On a lot of U.S. coinage, we have eagles on the coins, normally placed in a position, to be perched upon something. There was a bird that was very familiar to the people of Philadelphia in the mid 1800's, and is considered one of the finest birds to have ever been captured alive. Peter, was known as the mint bird, as he was the pet of the Philadelphia Mint. He flew carelessly, and freely throughout all the parts of the mint, and the city, over houses, different structures, and posing while being perched on something, like a lamp post, everyone who was a resident in the city knew him, he was Peter The Mint Bird, and was treated with respect. It is said that he was a very friendly bird, and wasn't afraid of anything, and he was an important part of the mint. Peter one day rested on one of the flywheels of the mint, the wheel started, and sadly the eagle got caught, causing one of his wings to be broken, Peter died a few days later. The superintendent of the mint had Peter mounted as a high flying bird, with the wings spread out, as far as they could go, and even to the day Peter is in a glass case in the Philadelphia Mint lobby. It is said that Peter, is the eagle used on coins, such as the dollar coins of 1836, 1838 and 1839 and on the one cent coinage, that was minted in 1856-1858, these coins are known as the flying eagle cent, and the Gobrecht Dollar. It will never be known, with 100% assurance, but the most evidence we have is a letter from Mint Director Robert Maskell Patterson to the Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury If anybody has something to add, on Peter, please do
I remember something about a cat (can't remember its name) at the mint. Had a damaged foot from some midnight minting operations. Seems the mint workers didn't want to be the one to step on the lever to start their midnight run, so had the cat do it. The cat was part of the reason Pete met his maker.
Great story. Thanks for sharing this. NYC has been graced by a pair or "couple" of red tale hawks the last few years. Dubbed, Pale Male and Lola they have been city residents of the parks, green-spaces and innumerable perches across the city's rooftops and are now widely respected and protected after some commotion a while back when they took up residence on a high end property. They're no eagles nor going to replace the national symbol but it's nice we still have these majestic feathered predators soaring high and free over our cities. http://www.palemale.com/
Those are beautiful hawks! I've always loved birds, and wanted to share the story of Peter, and I thought it was cool that there was a nice bird related story that was related to numismatics. Thanks for sharing that story!
Thanks for that thread, as I didn't know that this had been posted here before. I see your thread got 6 responses, and now we have some newer members, and hopefully everybody can know about Peter :thumb:
That is where I got all my info from :high5: I just typed it in my own words, except for the letter at the bottom in quotes. I highly recommend Rick Snows book on Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents (The Official Red Book; A Guide Book Of Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents) I wanted to share this with anybody who didn't know the story, I knew of a mint mascot, but never much into detail and I thought this was kinda neat
