In addition to old coins I also collect old books. Recently I acquired the second edition of Eugene Ziebler's Heraldry in America, published in 1909. This work still stands as the most comprehensive study of heraldry in literally all aspects of American culture through the 19th century. (The detailed descriptions and analyses are very impressive.) On page 111 I stumbled across this curious entry concerning the US Treasury Department seal... From the footnote we can gather that Ziebler had written then Treasurer of the United States Daniel N. Morgan, asking him for information about the seal. The entire entry is a quote from that letter. But the text in the circle tells us that the Solicitor of the Treasury, a certain Felix. A. Reeve, had denied Ziebler permission to actually print the seal in his book. (Obviously those statutes must have been eased at some point - open any guide to US currency today and you'll find the Treasury seal printed a hundred times over.) "Go look at your paper money" is the message. My question is this: as both the Bureau of Printing and Engraving and the US Mint are overseen by the Treasury Department, why is the seal ubiquitous on paper money, but non-existent (as far as I can tell) on coinage? Are there any circulating or commemorative coins on which the seal appears? I've only seen it on occasional medals. I have this wordy thing, Bicentennial of the Treasury... Another interesting point. In 1968 the seal was updated. Here are the old and new side-by-side... I never thought about the meaning of the inscription on the old seal, but D. N. Morgan tells us that it means the Seal of the Treasury of North America. I suppose in 1788, the Continental Congress had no idea what the eventual borders of the United States would be, but by 1968 the matter had been settled.
@Heavymetal: that's a very interesting bit of exonumia. I hadn't seen those medals before. From what little research I did online, they were awarded by the US Treasury Department to people who bought a certain amount of WWII bonds. Every relevant source seems to say they're sterling silver. I bought the cheapest one I could find on eBay, although it looks more like brass than sterling. Maybe that's just the pic. We'll see what it's like in hand in a few days. I'm assuming they were struck by the US Mint, unless the Treasury contracted them out to a private mint. I couldn't find any info on that. I'm also assuming they were issued in or after 1954, as the reverse is the famous Iwo Jima Memorial which wasn't unveiled until 1954. It seems odd to me that the Treasury was issuing awards for patriotic bond-buying nine years after the end of the war, but maybe not - the wheels of government sometimes churn very slowly.
I believe the photograph/photographer won the Pulitzer Award in 1945. Statue took a few years. And yes, sterling silver. I gave mine an overnight acetone bath so just the natural patina on it. Found and plucked from foreign/junk box at LCS in Florida last winter. I can smell silver from across the room
RIGHT! I forgot the memorial was based on the famous photo. The obverse of the medal actually copies the photo - not the memorial. In the memorial the soldiers have slightly different stances. Now it adds up.
So I received that Treasury Award medal yesterday and it's got a very interesting look - some sort of matte or satin finish, which has been burnished to make the devices stand out from the darkened fields. (Is it struck or cast?) The color is obviously silver, but with enough copper (or something else) to make it look quite different from circulating silver. The area at the bottom of the reverse is reserved for engraving - mine has the name George on it, followed by letters I can't make out. It's my new favorite piece of exonumia given the unusual fabric and noble devices: Minuteman, Treasury Seal, and Iwo Jima image. Thanks for turning me on to it, @Heavymetal
