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V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 25, June 17, 2001, Article 10 JOHN GREGORY HANCOCK At a recent local coin club meeting, the name of engraver John Gregory Hancock came up. Hancock engraved some lovely tokens in the Conder series while as young as nine years old. A number of his tokens relating to George Washington are listed in chapter fourteen of the Breen Encyclopedia. "John Gregory Hancock, Sr. (1775-1815), was a juvenile engraving prodigy, becoming one of the finest artists in the history of 18th-century British diemaking. While working for Birmingham token manufacturer Obadiah Westwood, Hancock received the honorific assignment for making dies for two types of cents portraying George Washington, as samples for a proposed federal contract coinage... These are the famous Large Eagle and Small Eagle cents. Hancock's portrait punch derived from an engraved copy of Pierre Eugene DuSimitiere's drawing." (Breen, p137) The portrait designs were rejected by Washington as "too monarchical," and the Mint Act of April 2, 1792 specifically called for emblems of Liberty on America's coinage. "When news of Washington's rejection reached Birmingham, John Gregory Hancock (doubtless with Westwood's gleeful consent, possibly even at his instigation) undertook an extraordinary piece of revenge. As Washington's spokesman had compared the idea of presidential portraits on coins to the practices of Nero, Caligula, and Cromwell, so Hancock's (and/or Westwood's) idea was to portray Washington on a coin as a degenerate, effeminate Roman emperor. Hancock's satirical masterpieces, the "Roman Head" cents, manage to convey this impression - with a subtle resemblance. ... The dozen or so survivors were privately distributed among Hancock's and Westwood's friends in Birmingham; their existence was kept secret for over 40 years lest it become an "international incident!" Beginning as tokens of incredible spite, these cents have become among the most highly coveted of Washington items." (Breen, p140)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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