Frank H. Stewart is both the hero and the villain in this remarkable tale ripped from the headlines of early 20th century Philadelphia. He was a high school dropout who wrote the definitive history of our nation's first coin factory. He was no art connoisseur, and yet he commissioned unforgettable paintings of the first U.S. Mint, by famous artists. A poor boy made good, Stewart bought the old Mint, labored to preserve it, and failed in the most dramatic way possible. Could his later acts of commemoration redeem his failures in preservation? The Secret History of the First U.S. Mint tells, for the first time, the full story of the paradoxical Frank H. Stewart and his self-appointed life's mission to celebrate an irreplaceable slice of our nations heritage. It is a tour-de-force work of scholarship that sets straight long misunderstood Mint history. This groundbreaking new book by award winning authors Joel Orosz and Leonard Augsburger is filled with dozens of sketches, paintings, and photographs of the first Mint that have been preserved in archival collections for decades, and have not been seen by living

"As the ink was drying on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other documents that established the United States, millions of Americans hungered for new legal tender coinage from the young sovereign nation. Following calls by Alexander Hamilton and other Founding Fathers for the nation to issue its own money, Congress passed legislation to officially establish the United States Mint in 1792. Growing from its humble beginnings as a collection of small buildings in the nation's onetime capital city of Philadelphia, the United States Mint now stands along Independence National Historical Park as the largest coin factory in the world. While the Philadelphia Mint is one of several official United States coin manufacturing facilities, it remains the heart of coining operations in the nation and is also one of the most popular attractions in "The City of Brotherly Love"."--Back cover.

Robert Scot was without doubt the most prolific of colonial American engravers. His patriotic symbols inspired sentiments of rebellion, unity and liberty throughout the Revolutionary period, and on into the early nineteenth century. His highly-skilled engravings depicted important historical events, such as a detailed map of the Siege of Yorktown, and included the original design for the Great Seal of the United States, various medals, coins, and paper currency. In addition, the first encyclopedia published in America was enhanced by his superb scientific engravings. Until now, despite his significant achievements, this friend of the Founding Fathers has largely remained unknown to both historians and the general American public. William Nyberg's extensive research of Scot and his world now allows his story to be told for the first time. This enthralling biography justifiably places Robert Scot among the most important and influential or early American artists.

The Value of Money celebrates the power of using monetary objects to explore history. This richly illustrated book features over 175 objects from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s National Numismatic Collection. With objects from every inhabited continent, spanning more than 2,600 years, this book showcases the National Numismatic Collection’s unique strengths, including the geographic and chronological diversity of the collection and the stunning rarities it contains. The companion volume to a major exhibition of the same name, this book examines the origins of money, new monetary technologies, the political and cultural messages money conveys, numismatic art and design, and the practice of collecting money. The Value of Money connects American history to global histories of exchange, cultural interaction and expression, political change, and innovation.