US Mint Marks 218th Anniversary
April 2, Saturday last week marked the 218th anniversary of the passage by the US Congress on April 2, 1792 of the Mint Act providing for, among other things, the creation of the US Mint.
The first US Mint facility was put up in Philadelphia which struck the first coin of the United States, the half dime (originally spelt disme), in 1792. Only 1,500 pieces were struck as pattern coins, but not for circulation. It was the half cent and the one cent copper coins struck in 1993 that were the first to go into general circulation.
Before the founding of the US Mint, coins in circulation in the United States were coins minted by other countries.
The Mint Act specified the production of 10 coins among them America’s two most popular coins – American Gold Eagle and the American Silver Eagle minted in 1795 and 1794, respectively: Silver Half Dime $0.05, Silver Dime $0.05, Silver Dime $0.10, Silver Quarter $0.025, Silver Half Dollar $0.50, Silver Dollar $1.00, Gold Quarter Eagle $2.50, Gold Half Eagle $5.00 and Gold Eagle $10.00.
The American Gold Eagle contained 0.484 troy ounces of gold, the Gold Half Eagle, 0.242 troy ounces and the Gold Quarter Eagle 0.121 troy ounces. They were of 22 karats or 91.67% purity. The Gold Eagle coins remained in circulation until 1933, the year President Roosevelt imposed a ban on US citizens to sell, buy or own gold. The modern day gold coins appeared in 1986, two years after they were issued in commemorative form. Their gold content has been reduced to 90% purity.
The original Silver Eagle stayed in circulation until 1935. Several dollar mints were introduced prior to the introduction of the modern day Silver Eagle in 1986. The dollar coin is one troy ounce of 0,999% pure silver with a nominal value of $1. It is about 1.6 inches in diameter.
Currently there are three more federal mints in the US in addition to the original US Mint in Philadelphia.
Carl Davidson
Tags: Gold Eagle, popular coins, silver eagle, us mint
