Conveners
S81. MODERN TIMES 4. MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY IN THE UNITED STATES: 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES
- Jesse Kraft (American Numismatic Society)
Description
Org. and chair: Jesse Kraft
Ever since 1676, when Edward Randolph commented on the coinage of the Massachusetts Bay Colony—“as a marke of soveraignty they coin money”- monetary sovereignty in the British colonies was a topic of interest. By the late 18th century, when the fledgling United States was in the process of creating itself, the iconography of the national coinage became a topic of discussion. While the coinage itself was an expression of monetary sovereignty, the legal definition of the imagery as “an impression emblematic of liberty” was a further declaration of sovereignty by the United States from their former colonial power. Meanwhile, George Washington was vehemently against his own portrait on the face of the nation’s coinage. Ironically, Washington’s bust is currently on all 25¢ coins and $1 bills from the United States. This topic of monetary sovereignty in the United States can add value to the study of American history, economics, and numismatics. Sovereignty is often discussed only within a European framework—revolving around monarchs, imperialism, and struggles between Continental powers. While the topic has begun to broaden to include the monetary sovereignty of the British colonies and early Federal period—through the works of Jonathan Barth, Jane Knodell, and Farley Grubb—expanding these notions through the long 19th century will prove fruitful in understanding the complexities of long-term building of monetary sovereignty. Examples of possible topics for papers include building sovereignty through numismatic imagery; the inability to commit to monetary sovereignty and the need for foreign coinage; international monetary strategies of late-19th centuries as antithesis to sovereignty; and American monetary sovereignty from the view of the European powers who lost its control. The potential audience of the session includes parties interested in nation building, the power of imagery, colonial America and 19th century United States, and, of course, numismatists.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the United States did not have the means to provide its population with a steady supply of domestic coinage. Prior to this, as the Founding Fathers attempted to define a national coinage, concerns of monetary sovereignty permeated their discussions. They understood that a national coinage was an important part of exhibiting sovereignty, but had little...
In 1792 George Washington refused to have his name and portrait placed on the proposed coinage for the fledgling United States. Why? This question has become harder to answer in the last century since placing the images of dead Presidents on coinage has become commonplace – including that of George Washington. The symbolism of the images placed on money has lost much of its significance.
The...
When the Coinage Act of 1792 authorized the national monetary system of the United States, Congress stipulated that “there shall be an impression emblematic of liberty” on the obverse of each coin. Immediately, those responsible for designing the coins rendered this into a female personification of the concept. Through the course of the nineteenth century, females were making headway in their...
The United States issued the Trade Dollar between 1873 and 1885. It became increasingly more competitive in global trade during this period. Congress intended for the new coin to replace the silver dollar, which it demonetized in 1873, as American merchants’ coin of choice while trading in East Asia. Most Trade Dollars, however, circulated domestically. Historians of American money and the...
