Description

On the 31st of October 1791, Robert Morris, head of the Senate committee on coinage and former Superintendent of Finance during the Confederation, was appointed to draft legislation that would provide for the establishment of a federal mint, including specifics on the size and design of the coins. Anticipating passage of his version of the legislation, Morris hired engravers to make sample coins to his specifications. Among the engravers he employed was Peter Getz of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Peter Getz created the dies for the Getz Washington piece and several others, basing his designs on two British copper proposals of 1791. The United States lacked a mint, and so the Getz pieces were struck in the coach house of John Harper, a metallurgical expert then resident in Philadelphia.

• Contains: 2 oz. Troy .999 Fine Silver
• Obverse: The outer rim encircled by dentils, Washington’s bust with the legend “G. WASHINGTON. PRESIDENT. I.
• Reverse: The outer rim encircled with dentils, raised wing American eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows in his talons, above was a field of fifteen stars and the legend “.  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”