THOMAS JEFFERSON'S COIN COLLECTION

E-Sylum readers are likely familiar with the George Washington numismatic collection, which notably contained an 11-piece silver Comitia America medal set (now at the Massachusetts Historical Society), in addition to the massive gold example of the Washington Before Boston medal, today at the Boston Public Library. Thomas Jefferson also collected coins, and in 1994 Beth Deisher of Coin World investigated the situation.

Later, she shared the material with Eric P. Newman, and today this is digitized on Newman Portal. Jefferson made a donation to the American Philosophical Society (APS) of "coins and medals," c. 1806, apparently gathered from travels in Europe. The APS collection was loaned in the 19th century to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and returned much later, with pieces missing. APS ultimately sold its numismatic holdings in 1967. The historic record keeping and museum cataloging was not sufficient to specifically identify the Jefferson pieces, and today these are lost to the winds.

While coin collectors would like to think that the Founding Fathers were dedicated numismatists who were intimately involved with the early U.S. Mint, Jefferson, who oversaw the formation of the Mint as the Secretary of State, summed up the situation in an 1825 letter to Mint Director Samuel Moore: "I do not remember a single circumstance respecting the devices on our coins except that someone having proposed to put Genl. Washington's head on them it was entirely objected to." In reality, the decisive vote in the House on this question was passed by a narrow margin, 26-22, in favor of a depiction of Liberty on the coinage. Even Jefferson's single recollection was not quite right.

Image: Extract from American Philosophical Society correspondence, 2/14/1994, related to Jefferson coin collection research

"I was invited to testify during the Nov. 22, 1991, Senate Banking Committee's hearing regarding David J. Ryder's confirmation hearing for Director of the U.S. Mint. (He had been nominated for the post in July 1991 by President George H. W. Bush.) Among the issues I identified that the new director should be aware of was the need to redesign the nation's circulating coins, citing the the law dating from the 1890s that authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to change designs after they have been in circulation for a minimum of 25 years. I noted that all of our then circulating coins were long past due for new designs. During the questioning phase of the hearing, Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., asked if the Founding Father's had expressed their opinions about coin designs. I responded, citing George Washington's famous comments about not wanting his portrait to be used on coins for fear of being perceived as a king. Also I noted that early legislation had expressly required the word Liberty and the portrayal of an eagle as devices to be used on our coins.

"After the hearing concluded, Sen. Cranston came over to me to thank me for traveling to Washington, D.C., to testify. He related that he started his career as a journalist and that one of his historical heroes was Thomas Jefferson. He asked whether I was aware if Jefferson collected coins. I told him I did not recall ever having read about Jefferson being a coin collector, but upon returning to my office I would research the subject and get back to him.

"My first call was to Eric P. Newman. He said he did not have anything in his files regarding Jefferson being a coin collector, but if I found anything, he would be interested in any documentation. The second person I contacted was Park S. Rouse Jr., a journalist, historian, and author of 22 books on Virginia history (whom I met in 1975 and worked with on a year-long Bicentennial project when I was living and working in Virginia). Mr. Rouse immediately put me in contact with curators at Monticello, who assisted in obtaining the documents now digitized in the Newman Portal.

"I shared the documents with Mr. Newman, who said they may prove useful for a project he had in mind. Also, I wrote to Sen. Cranston and apprised him of what I had found."