Did George Washington Make the 1792 Half Dismes? Público Deposited
Legend has it that George Washington provided the bullion to strike the first United States coin, the 1792 half disme. This talk traces the development of this story and uses rare and little known books and manuscripts to come to a surprising conclusion including: * possible pronunciations of "disme" * the tale of George Washington providing his silver to strike the first U.S. coins and that Martha was the model * first print story in 1846 "Pledges of History" by William Dubois * Morton's Literary Letter in 1857 that mentions Martha Washington being the model and George bringing the silver * Dr. Montroville W. Dickerson who popularized the story * James Ross Snowden, Mint Director till 1861, who added that it was GW's silverware * Edward B. Haden, who wrote a letter "To the Editor" of The Numismatist in May 1943, and told of a letter in a book relating to the topic * people in the drama including Don Taxay, and Walter Breen * three different revisions of the memorandum * Carl Herkowitz's article in 1996 that determined that John McAllister Jr. (1786-1877) is who wrote the memo * how it was determined that silverware was not used * rationale leading to the conclusion that it was indeed Washington's silver coin or bullion that was used Speaker(s): Joel J. Orosz, Ph.D.
- 2004-08-15
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