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Thomas Jefferson Act of Congress Signed as Secretary of State. ...
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Description
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson Signed Act Authorizing the Creation of the First Copper Coinage
Thomas Jefferson Act of Congress Signed as Secretary of
State. One printed page, 9.625 x 15 inches, Philadelphia; May
8, 1792. [Philadelphia: Francis Childs and John Swaine, 1792]. A
printed broadside of the act to provide copper coinage. It is
signed "Th: Jefferson" as Secretary of State and
countersigned in type by George Washington as President, Jonathan
Trumbull as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Richard
Henry Lee as President pro tempore of the Senate."...pursuant to 'the act establishing a Mint, and regulating the coins of the United States;' and that the said cents and half cents, as they shall be coined, be paid into the treasury of the United States, thence to issue into circulation."
The document reads, in part: "Second Congress of the United States: At the First Session, begun and held at the City of Philadelphia on Monday the twenty-fourth of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one. An Act to provide for Copper Coinage. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the director of the mint, with the approbation of the President of the United States, be authorized to contract for and purchase a quantity of copper, not exceeding one hundred and fifty tons, and that the said director, as soon as the needfull [sic] preparations shall be made, cause the copper by him purchased to be coined at the mint into cents and half cents, pursuant to 'the act establishing a Mint, and regulating the coins of the United States;' and that the said cents and half cents, as they shall be coined, be paid into the treasury of the United States, thence to issue into circulation.
And be it further enacted, That... no copper coins or pieces whatsoever, except the said cents and half cents, shall pass current as money, or shall be paid, or offered to be paid or received in payment for any debt, demand, claim, matter or things whatsoever and all copper coins or pieces, except the said cents and half cents, which shall be paid or offered to be paid or received in payment contrary to the prohibition aforesaid, shall be forfeited, and every person by whom any of them shall have been so paid or offered to be paid or received in payment, shall also forfeit the sum of ten dollars, and the said forfeiture and penalty shall and may be recovered with costs of suit for the benefit of any person or persons by whom information of the incurring thereof shall have been given... Approved, May eighth, 1792..."
One of the many pressing issues facing the young nation concerned the establishment of a national coinage system. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress began issuing paper currency to fund the cause, but as they lacked a physical backing like silver or gold, the paper quickly depreciated, impeding commerce and resulting in a number of desertions in the Continental Army. As such, the Founding Fathers intimately understood the importance of a strongly-backed national currency printed by the federal government and ensured that when the U.S. Constitution was signed in 1787, it contained a section that authorized Congress "To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof... and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures".
In April of 1790, Congress directed Alexander Hamilton, then the Secretary of the Treasury, to prepare an official plan for establishing a national mint. Hamilton returned to the following session of Congress in 1791 with the requested plan in hand, titled "Report on the Subject of a Mint" and approvingly quoted the adage, "The perfection of the Coins is a great safeguard against counterfeits." The Coinage Act of 1792, also known as the Mint Act, was passed by Congress on April 2, 1792. The historic act established the United States Mint in Philadelphia to oversee the production of coins minted using gold, silver, or copper. It was quickly followed by efforts to employ artists to create designs that would be difficult to counterfeit and legislation guiding the location and building of the Mint, the first Federal building to be erected under the U.S. Constitution. The Act offered here was signed into law by President Washington a little over a month after the Coinage Act, and it was this piece of legislation that led to the birth of the copper penny. It specifies the quantity of copper to be purchased and coined into cents and half-cents. It also stipulates that the use of any other copper coins will result in their forfeiture and a fine of ten dollars. The first copper coins entered circulation on March 3, 1793.
Condition: Scattered foxing and soiling. Three small areas of mounting adhesive to verso with slight bleed through to recto. Left margin rough and partially threaded for binding. Pencil notation at upper right corner recto.
References: Evans 24904; Evans, G., Illustrated History of the U.S. Mint, page 7.
Auction Info
2022 December 1 Historical Platinum Session Signature® Auction #6267 (go to Auction Home page)
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