Some Coin History from 1892

[leeg]

In doing research for my Classic Commemorative "coffee table" book I found this little tidbit of history:

 

The Souvenir Half Dollar

 

We have received numerous clippings with illustrations from our correspondents, during the past two months, in relation to the proposed souvenir coins, and, through the kindness of Brother J.B. Breeding, of the Texas Plastic Chalk Co., we are enabled to give a plate of the design.

 

This model will not however be adopted, and is only interesting to us as bearing the Lotto portrait of the great navigator. This portrait is probably authentic as any of the many, but the expression is too "child like and bland," to suit our ideal of the stern man who boldly pushed out into the unknown, and whose determined efforts gave us a new world. This portrait will probably stay, and on the reverse, a caravel and two globes.

 

The Lotto Portrait

 

(The Duke of Palma and later the Cavaliere Rossi owned a painting of Columbus said to be by the artist Lorenzo Lotto (born ca. 1480) and dated 1512. It was painted for Domenico Malipiero, a Venetian senator and historian. The Lotto portrait is famous because it was the likeness minted by the millions for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago as a souvenir in 1893. Thus it had the stamp of approval by the United States government.

 

The Admiral is seen standing against a plain wall in a study . In one hand he holds a conically projected map of Brazil while the other touches an hour-glass and rests on a volume of Aristotle. He wears ceremonial furs leaving his throat bare. Bare-headed, his face is smooth, with his long gray hair parted in the middle. His face is thin, his nose long, and his eyes are lightly colored. His chin contains a slight dimple. He appears to be between the ages of 38 and 45. His fingernails are well manicured and he wears a plain, silver ring on the little finger of his right hand. His expression denotes a man who is intellectual, sensitive, perhaps a bit haughty, yet shows great determination.

 

On the parapet of the window is the artist's signature and date: LAUREN. LOTUS f./1512. The signature does not quite match others made by Lotto so (as with the Piombo) it was probably added by an unknown hand.

 

Excerpt from Paul Martin Lester, Looks Are Deceiving: the Portraits of Christopher Columbus, Originally published in Visual Anthropology, Vol. 5, pp. 211-227 C1993 Harwood Academic Publishers GmbH. )

 

 

These souvenir coins are the result of an appropriation by Congress, to aid the fair, of two and a half million dollars, to be coined into silver half dollars, or five million pieces. The original intention was for their use, primarily as coins of admission, and secondarily, as souvenirs of the Fair.

 

It is therefore with regret that we note, that the authorities of the Fair are already banking upon the cupidity of collectors, curio-seekers, hobby-riders, et hoc. omnes genus to help them unload these pieces an an enormous profit. We would that in this matter they were doomed to disappointment, but the old adage of Artemus Wood, that "this world contains about thirteen hundred millions of people, mostly fools" needs only the occasion to be verified.

 

To us, it seems a humiliating confession, that tends to lower the dignity of the greatest city of the greatest nation, that the managers of the grandest Exposition this world has known, have to resort to schemes like this to obtain a money. If profit is the greatest desideratum, we fail to see why Congress did not go one step further and authorize the coins struck in white or base metal; then would Chicago have been "chicagoed" and a precious metal saved from base uses.

 

 

Mark Goodman Image

 

 

Information for this article from The Numismatist and Year Book For 1892, Vol. 5, No. 4, October 1892, author unknown.

[physics-fan3.14]

Very interesting. That coin is spectacular, as well. I like how in old texts, foreign languages are sprinkled throughout, with the expectation that the reader knows exactly what is meant. I also like the slightly archaic and stilted grammar and vocabulary.

[RWB]

The Columbus portrait was by Olin Warner. The same portrait appears on badges but with Warner's initials.

[123cents]

Good reading and beautifully toned Columbian Half Dollar.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I just like that you can get an Unc half from the 1890's for $25.