MORE ON SYMBOLS ON AMERICAN MONEY

The 59th annual Wilmington Coin Show was held this past Thursday through Saturday in New Castle, Delaware. The show was crowded all three days and despite snow on Saturday morning, nearly 30 kids attended the popular kids program. Pam Stitely has enthusiastically headed up this program for many years and she ensures that a variety of numismatic topics are covered during the two-hour event. Each kid leaves with a bag of “numismatic goodies” generously provided by various club members and dealers at the show. This year three YNs gave presentations during the kids program: Kenny Sammut talked about the many different ways numismatic items can be collected; Kelly Barker showed the kids how coin collecting can be tied into their favorite animals; and I discussed United States paper money and the symbolism on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs).

The reverse of the $1 FRN contains a representation of the Great Seal of the United States. While putting this presentation together last weekend, I came across a story online about how the 6-pointed star (Star of David) configuration of the stars above the eagle on the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States was personally requested by George Washington as a tribute to Polish-born Jew, Hayim Solomon, for his financial support of the Continental Army. When I searched for more information on this topic, I found a 2012 E-Sylum post and corresponding links, which explained that there is no documentation to back up this story. I changed my Wilmington presentation to reflect this fact, so thanks to The E-Sylum for saving me from giving out false information on Saturday! (While his connection to the Great Seal is a legend, Hayim Solomon was indeed an indispensable supporter of the Continental Army and an unsung hero of the Revolutionary War.)

Coincidentally, last weeks' E-Sylum also had a tie-in to the Great Seal of the U.S. and the $1 FRN, included in a post by Pablo Hoffman. My Wilmington presentation contained most of the information in Mr. Goldsmith's 1957 pamphlet, although I also mentioned the select gold coinage from 1796-1807 that displayed the eagle holding arrows in his right claw. [There is a slight inconsistency in Mr. Goldsmith's pamphlet, as the first Draped Bust Heraldic Eagle silver coins were dated 1798 (dime and dollar)].

To show the kids at the Wilmington program the difference between the Draped Bust Heraldic Eagle and Capped Bust reverses, I blew up images of them both and affixed them to poster board (similar to your addition of the reverses of 1807 Draped Bust and Capped Bust half dollars to the E-Sylum post). After this, I also asked them to look at the reverse of a Kennedy half dollar to determine which claw holds the arrows on more modern coins.

Regarding the question in last weeks' E-Sylum on where further info can be found on the topic of the arrows and eagle talons, the first source that came to mind was a John Reich Journal article entitled “Kitchen Wisdom and the American Heraldic Eagle as a Symbol of War and Peace” written by Jim Matthews and his wife, Dr. Gabriela Luschei (found here: https://archive.org/details/johnreichjournal21n3john/page/28).

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
WHO WAS HAYIM SOLOMON? (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n19a19.html)
MORE ON HAYM SOLOMON (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n20a15.html)
SYMBOLS ON AMERICAN MONEY: THE EAGLE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n02a23.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web