins had been converted away
from Liberty some sixteen years earlier, the mint almost brought
her back with this one. In 1964, a great
many silver dollars were ordered, but only about 300,000 were made in Denver, and all were ordered to be melted. The thing is, they were of the old Peace
design and would have been without a new historical figure. But after the small stockpile was gone, it
took another seven years to start a new dollar coin. This time, in 1971, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower was given a new face on our money by designer Frank Gasparro. Ike was fresh in the memories of Americans,
after leading us to victory on D-Day and serving as President as recent as the
1950’s. This coin was the same large
size as the Peace dollar, but without the silver. Then in 1979, Gasparro went to work again,
this time under the direction of President Carter’s new initiative. Carter wanted a new, smaller dollar coin that
would be much more circulated and used over the big heavy Ikes. With that, Susan B. Anthony, a leader in
women’s rights, became the first real-life female to show up on circulation
coins. Carter’s Quarter, as it was
dubbed, only lasted a few years to 1981 and came back only due to necessity in
1999. Then in 2000, a new coin, with the
same size but with a golden color and thicker, smooth rim, was introduced. This coin features two people-
Sacagawea, a native who helped Lewis and Clark on their expedition, and her
baby son.
As you can see, our coinage has come a long
way since engravers were forced to do nothing but think of new ways to portray
Liberty. In 2003, every circulating coin
depicts a historical figure of some sort, and the mythological and allegorical
figures are no more. So when you look in
your pocket and see a wonderful variety of people who built this country, think
about what it would be like to see nothing but the same figure in different
positions instead. Then, you should be
proud of our mint, our coins, and our country.
-Gee
sergee3@hotmail.com
C03030904A
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