1802

United States Mint

Pamphlet

Title: Message from the President re: number of coins minted in 1801

Shaw & Shoemaker 3348

GLC02447

1787

Varnum, James M., fl. 1787

Book

Title: The case of Trevett against Weeden: On Information and Complaint,....

Evans 20825, Kress B1355, Sabin 98638. The legal case tested the powers of the Articles of Confederation to the right of Trial by Jury.

GLC02443

26 December 1786

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Lamenting Shays' Rebellion, writes "I feel, my dear Genl. Knox, infinitely more than I can express to you, for the disorders which have arisen in these States. Good God! who besides a tory could have foreseen, or a Briton predicted them!" Alludes to "combustibles in every State, which a spark might set fire to." Notes that Virginia is (at the moment) calm, but worries over disputes regarding navigation of the Mississippi. Discusses an amendment to the existing Constitution regarding paper emissions and military certificates. Expresses sadness regarding the recent death of General…

GLC02437.09409

February 25, 1787

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Thanks Knox for several letters, which put his mind at ease regarding General Benjamin Lincoln's military operations (Lincoln led the Massachusetts state militia in Shays' Rebellion) and the dignity of Government. Congratulates Knox on the recent suppression of Shays' Rebellion. Comments that Shays is "either a weak man - the dupe of some characters who are yet behind the curtain - or has been deceived by his followers." Reports the adjournment of the Assembly of Maryland regarding issuance of a paper emission. Wishes to see the country happy and at peace while "gliding down the stream of…

GLC02437.09411

31 March 1778

Bland, Theodorick, 1742-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Caswell

Written by Captain Bland to North Carolina Governor Caswell. Express letter encloses letters from Congress (not included here). Says he has tried his hardest to get them to Caswell as quickly as possible. Messenger is to receive 50 Continental dollars, and since he has no public money he hopes Caswell can pay him. Docket says Caswell received the packet of letters on 6 April 1778. Page with address leaf and docket are separate from body of letter.

GLC02498.01

24 October 1780

Hazen, Moses, 1733-1803

Letter signed

Title: to Jeremiah Wadsworth

Discusses settling the depreciation of currency owed to men in a Connecticut regiment.

GLC02499.08

23 October 1779

Nixon, John, 1741-1815

Document signed

Title: to Benjamin Heywood

Informs Heywood that he was chosen for a committee to settle payment for Massachusetts troops in arrears due to currency depreciation. Written at "Camp Pines Bridge"

GLC02499.16

2 August 1896

Reed, Thomas Brackett, 1839-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to G. Mercer Adam

Reed, a United States Representative from Maine, replies to a letter from [G.?] Mercer Adam (possibly Graeme Mercer Adam, a Canadian writer and publisher). Writes "...in regard to an article on silver for 'Self Culture' you do not state the amt of the honorarium' I think it probable that I could furnish you such an article..." Notes that a limit on the amount of words might make writing the article more difficult.

GLC02467.21

September 1790

Carey, Mathew, 1760-1839

Magazine

Title: [American Museum or Universal magazine; volume VIII, no. 3].

Signed by Secretary of War Henry Knox. Includes Jefferson's report on currency and weight and measures, Washington's State of the Union address, and a letter by Franklin on death by lightning strike. Printed by Carey, Stewart, & Co.

GLC02593.02

February 11, 1876

Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Hamilton A. Hill

Urges that "the present is as favorable a time as we can expect for the agitation of the free trade question." Explains the importance of free trade and elimination of a protective tariff. Declares that "During the war the country went back to a state of ignorance and prejudice on the question of free exchange," and that a new generation "who know nothing of the subject [...] easily adopted the plausibilities of the protectionists." Argues that "the currency question" is "no doubt extremely important," but "who knows when it will be settled? By waiting for it, we may produce the…

GLC02595

21 September 1864

Benjamin, Judah Philip, 1811-1884

Printed document signed

Title: [Warrant to the Confederate Treasury Secretary to pay $4,850 in gold for "foreign intercourse"]

Partly printed document filled in by hand and signed by Benjamin as Confederate Secretary of State. Apparently intended for Confederate Agents in Europe.

GLC02604

14 September 1861

Elmore, Edward Carrington, fl. 1861-1865

Manuscript document

Title: to Alonzo B. Noyes

Confederate Treasurer Elmore sends a list of 10 signatures that appear on Confederate Treasury notes. Clerically signed by James Simons on behalf of Elmore; with actual signatures of R.L. Delaney, C.C. Thayer, J. Ellett, Henry [Sparniak?], R. McRae, R. Hill, Jr., L. J. Levin, H.H. Goodloe and R.H. Tighe. One additional signature is illegible. Created to detect counterfeit bills. Written on Confederate States of America Treasurer's Office stationery.

GLC02628

1772

Humphreys, Charles, 1714-1786

Document signed

Title: Signed Pennsylvania paper currency note

[Continental Congress members]

GLC02471.22

1861

Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873

Pamphlet

Title: A system of national finance. Notes explanatory of Mr. Chase's plan of national finance.

