USA Coin Album: Something of Value - Part 2

The hiring of John Reich in 1807 as Second Engraver under Robert Scot prompted a general revision to the designs of United States coinage. This also led to an attempt at standardizing the way coin denominations were stated on each issue.

The Classic Head cents and half cents, introduced in 1808 and 1809, respectively, carried simple text statements of value as either ONE CENT or HALF CENT. No further explanation was deemed necessary, as these were merely coins of convenience that had no legal tender status. Of far greater significance were the silver and gold issues, and henceforth all such pieces would carry a statement of their nominal values.

Commencing with the new designs introduced in 1807-08, all of the silver and gold coins had their face values expressed in a uniform matter for the next 30 years. Coinage of the half dime, silver dollar and gold eagle was under suspension during most of that period, but the other pieces were defined by a combination of numerals and a single letter. Thus, the dime bore the value 10 C., the quarter dollar 25 C., and the half dollar 50 C. This information was placed at the bottom of each coin’s reverse beneath the eagle figure. The two gold issues still current were labeled 2½ D. and 5 D., respectively. Of these various issues, only the half dollar bore a lettered edge, this still reading 50 CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR, and it was thus the only coin having dual statements of value. When coining of the half dime resumed in 1829, its denomination conformed to the established style and read 5 C.

The addition of the talented Christian Gobrecht to the Mint’s engraving staff in 1835 prompted another general revision to America’s coinage. Though his initial experiments were with the copper cents, no change was made in their expression of value, which remains simply ONE CENT to the present day. The application of steam power to coining in 1836 led to his revising the Capped Bust half dollar originally created by John Reich in 1807. Gobrecht’s version employed a reeded edge collar and thus brought an end to lettered edge coinage until it was revived for the new double eagle in 1907. The one remaining value statement on the half dollar was an expansion of the old 50 C. into 50 CENTS, but this was changed completely to the awkward HALF DOL. for the halves starting in 1837. Gobrecht’s failure to fit the word DOLLAR on the larger coin was an inexcusable error which somehow received official approval, though it must be added that the abbreviation “dol.” was used with frequency in 19th century correspondence.

In 1837 Gobrecht applied his new Seated Liberty figure to the smallest silver coins, and their denominations were spelled in full as HALF DIME and DIME. When this design was extended to the quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar in 1838, 1839 and 1840, respectively, the abbreviation DOL. was applied to all three. They remained on the first two coins as late as 1891.

Christian Gobrecht also created a new Liberty bust for the gold issues, and this debuted on the revived eagle denomination in 1838. Its value was abbreviated as simply TEN D., and this format was applied to the half eagle as well, which read FIVE D. Only the quarter eagle survived the design change without a revision to its value statement. This continued to declare 2½ D. through 1907, as the space available did not permit a spelling of the numeric portion.

This hodgepodge of inconsistent value formats remained throughout the 19th century, and it only became more complex with the introduction of entirely new denominations. The first of these was gold dollar in 1849. Though its design was changed twice during its 41-year run, the value of this coin was consistently expressed as 1 DOLLAR. The space available could have accommodated the word ONE, so the mixing of a numeral with text was an odd choice. The mighty double eagle appeared the following year and was labeled as TWENTY D., making it consistent with the eagle and half eagle. The new silver three-cent piece of 1851 was quite distinctive in having its value displayed as a Roman numeral III nearly enclosed by an ornate letter C. Three years later another odd denomination was added to the roster, and its statement of value mimicked that of the gold dollar by reading 3 DOLLARS. The Mint’s 1807 attempt at standardizing expressions of value had clearly failed by mid century.

A bronze double cent debuted in 1864, with its value spelled as 2 CENTS. The following year brought a copper-nickel replacement for the silver three-cent piece of 1851, and it repeated the usage of a Roman III, but without the accompanying letter C. A copper-nickel replacement for the silver half dime was launched in 1866, and it borrowed its value format from the two-cent piece, reading 5 CENTS.

There was clearly no consistency being applied at this point, but the U. S. Mint would once again standardize its statements of value as the century drew to a close. Easing this prospect was the elimination of several denominations altogether in 1873 and again in 1889.

David W. Lange's column, “USA Coin Album,” appears monthly in The Numismatist, the official publication of the American Numismatic Association.