FEAST or FAMINE

U.S. Coinage History Encompasses the Great Depression and Great Prosperity

- R.W. JULIAN

In 1851 and 1852 the mints struck large numbers of trimes (three-cent silver pieces) because of the ongoing coin shortage. STACK’S BOWERS

For the more than 200 years that the United States mints have been in operation, there have been good and bad years for coinage. These fluctuations have directly affected those dedicated collectors who avidly seek out coins of this country, especially where the output was low in the difficult years.

In the early days of the Philadelphi Mint, especially during the 1790s, coinage was very erratic, as the striking of gold and silver coins depended on bullion brought to the Mint by private depositors. The situation did improve somewhat after 1797 when the Bank of the United States was persuaded to make regular deposits of the precious metals; at first, these were primarily foreign silver coins, especially those of France. In time, however, gold was also sent to the Mint in reasonable amounts.

Some of the mintages, such as for the minor silver coins in 1796 and 1797, are very small and costly to modern day collectors wishing to add to their collections. It is sometimes said that these small coinages were the result of not enough bullion coming to the Mint, but this is only partially correct.

The lack of bullion, especially silver, meant that Mint Director Elias Boudinot had two choices. The first was to lay off skilled workers until the deposits got better. The second was to create a make-work situation in which small coinages, which required time and effort, were the order of the day; in 1796 and 1797, the make-work answer enabled the director to keep skilled workers on hand until bullion deposits increased.

Large numbers of copper-nickel coins were struck beginning in 1965 to replace the silver coins taken from circulation by the public