By Jim Wells – The California Numismatist

America’s coinage has undergone many changes in over two centuries, with frequent modifications to denominations, varieties, metals, and designs. Perhaps the most activity occurred in 1873. After three years of deliberation, the U. S. Congress passed a comprehensive Coinage Act that was signed by President Grant on February 12, 1873. The Act was an effort to reform and consolidate the coinage system. It embraced the gold standard and demonetized silver, fueling the competition between the powerful mining interests. But its results, intended and unintended, caused the Coinage Act to be called the “Crime of 1873.”

Illustration Note: John Gast’s 1872 painting American Progress was an allegorical representation of Manifest Destiny. An angelic Columbia, a personification of the United States, carries the light of “civilization” westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she travels. American Indians and wild animals fl ee—or lead the way—into the darkness of the “uncivilized” West.

As a partial result of the legislation, the year 1873 saw the minting of 20 different coin designs in 13 denominations. Struggles grew between the backers of gold, silver, and nickel coinage. Gold was the winner, so was nickel. Silver lost. New designs were created at the three U.S. Mints when arrows were placed beside the date on three silver denominations to indicate a weight change. Four coin designs were dropped, and a new coin type added. Nine coin designs continued without major change. A dozen coin designs also sport both an “Open 3” and “Close 3” in the date, yielding more varieties. A busy year! Of course collectors may not consider the results as a “crime,” but as a bonanza and a collection challenge. A one-year set of 1873 coins is still a worthy goal for many.

In 1873, Ulysses Grant was beginning his second term as President. The country’s continuing push for “Manifest Destiny” led pioneers across the West to populate the entire continent. The California gold rush was into the third decade of providing material for gold coinage. A new Mint building we now call the “Granite Lady” was about to open in San Francisco, which would make it the world’s largest mint at the time. The three-year-old Carson City Mint was producing gold and silver from Nevada’s Comstock Lode. And that year’s Coinage Act created chaos and confusion, even contributing to a national depression.

The Coinage Act of 1873: Good Intentions, Mixed Results

By the late 1860s, the U.S. coinage system was an illogical mix of denominations, designs, and types. The Mint was producing three-cent pieces in both silver and nickel, five-cent coins in the same two metals, and dollars in two metals: silver and gold. Some versions had clearly become superfluous. As the Government reviewed their coinage system, they concluded that the basic monetary law of 1837, as amended several times, was no longer adequate to serve the nation’s needs. The U.S. coinage laws needed streamlining and strengthening, and a proposal was drafted. The result was a lengthy bill, with mixed consequences.

When the Act of 1873 was passed, few considered it a “crime.” The term didn’t arise until several years later. Then the silver miners and their powerful friends in Washington, disgruntled by a decline in silver coin production, blamed the Act for all their troubles, mainly because it had abolished silver dollars. (more…)

By Dan Duncan – Pinnacle-Rarities

Ezra Meeker – Champion of the Oregon Trail

Over the summer months our numismatic travels took us to great historical cities like Boston and Philadelphia. And this week we travel to Baltimore, another city rich in early Americana. Of course, across the nation there are local historical sites and, more specifically, sites of numismatic interest. Over the last 200 plus years, our mints have aided the extraction from a number of precious metal lodes. Now many of the once thriving businesses are gone, with a few remaining as mint and mining museums or historical landmarks.

Each place chronicles a rich history founded in capturing natural resources and refining them into tangible representations of our history. Living in the Northwest, we are thousands of miles from any of these sites. While some old mines exist in the state, the real history of Washington State lies in the old growth forests. The “American” history of the region is for all intent and purpose quite young. But, sometimes you don’t have to look far to find a piece of numismatic lore right in your own back yard.

Recently we took the family to a large state fair located in the city of Puyallup (pyoo-al-uh p). One of the town’s principal founders was a pioneer who travelled to the Oregon Territory in the mid-nineteenth century. He eventually settled in the foothills of Mt. Rainier. This man was Ezra Meeker. His contributions to the northwest are many, but he is best remembered nationally for his extensive work on having the Oregon Trail marked.

