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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 8394160, member: 105571&quot;]It&#039;s pretty surprising the US Mint is still propagating that which has been proven false.&nbsp; But, I suppose if you define <i>The Mint delivered...</i>as meaning the physical Mint building and facilities, then maybe there&#039;s some truth in the statement.&nbsp; But the &quot;Mint&quot; is not the building, it&#039;s the institution.&nbsp; With that proviso, the first circulating coins provided by the US Mint were the half dismes of 1792.</p><p><br /></p><p>The half dismes were struck between July 11-13, 1792 in the cellar of John Harper&#039;s shop a couple of blocks away from the location of the first mint.&nbsp; David Rittenhouse, the Mint Director, hired Harper to provide services to assist in the coinage.&nbsp; The press belonged to John Harper, a local saw maker, although it is possible that the press belonged to the government but not yet moved into the as-yet unready new mint building.&nbsp; They were struck on silver supplied by Thomas Jefferson and the 1500 half dismes were given to Jefferson on the 13th.&nbsp; He took them with him when he immediately left for Monticello and there is pretty good evidence in his <i>Memorandum Book</i> that he used them for his expenses on that 10-day trip, while at Monticello and then again when he traveled back to Philadelphia.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is evidence that another 200 to 500 half dismes were struck on the original but now reverse-rusted dies in the new mint building and on the Mint&#039;s presses in early October, 1792.&nbsp; Some of these coins were probably given out as souvenirs and not put into circulation since most of the high-grade survivors were struck from these rusted reverse dies. </p><p><br /></p><p>About 200 to 300 half dismes of 1792 have survived, most in well-worn condition indicating that they did indeed circulate in commerce.&nbsp; These were indeed &quot;business strikes&quot; and were the product of the US government and it&#039;s Mint Department, even though the first 1500 did not issue from the Mint Buildings.&nbsp; They were not the first business strike coins intended for circulation by the U.S. government, though.&nbsp; That honor goes to the Fugio Cent which was contracted coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>The best and most complete story of the coinage of 1792, mostly focused on the half dismes but also the pattern cents of that year, is:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>1792: Birth of a Nation&#039;s Coinage</i> by Pete Smith, Joel J. Orosz, Leonard Augsberger; 2017; Ivey Press, Inc.&nbsp; This is an excellent book that dispels all the old myths and presents the primary and secondary evidence for all that we know and can reasonably surmise about these fledging efforts of the Mint.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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