2018 NATIONAL HISTORY DAY WINNER

Category Awards
Junior Paper
First Place
Title: 17 Years: Developing the United States Coinage System
Student(s): Kellen Hoard
School: Kamiakin Middle School
Kirkland, Washington

From the early 1600s to the late 1700s the monetary system of the 13 colonies was so dysfunctional that basic transactions required cumbersome mathematical calculations, specialized almanacs, and extensive knowledge of foreign coinage weights, measures, and values. Once the Declaration of Independence was signed, one task of the Founding Fathers was to develop a coinage system and a mint for the new nation. Between 1776 and 1792, the process of developing a coinage system and a mint was rife with conflict and compromise within the government. The result of these 17 years was a reassertion of American sovereignty, a national mint, and a coinage standard that has lasted for hundreds of years.

The Money Before Independence (1607-1776)
The colonies’ initial financial problems were sparked by mercantilism, a European economic theory that was popular from the 1500s through the 1700s. As the numismatic historian Pete Smith explained, “[m]ercantilist thought held that a nation’s wealth rose and fell in direct proportion to the amount of physical gold and silver held within its boundaries.” Because of this, England refused to provide the colonies with coinage and prohibited them from striking their own money. The lack of specie from the mother country forced the colonists to almost entirely depend on world coinage that found its way to them through trade. While the most prevalent coins were the Spanish pistareen, Spanish dollar, and Portuguese 6,400 reis, researcher Philip Mossman found that there had been 33 commonly circulating coins from more than six different countries.

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