According to the Meeker Mansion website, “Ezra Meeker became the self-appointed champion of the Oregon Trail in 1906, when at the age of 76, accompanied by two oxen, a wagon, a driver and a dog, he made his way from his front yard to Washington D.C., by way of New York City.”

Meeker first took the Oregon Trail as a young man in 1852. A true pioneer, Ezra was lured by the promise of the new territories. Finally settling in a valley below Mt. Rainier, Meeker cleared his own land and eventually became an internationally successful hops farmer. His travels included a stint in Europe and a couple forays into the Alaskan territories.

Meeker was obviously impacted by his early trip out west. He had a connection to the Oregon Trail. He recognized it as a part of American history and felt it should be cherished and preserved. In his mid-seventies, he harnessed his oxen and retraced his steps from some 50 odd years ago in a Conestoga wagon. He deemed this trip the Oregon Trail Monument Expedition Trip. During this trip he promoted the trail awareness, lectured, handed out pamphlets and eventually gained a lot of publicity. Meeker met with Teddy Roosevelt, who agreed in principle to in some way recognize the Oregon Trail, but the bill died in Congress.

After returning to his home, Meeker wrote an acclaimed book on the subject entitled The Lost Trail, Meeker again braved the 2,000 mile trail with an ox drawn wagon in 1910. He was again to promote its preservation, but this time he intended to map the route. He was in favor of a transcontinental railroad along a similiar course, which he also intended to lobby for. Despite completing the trail, and the map, his second trip was somewhat of a failure. When he arrived out East he was contacted by the Senate and told not to come to D.C. After some other tribulations, he found his way back to Washington State. He continued to campaign, worked on a movie, lectured and published another book – Ox Team Days. Eventually he’s instrumental in the formation of the Oregon Trail Memorial Association. Through that organization he petitioned Congress getting final approval for the Oregon Trail Commemorative in 1926. The proceeds from the distrubution were used to mark the trail. (more…)

Historic pattern struck just before the artist’s death for his approval

The only known Plain Edge 1907 ten dollar coin with Wire Rim, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens – and likely the only example of his coinage that he ever saw – is among the most historically important pieces in Heritage’s upcoming U.S. Coin auction. It will be offered on Aug. 11, as part of the Official Auction of the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Boston, MA.

“At the turn of the 20th century, Augustus Saint-Gaudens was one of America’s most prominent artists,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage. “In 1905, during Theodore Roosevelt’s second term, Roosevelt convinced Saint-Gaudens to redesign the two largest American gold coins: the ten dollar, or eagle, and the twenty dollar, or double eagle. The results made Saint-Gaudens one of the most famous American coinage artists and secured his lasting fame.”

The coinage designs would be the artist’s final masterpieces. In July 1907, when Saint-Gaudens was going through the last stage of his terminal cancer, two early examples of the ten dollar coin were struck. The edges of these two coins were plain; later Wire Rim 1907 ten dollar coins have an edge design of 46 stars.

“The two Plain Edge coins were patterns, made to see how the coins looked,” said Rohan. “They were the coinage equivalent of an artist’s proof. After the two Plain Edge coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, they were split up.”

One was sent to Treasury Secretary George B. Cortelyou, who forwarded it to the President, while the other was sent to Saint-Gaudens at his studio in New Hampshire. This was the only time Saint-Gaudens would see his work in coin form. He died on August 3, 1907, before further work could be done on either denomination.

Archived letters show that the coin Roosevelt saw was eventually sent back to the Mint, while the Saint-Gaudens coin disappears from the record. This coin’s history is largely unknown, and it is impossible to say with certainty whether it was sent to Roosevelt or Saint-Gaudens, but it is a coin of tremendous importance regardless of the answer. Either it was sent to President Roosevelt, whose dedication to coinage redesign had been vital to the whole project; or it went to Saint-Gaudens, the artist who had spent more than two years bringing the President’s ambition to life. (more…)