US Mint Chief Engraver Robert Scot

[Nysoto]

Robert Scot was Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1793 until his death in 1823. Prior numismatic publications explain little about Scot's background before his Mint employment, so I will open this up for discussion about Robert Scot. I spent a decade researching Scot's history from contemporary sources including government and private archives, newspapers, presidential papers, and other sources. I recently published a biography of Robert Scot with American History Press Robert Scot: Engraving Liberty . I will put additional purchase information on the Marketplace forum.

 

Scot engraved throughout the Revolutionary period for American officers, including a magnificent illustration of the decisive battle of the American Revolution, the Siege of Yorktown. Robert Scot collaborated with immigrant Scottish publishers to publish some of the first illustrated scientific books printed in the United States, along with being the primary engraver for the first encyclopedia published in the US.

 

Robert Scot also engraved the first federal revenue stamps to support to re-building of the US Navy to fight the undeclared Quasi-War with France, and the First Barbary War (Congress authorized military actions in these wars). The dies made for the stamps are the same basic process as for coinage dies, using a master die, hub, and working dies created at the US Mint, with Adam Eckfeldt fabricating 18 screw presses for the stamps. Images of actual working dies for the stamps are included in the book. Also, never before published archival information of the Mint is included.

 

Here is one of Scot's federal revenue stamps, from one of 240 dies he engraved in 1798, for each state:

 

[LanLord]

"Like"

[DWLange]

I bought and read Bill's book, and it's excellent. I gained a greater appreciation for Scot's talent and his elevated status in his own lifetime. Breen and others have put down Scot's later coin designs, but to view his body of work in its complete context is quite revealing.

[RWB]

Great to have improved information, especially without Breen's bias against certain engravers and others.

[johnny9434]

nice write up

[BillJones]

I have read this book as well, and it is excellent.

 

I have long admired Scott's early designs, including gold small eagle and the 1795-8 silver small eagles. His Draped Bust design got me interested in early U.S. coins from the time I was too young to drive.

 

Later on, however, the "tough old ladies" he put on the gold coins in the 1820s were not attractive. I'm not sure what his attractive matrons was, but it did not enhance the beauty of U.S. coinage in my opinion. Here is a sample for those who have not seen these coins.

 

I think that this design is very attractive

 

 

I think that this one is not.

 

 

This quarter eagle was issued after Scott's death, but it still had his original artwork.

[Nysoto]

Thanks for the nice comments.

 

Robert Scot's history was not easy to find, and I think that is the reason that some numismatists have not been accurate in their assessments of Scot, as they found little information - so they resorted to speculation. Not all writers harshly criticized Scot, however, as researchers such as Newman, Julian, and Bowers were more accurate.

 

Most of Scot's research required a lot of digging, I spent a year going through newspaper microfilm that uncovered items such as Scot's 25 unsigned copperplates to Natural Philosophy, one of the first illustrated scientific books printed in the US. Scot's information was scattered, there are unpublished manuscripts in the bibliography from a number of different historical institutions that yielded letters, receipts, and other factual information that allowed his engraving career to be reconstructed.

 

The images in the book of Robert Scot's engravings of copperplate, seal and stamp dies, important historical maps, etc. prove that he was actually quite a talented and prolific engraver in the formative years of the United States.

[Conder101]

The dies made for the stamps are the same basic process as for coinage dies, using a master die, hub, and working dies created at the US Mint, with Adam Eckfeldt fabricating 18 screw presses for the stamps.

I'm a bit confused by this statement. What were these stamps? Were they two dimensional printed items or three dimensional like a seal? Two dimensional printing was done with flat plate engraving and I would be surprised if those plates could be duplicated with a master die/hub system at that time. I now how they duplicate the master plates at the BEP today and I don't think they had that capability back then. I would think the 18 screw presses actually flat plate printing presses. Yes they used a screw to raise and lower the plate but they didn't use an "impact" type sytem that a coining press does. A three dimensional seal type stamp though would make sense to employ a master die/hub system.

[Conder101]

The dies made for the stamps are the same basic process as for coinage dies, using a master die, hub, and working dies created at the US Mint, with Adam Eckfeldt fabricating 18 screw presses for the stamps.

I'm a bit confused by this statement. What were these stamps? Were they two dimensional printed items or three dimensional like a seal? Two dimensional printing was done with flat plate engraving and I would be surprised if those plates could be duplicated with a master die/hub system at that time. I now how they duplicate the master plates at the BEP today and I don't think they had that capability back then. I would think the 18 screw presses actually flat plate printing presses. Yes they used a screw to raise and lower the plate but they didn't use an "impact" type sytem that a coining press does. A three dimensional seal type stamp though would make sense to employ a master die/hub system.

[Nysoto]

Conder - I am pressed for time and will give more info later, but...

 

In 1798 Robert Scot engraved 240 stamp die for the First Federal Issue of revenue stamps to emboss documentary paper - essentially like a seal. I have images in the book of seven surviving working dies that still exist at the Vermont Historical Society, six eagle, and one design identical to the Great Seal star constellation.

 

The 240 dies are for 15 different "denominations" of revenue stamps for the then 16 states. Scot did more in 1800, and John Reich did more in 1814 to support the War of 1812. These are basically like working dies for coins, without the dentils as they are turned on a lathe to round the edge for paper usage. They were all fabricated at the US Mint, but records are with the US Treasury records, and little is mentioned in Mint records.

 

This is an obscure area of collecting that was covered in excellent books by Combs "First Federal Issue" etc.

 

The three dollar 1798 Vermont die eagle nearly matches the shape of the1807 eagle in the Motto above eagle design. This info has not been previously reported in numismatic publications. (Combs' books were philatelic).

 

edit - Eckfeldt was paid, from Treasury Records, $5089.50 for 18 screw presses in 1798, for 16 states, and 2 for unknown reasons. They are not as substantial as coin screw presses but they were shipped in cases weighing hundreds of pounds (exact weight in the book).

 

 

[benjmurts]

nice article

[RWB]

The engraver at the Philadelphia Mint also made embossing dies for revenue and tax stamps for the Post Office, other Treasury agencies and bureaus. For a long time, this constituted the majority of the engraver's work.