First Family of the U.S. Mint
(Courtesy of Tangible Investments)
In the history of our nation’s coinage, one name rings down the ages: Eckfeldt.
Sons of German immigrants, the Eckfeldts helped shape the coinage of the United States before the country even existed. They later served in important positions at the U.S. Mint, under no less than 31 Presidential administrations—from George Washington (in 1792) to Herbert Hoover (in 1929), 137 years later.
Perhaps the most accomplished Eckfeldt of all was responsible for starting one of the most renowned collections of any kind in all of history, the National Numismatic Collection, now housed at The Smithsonian Institution.
Adam Eckfeldt, 2nd Chief Engraver of the US Mint at Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of Tangible Investments
The story begins with John Jacob Eckfeldt (1733-1818), an immigrant from Nuremberg, Bavaria a leading tool and die manufacturer. When, in 1783, noted Philadelphia financier Robert Morris authorized coins under the Articles of Confederation, Jacob Eckfeldt made the dies. In time, he would become a contractor to both the Mint of North America and the first United States Mint.
Yet Jacob’s son, Adam Eckfeldt (1769-1852), would far surpass him in influencing the coinage of the nation. Adam began as his father’s apprentice, and went on to become the Chief Coiner of the Mint, serving from 1814 until his retirement in 1839. After officially leaving the post, he continued to perform the essential duties of the office until only a few days prior to his death, in 1852.
Along the way, Adam Eckfeldt built the Mint’s first screw press; made the dies and struck the first-ever U.S. coin—the 1792 half disme; redesigned the first cents; and engraved the first half-cent. And he did it all before he was appointed chief coiner by President James Madison, a post in which he would officially serve for a quarter century.
Throughout his tenure as Chief Coiner, Eckfeldt set aside interesting and remarkable coins brought into the Mint as bullion, thus creating the nation’s first numismatic collection. Today, this collection is one of the largest numismatic collections in the world, and the largest in North America, containing 1.6 million objects and more than 450,000 coins, medals and decorations.
On his retirement, in 1839, Eckfeldt was presented by his fellow officers at the Mint with a gold medal, which is part of the Eckfeldt Family Collection.
The next generation of Eckfeldts would account, among them, for the positions of Chief Assayer, Curator of the Mint’s Cabinet, Foreman of the Coining Room, Clerk to the Director (what we would now call “chief of staff), still another Chief Coiner, and—as if to leave no job unfilled—a Night Watchman.
The Eckfeldt Collection, soon to be auctioned on eBay, was consigned to Silvano DiGenova of Tangible Investments—a leading numismatist in his own right—by the great-grandson of Jacob Bausch Eckfeldt, the man family member who held three positions at the Mint, including Assayer under Presidents Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.
Tangible Investments is a leading dealer in rare coins, precious metals, fine art, and jewelry. For more information, contact info@gocoins.com, or visit www.gocoins.com.