Coin design

President Roosevelt found Senator Lodge’s letter to Richard Olney to convey a true mastery of language. Enclosed are letters that will allow for a full understanding of the scandal concerning Laura A. Hull Morris, and Roosevelt will also have information for Lodge about the Brownsville incident. Roosevelt has just given William Sturgis Bigelow the first of the five dollar gold pieces.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-01

President Roosevelt thanks William Sturgis Bigelow for his service in making models for the historic initial five dollar gold piece. He sends along the first coin struck, with compliments of Director of the United States Mint Frank Aleamon Leach.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-26

President Roosevelt tells Francis Davis Millet that he finds the American gold coin better than the Italian coin. Roosevelt enjoyed revisiting Gustave Le Bon’s book, and he is interested in the situation in France as it relates to the trend towards the two-child family.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-19

President Roosevelt asks gemologist George Frederick Kunz if he refers to the letter sent to their deceased friend, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Roosevelt feels privileged that Saint-Gaudens designed two coins under his administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-06

President Roosevelt has received Thomas L. Elder’s letter and resolutions, and will call for a report from Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou. Roosevelt informs Elder that new coinage is being designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, an American artist of exceptional ability.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-01

President Roosevelt returns two sample coins to Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou. He discusses the merits of smooth finishing, sharp cuts, and the height of the eagle in relation to the rim.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-29

President Roosevelt asks George E. Roberts to take “special and peculiar care” in cutting the coin designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He is not sure how long it will be allowed to be produced, but wants to have the United States “do something in the way of artistic expression.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-26

President Roosevelt tells Augustus Saint-Gaudens that the coin models are immense, and will rival that of the ancient Greeks. Roosevelt says he will tell the Director of the U.S. Mint to reproduce Saint-Gaudens’s design as quickly and faithfully as possible.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-20

President Roosevelt asks Augustus Saint-Gaudens for to send him the coin models in question “at once.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-11

President Roosevelt holds a paintbrush and a palette in front of an easel with a coin design that reads, “Theodoeus Rex Imperator.” On the wall are several other designs: “Veni vidi vici Ted”; “The new national bird,” which features a stork; “Our official beast,” which features a mouse eating cheese, and a mounted man on a horse that says, “Kosciuszko.” A sign reads, “T Roosevelt: Designer of Coins and Other Things.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Based on the interest of cartoonists, the public took a special interest in President Roosevelt’s special interest in coinage design, historic sculptures, and artistic numismatics. He thought that the advanced culture of the American civilization obliged the replication of what previous world powers memorialized through their public art.

President Roosevelt examines three new designs for coins: “The Great American Stork Design,” “The Great American Hen Design,” and “The Great American Eagle Design.” Caption: President Roosevelt has ordered some new and more suitable designs for the twenty dollar gold pieces.

comments and context

Comments and Context

President Roosevelt took a great interest in the design of American currency and, especially, coinage. It was one of his extracurricular campaigns for which he was noted, like Simplified Spelling and discouraging authors of anthropomorphic animal tales. He desired that a great country like the United States have great artistic legacies, from statues to coins, as did the great empires of world history.

President Roosevelt is interested in a penny that Evarts Tracy sent him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-22

President Roosevelt urges Frank Aleamon Leach, Director of the U.S. Mint, to “ride roughshod” over the “small men” in his department who would prevent him from accomplishing something of artistic merit.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-05-25

President Roosevelt thanks William T. R. Marvin for the letters, and agrees that Augustus Saint-Gaudens must have had some of the eagles that Marvin mentioned in mind when he was designing the new ten dollar coins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-20

President Roosevelt is glad that William Sturgis Bigelow liked the double eagle coin. He agrees with Bigelow’s opinion that it is the best coin minted in 2000 years. He was able to strike 100,000 of them before Congress stopped him due to the cost. He is interested in the experiments Bigelow is doing regarding how to cast better coins and would like to see the Assyrian samples.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-10

President Roosevelt suggests that Richard Watson Gilder make edits to his statement in order to not stir up discord. Homer Saint-Gaudens does not understand that this is an undesirable topic and could invite attack. Roosevelt agrees with Gilder about the positive future reception of the coins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-18

President Roosevelt agrees to write about British novelist George Meredith for his eightieth birthday. Roosevelt requests that Norman Hapgood let him know who should be addressed in the letter. He also asks if Hapgood likes the double eagle coin. While designer Augustus Saint-Gaudens preferred the single eagle coin, Roosevelt believes the double eagle is superior.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-10

President Roosevelt thanks Silas McBee, editor of The Churchman, for the editorials he wrote about Roosevelt. He asks if McBee has seen the double eagle coin design. If he has not, Roosevelt will send him one, but not for free.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-07

President Roosevelt is happy to hear that Lawrence F. Abbott likes the design for the new $10 coin, but he is even more excited for Abbott to see the $20 coin which he considers one of the most beautiful modern coin designs. Roosevelt is amused by the Supreme Court’s recent decision declaring a bill passed by New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes as constitutional, although he is not surprised. He notes that his opponents tend to automatically declare any of his laws unconstitutional even if they have been approved by the Supreme Court.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-27

President Roosevelt thinks that Howland Wood, Secretary of the American Numismatic Association, will be pleased with the new Double Eagle coin design. Roosevelt mourns the death of the coin’s designer, Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-21