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President Roosevelt thanks William D. Sohier for his kind words regarding his Provincetown speech. Roosevelt has written a strong letter to the United States Mint saying that there must be no more delays in producing the coinage. He will forward Sohier’s letter to reinforce his point.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-24
President Roosevelt encloses a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou suggesting the people at the United States Mint see it. He hopes the new coins will be ready in the next two weeks; otherwise, he will have George Frederick Kunz, Victor D. Brenner, and Daniel Chester French supervise the project.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-24
Tired of waiting, President Roosevelt informs Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou to instruct the Director of the United States Mint Frank Aleamon Leach to produce the Augustus Saint-Gaudens-designed coins as they are. He expects them to be in circulation by September 1. Any issues regarding quality can be addressed later.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-07
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.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-20
Francis Davis Millet criticizes the design of a medal of George Washington discussed in a newspaper clipping he has enclosed, saying that it fails to capture Washington’s noble characteristics. Millet stresses the importance of a medallist’s duty to capture a President’s features, as a medal will survive after all other forms of art have disappeared. He hopes that Theodore Roosevelt will have a medal that will “hold its own.” He also sends a set of eight medals struck by the French mint as examples of what he means by “nobility in a medal.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-13
President Roosevelt orders that the director of the United States Mint must consult with the Council of the Fine Arts before accepting the design for any medal struck at the mint.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-13
President Roosevelt submits to Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou a list of men to serve as commissioners on the 1909 Annual Assay Commission.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-23
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-25
President Roosevelt will take the matter T. Louis Comparette writes about up with Frank Aleamon Leach, Director of the U.S. Mint. The difficulty he writes about stems from the government employing people who do not appreciate or want to pay for good design; it is not currently possible for the United States to get good coins.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-06
President Roosevelt tells Senator Smith that he could not decline to promote Frank Aleamon Leach as director of the United States Mint. Roosevelt encloses a letter explaining this, from Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-11
President Roosevelt is sorry to hear that George E. Roberts, Director of the Mint, is resigning from his post.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-11
President Roosevelt apologizes to the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens that he cannot strike the gold coins that Saint-Gaudens designed with only one blow and therefore the designs are not practical as “true coinage of the country.” He encloses a letter from the head of the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum. Roosevelt asks Saint-Gaudens if he could travel to the United States Mint and work with others to find a solution.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-08
President Roosevelt thanks French Ambassador Jusserand for the striking plaque by Louis-Oscar Roty commemorating French President Marie-François-Sadi Carnot’s death. He will send it back once he shows it to Director of the Mint George E. Roberts. He returns the medal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-08
President Roosevelt asks Augustus Saint-Gaudens if he could send a design for the twenty dollar gold piece before Congress meets, as he is receiving pressure from Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw on the progress of the project. Roosevelt compliments Saint-Gaudens on his work and looks forward to the finished design.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-01
President Roosevelt sent Secretary of the Treasury Shaw’s “mighty strong letter” to Hill and if Shaw agrees, he will send it to some tariff reform supporters. While he is not prepared to entirely agree with Shaw, Roosevelt concedes his points are well put. He does differ with Shaw’s comments on the popular feeling. He gives an update on the coins designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-11
President Roosevelt asks Augustus Saint-Gaudens to tell him when he wants Roosevelt to take up the subject of coins with the United States Mint.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-22
President Roosevelt informs James D. Phelan that the Finance Committee can use the United States Mint at San Francisco as a depository for relief funds until the subtreasury opens, and thereafter can use the subtreasury until the banks open. He asks Phelan to consult Superintendent Frank Aleamon Leach of the San Francisco Mint regarding detailed arrangements. Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw will wire instructions to Leach and Assistant Treasurer Julius Jacobs. Secretary of War William H. Taft has been given authority to disperse congressional appropriations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-24
President Roosevelt responds to Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s letter about the design of a new coin. The design needs to meet the commercial needs of bankers and merchants. Roosevelt likes a raised design, but notes that because the coins will have to be stacked, the figures cannot be as high as with Grecian style coins.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-14
President Roosevelt cannot take action until Senator Hanna finds out if his New Orleans friend is Walter L. Cohen, the register of the land office, or Mayer Cahen, the coiner of the mint. Roosevelt would like the name as soon as possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-15