Explains Chase's plan for creating a national currency and enabling all existing banks to become national institutions. Printed by the Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

GLC08704

12 April 1792

Freneau, Philip, fl. 1791-1793

Newspaper

Title: National gazette. [Volume 1, no. 48]

Reprints the 24 October 1791 act of Congress entitled "An act establishing a mint, and regulating the coins of the United States." This act specified the coinage that would be provided by the newly established United States Mint and the salaries of each of the employees of the Mint.

GLC08692

July 20, 1804

Boudinot, Elias, 1740-1821

Autograph letter signed

Title: Report of a committee of the Bank of the United States that was formed to investigate an alleged counterfeiting ring in North Carolina

Also signed by George Fox, both as members of the committee. They confirm the existence the ring, saying of it that it is a "very extensive Combination, and of a very formidable nature, to counterfeit & pass Notes purporting to be of the Bank of the United States." It includes men of property and influence. They suggest remedies, saying that they are supported in these by Pennsylvania Congressman Joseph Clay. In June 1804, Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin and Governor of Virginia John Page had requested that a committee of the Bank of the United States be formed to investigate…

GLC00496.012

20 February 1863

Tyler, Robert, fl. 1863

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: [Confederate States of America bond].

Endorsed by Confederate States of America Register of the Treasury Tyler. With engraved portrait of General Thomas J. Jackson. Bond no. 29246 for $1,000. Labelled "Loan."

GLC00468.10

05 July 1825

Williams, W.A., fl. 1852

Autograph manuscript

Title: W. A. Williams his cyphering book; commenced July the 5th 1825, Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cumberland County.

Includes sections on basic arithmetic functions, as well as addition and subtraction of federal money, and weights and measures of commodities (e.g. land, cloth, wine, etc.).

GLC00496.441

29 March 1861

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: [Authorization to the Secretary of State to affix the seal of the United States to the pardon of Milo Thornton for counterfeiting coins].

In Ohio, Thornton had been convicted in 1859 and sentenced to the Ohio State Penitentiary for ten years. According to D. R. Kinsell, his physician, his health was quickly failing and he would soon become a lunatic if not released. The release was supported by Ohio representative John Hutchins, Marshall of the United States for the Northern District of Ohio Mathew Johnson, R. P. Rammey (the district attorney who had prosecuted him), and others.

GLC00613

March 31, 1864

Memminger, Christopher G., 1803-1888

Letter signed

Title: to Henry W. Allen

Memminger, Treasurer of the Confederacy, declines a request from Allen, Governor of Louisiana, to "purchase five millions of treasury notes with the Bonds of the State of Louisiana." He states that an act passed on February 17, 1864 reduced the value of Confederate currency, thus rendering Allen's request impracticable to fulfill. Letter written on Confederate Treasury Department stationery. Contains a "Rebel Archives" stamp. Marked "Duplicate."

GLC00690

February 11, 1878

Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893

Document signed

Title: [Presidential authority to the Secretary of State to affix the seal to the pardon of Smith T. Conlee].

GLC00681

December 28, 1896

McKinley, William, 1843-1901

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Edward Oliver Wolcott

William McKinley writes to Colorado senator, Edward Oliver Wolcott, regarding international bimetallism. Bimetallism is the use of silver and gold as a standard of currency. McKinley initially favored international bimetallism, but when the British rejected that system, he abandoned it and in 1900 approved the Gold Standard Act. Letter written on personal stationery. Handwritten letters from McKinley as President or President-elect are rare.

GLC00655.16

July 8, 1933

Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964

Typed letter signed

Title: to Henry L. Stoddard

In a letter marked "Personal," Hoover writes critically about President Roosevelt and the New Deal. He comments on an economic conference and going off the gold standard. He provides a list of "misrepresentations and illusions held out from Washington" about New Deal policies that the American public is being fooled by, most of them pertaining to economic matters. He decries a lack of "encouragement to individual prudence and thrift, any encouragement to any holding to moral anchors in all of this situation" and blames it on the New Deal, an era "where white rabbits please and thrill the…

GLC00782.10

05 June 1862

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document signed

Title: [Presidential pardon of Edward Stevenson who had been convicted in Massachusetts in May 1858 of counterfeiting].

Edward Stevenson was pardoned by Abraham Lincoln because he had served out his sentence, but was unable to pay his fine he remained incarcerated. Countersigned by Secretary of State William H. Seward.

GLC00741

1784

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Pamphlet

Title: Notes on the establishment of a money unit....

Printed by Pierres in Paris. Copies of this work were bound into the private edition of Notes on the State of Virginia (GLC 5096). A rare work by Jefferson, one with important consequences for the United States. Jefferson Papers 8: 295 and 7: 150-203. Sowerby, Jefferson's Library 3755; Malone, Jefferson The Virginian, pp.416-18; C. Doris Heilman, "Jefferson's Efforts towards the Decimalization of United States Weights and Measures," in ISIS, 16 (Nov.1931): 266-314; Verner, "Mr. Jefferson Distributes his Notes," New York. 1952.

GLC01034