The final design for the same year included added the Phrygian cap above Liberty's head. A specimen graded as fine sold for $414,000 in November 2004. One of the greatest rarities in the series is the so-called "strawberry leaf" variety. The various varieties of this design totaled 63,353 pieces. The design was changed early in 1793 to eliminated the chain and replace it with a wreath. The Liberty head design, modeled after current French coinage image of Liberty, featured a chain of 13 links on the reverse. The first one-cent coins were also minted in 1793, in several different formats. They are rare today in all conditions, with the poorest known specimens valued above $1,000. Since they were somewhat heavier than a half cent's worth of copper, some wound up being used for bullion. The 1793 half cent had a total mintage of 35,334 pieces. The first issues in 1793 were meager and hardly met the needs of even local commerce. Since there were no gold mines active anywhere near the Mint, gold was purchased from jewelers, private parties and recycled foreign gold coins. The silver was mostly recycled foreign silver coinage and silverware purchased from local sources such as jewelers. The bullion for copper coins was purchased mostly from British and French sources, as well as currently circulating copper colonial coins and tokens. (The spelling on the later issued coins was changed to "dime" since it was pronounced "dime".) A few dozen of the half dismes are known today, and only three of the dismes. Martha Washington donated some personal silverware for the manufacture of the first coins about 1,200 half dismes and a smaller number of dismes. President George Washington appointed David Rittenhouse, a Philadelphia scientist, to be the first director of the new Mint building at Seventh Street and Arch, a few blocks from Independence Hall. The pure copper coins of one cent and half-cent were the final two denominations in the coinage series. The standard for coinage established by Alexander Hamilton was based on a gold standard eagle ($10), half eagle and quarter eagle, silver coins of one dollar, half dollar, quarter dollar, dime (spelled "disme" at the time) and half dime (5 cents). The bill to actually follow through was passed on April 2, 1792. It is believed this was a Benjamin Franklin design.Ĭongress passed a resolution on March 3, 1791, to build and operate a federal mint in Philadelphia. The first federally authorized coinage, the Fugio Cent, was privately minted in 1787 under contract with the Continental Congress. Some states issued their own coinage which often circulated across state lines. Rom 1776 to 1791, the United States relied on a mishmash of coinage and paper money to facilitate commerce.
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