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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 8203196, member: 42773&quot;]In addition to old coins I also collect old books. Recently I acquired the second edition of Eugene Ziebler&#039;s <i>Heraldry in America</i>, published in 1909. This work still stands as the most comprehensive study of heraldry in literally <i>all</i> 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...</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1437770[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>From the footnote we can gather that Ziebler had written then Treasurer of the United States <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_N._Morgan" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_N._Morgan" rel="nofollow">Daniel N. Morgan</a>, 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_A._Reeve" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_A._Reeve" rel="nofollow">Felix. A. Reeve</a>, 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&#039;ll find the Treasury seal printed a hundred times over.) &quot;Go look at your paper money&quot; is the message.</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;ve only seen it on occasional medals. I have this wordy thing, Bicentennial of the Treasury...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1437772[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Another interesting point. In 1968 the seal was updated. Here are the old and new side-by-side...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1437774[/ATTACH]</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p>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 <i>North America</i>. 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.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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