The Dawn of American Coinage: Thomas Jefferson Signs an Act of Congress Paying For the Presses and Seals for the Treasury Department to Manufacture the First American Coins

The act provides funding for the Federal Judiciary, the State and Treasury Departments, and for paying the commissioners who negotiated the second treaty with the western Indians; It also authorizes and pays for raising the second regiment for the United States Army

In January 1790, Alexander Hamilton, installed as the first Secretary of the Treasury, submitted his Report on the Public Credit to Congress. He called for funding nearly all the government’s obligations, including the state debts, into long-term federal securities payable in specie – that is, gold or silver. After considerable debate Hamilton’s proposals were adopted in August 1790. The foreign debt was fully funded, as was most of the domestic debt; but there was a need for the government to authorize access to hard money, rather than paper to pay these obligations. And with Hamilton undertaking establishment of the first Bank of the United States in addition to the Treasury Departments other expenditures, Treasury had a shortfall in funding.

Moreover, the Treasury was readying itself to produce the first U.S. coins, which came out in 1792. To do this, they needed screw presses and seals. These were purchased in 1791, and the bills for these were now due.

The United States census is the basis of apportionment of representatives to Congress, and as such is the foundation of the American democracy. The census was of such import that it was mandated in Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and this provision was then supplemented by laws of Congress. These required that every household in the nation be visited, that completed census schedules be posted in ‘two of the most public places within [each jurisdiction], there to remain for the inspection of all concerned…’ and that ‘the aggregate amount of each description of persons’ for every district be transmitted to the President. The first U.S. census was taken on Census Day, August 2, 1790, and enumerated the population of the United States as 3,929,214. This was thus the first census affecting Congressional apportionment. The expenses of the census had been underestimated, and the final ones needed to be paid.

On March 15, 1785, Congress appointed commissioners to treat with the Cherokees for the purpose of making a peace treaty with them.  The commissioners were Benjamin Hawkins, Daniel Carroll, and William Peery. Hawkins was a delegate to the Continental Congress who in 1796 would be appointed by President Washington as General Superintendent for Indian Affairs. Carroll was a signer of both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States. He was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Peery was a delegate to the Continental Congress. In November 1785 the treaty was concluded, in which the Cherokees were obligated to agree and acknowledge that they were under the protection of the United States. This was just the second Indian treaty concluded by the U.S. government for the western lands. The commissioners had expenses, and surprisingly, in 1791 these had not yet been satisfied.

In the years immediately after they were founded under the Judiciary Act of 1789, Federal courts were thought of as essentially self-financing, taking their revenues from a fund arising from fines, forfeitures and penalties imposed on those appearing before them. For example, a ship’s captain might be fined for dodging customs at a major port. However, these sources proved insufficient for payment of all of the expenses of the growing court system, so supplementary monies were required. The idea that courts were self-funding was wishful thinking and would be abandoned. In any event, there was a serious deficiency in 1791.

In 1787, Congress passed “An Ordinance for settling the accounts between the United States & Individual States.” These claims were for wartime expenses, post-war militia expenses, and advances or disbursements made for the commissary, quartermaster, marine and hospital departments, if paid for a Federal purpose. The act authorized the appointment of commissioners to go into the states and examine financial claims each had with the Federal government. Now these claims had to be paid.

The U.S. Army’s 1st Regiment of Infantry was organized in 1789 just after the first government under the new U.S. Constitution got under way. But soon eyes began to turn to the west, to lands under the Northwest Ordinance, and it was clear that a force was needed to deal with the Indians and tame the territory. So in March 1791, Congress added the 2nd Regiment of Infantry, with officers, and eight companies of about 100 men each. Of course, the new regiment needed to be funded. In the fall of that year the regiment would be ordered to take the field against the Miami Indians and proceeded to Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. It took part in Governor Arthur St. Clair’s campaign against Little Turtle, chief of the Miamis. Thereafter the unit became part of Gen. Anthony Wayne’s command.

The State Department was formed in 1789, and its main purpose was to deal with foreign nations. This involved establishing embassies and running, handling negotiations, and conducting foreign espionage. With France and all of Europe in an uproar in the wake of the French Revolution, and that continent on the brink of a major war, diplomacy was more important than ever to the United States. The required resulted in cost overruns to the State Department, which needed to be paid.

The result of the need for funding for all of these crucial expenses was an omnibus bill rather understatedly called, “An Act making certain appropriations therein specified”.

Printed document signed as Secretary of State, 2 pages, Philadelphia, PA, approved May 8, 1792, being the official notification to the states of funding for these matters of importance to the new Republic.

”Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, That there be granted and appropriated the following sums for the following purposes, to wit: To discharge a balance to the commissioners appointed under the Act of Congress of 15 March 1785, $2787.80; For additional salary to the first clerk of the commissioners for settling accounts between the United States and individual states, $187.91; For discharging the accounts of officers of the courts of the United States, jurors and witnesses, in aid of the fund heretofore appropriated, $17,000: For making good deficiencies in former appropriations for defraying the expense of the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, $4695.59. For discharging certain accounts against the Treasury Department, to the end of the year 1791, including a sum of $600 for furnishing the supervisors of the revenue with screw presses, seals, and other articles, $1955.61;…For additional compensations to the doorkeepers of the House of Representatives…$700; For the discharge of such demands against the United States, not otherwise provided for, as shall have been ascertained and admitted…and which are of a nature, according to the usage thereof, to require payment in specie, $5000. All which said sums, amounting together to $34,497.90, shall and may be paid out of the funds following, any, or all of them; namely, the surplusses which may remain of appropriations heretofore made, after satisfying the purposes of such appropriations; monies which have been paid into the Treasury, in consequence of balances which have been found due from individuals, relating to transactions prior to the present government of the United States; the surplus, not heretofore appropriated, of the duties on imports and tonnage, which accrued to the end of the year 1791.”

The Act also authorized payment of expenses “which shall have been incurred in the execution of the act for raising and adding another regiment to the military establishment of the United States…” as well as any “expense which may be incurred in relation to the intercourse between the United States and foreign nations, to be paid out of any monies, which may be in the Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, and to be applied under the direction of the President of the United States who, if necessary, is authorized to borrow, on the credit of the United States, the said sum of $50,000, an account of the expenditure whereof as soon as may be, shall be laid before Congress.” The document is signed in type by President George Washington, House Speaker Jonathan Trumbull, and President pro tern of the Senate Richard Henry Lee.

Beneath that is the legend, “Deposited among the Rolls in the office of the Secretary of State,” which is signed in ink by Thomas Jefferson, who held that position. Back then it was the responsibility of the Secretary of State to send official copies of acts of Congress to the governors of the states. This is one of those, and the first of this historic act that we have ever seen reach the market. Moreover, a search of public sale records going back 40 years fails to turn up any others.