and be paid into the treasury of the United States, thence to issue into circulation." Furthermore, it said 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, claims, matter or thing whatsoever." It also stated that people caught trying to knowingly pass or receive foreign copper coinage in a transaction will have it confiscated and all parties fined $10. to be coined at the mint into cents and half-cents. be authorized to contract for and purchase a quantity of copper, not exceeding one hundred and fifty tons. The Act also stipulated that "the director of the mint. It followed the precedent of the Fugio cent of 1787 in establishing the copper cent, from which descends today's one-cent piece. On May 8, 1792, An Act to Provide For a Copper Coinage ] was signed into law by President George Washington. Mint director David Rittenhouse laid the building's cornerstone on July 31.Īn Act to Provide For a Copper Coinage This was the first federal building erected under the United States Constitution. The Act also authorized construction of a mint building in Philadelphia, the nation's capital at the time. The Act specified the issuing of three gold coins comprising a $10 gold coin called an "eagle", a $5 coin called a "half eagle", and a $2.5 coin called a "quarter eagle". On the reverse of the copper coins, there express the denomination of the coin as one-cent or half-cent. It further declared that on the reverse of each gold and silver coin there would also be the representation of an eagle, with the inscription, "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". The Act called for an image emblematic of liberty as well as the word "liberty", and the year of the coinage. Essentially, it provided the framework for all subsequent coinage design and production. History Īlthough some of the provisions in the 1792 Coinage Act were adjusted as time went by, the majority of the rules specified in this Act remained in effect for decades. The Act pegged the newly created United States dollar to the value of the widely used Spanish silver dollar, saying it was to have "the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current". The Assayer, Chief Coiner and Treasurer were required to post a $10,000 bond with the Secretary of the Treasury. The Act allowed that one person could perform the functions of Chief Coiner and Engraver. Mint were a Director, an Assayer, a Chief Coiner, an Engraver, and a Treasurer (not the same as the Secretary of the Treasury). īy the Act, the Mint was to be situated at the seat of government of the United States. This act established the silver dollar as the unit of money in the United States, declared it to be lawful tender, and created a decimal system for U.S. The Coinage Act of 1792 (also known as the Mint Act officially: An act establishing a mint, and regulating the Coins of the United States), passed by the United States Congress on April 2, 1792, created the United States dollar as the country's standard unit of money, established the United States Mint, and regulated the coinage of the United States. Signed into law by President George Washington on April 2, 1792.
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