The Year 1792 The January 1791 Hamilton Report

Author’s note: This is the third in a series of articles discussing the coinage of 1792 and the steps leading up to that year. The first two articles, which covered 1776 through 1790, appeared in the Numismatic News issues of Dec. 10 and Dec. 31, 2024.

BY R.W. JULIAN

In April 1790, the House of Representatives asked Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to prepare a detailed report on a mint and coinage for the United States. The public had increasingly contacted their senators and representatives about this need and, in due course, Congress had acted with the request to the Treasury Secretary. Because inquiries were undertaken from a number of knowledgeable sources, especially merchants and bullion dealers in Europe with a good understanding of other coinage systems, the report took several months to complete. At length, on Jan. 28, 1791, the 15,000-word report was sent to the House of Representatives. Within a short time, that legislative body had forwarded copies to the Senate for its use. The report has often been hailed as a masterpiece of clear thinking, in line…

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Numismatic News (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 14, 2025

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