A Two Million Dollar Penny
The first coin produced by the US Mint, a copper penny, is now worth over two million dollars. Unpopular because the design, which showed a chain of links representing the 15 states in the union in 1793, conjured slavery rather than liberty, the coin earned Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton the derisive nickname, Alexander the Coppersmith. The insult would have been instantly recognized by educated people of the day as a phrase from the bible: "Alexander the Coppersmith has done me much harm." The face of the coin, showing an image of Liberty with bad hair, was also criticized.
George Washington might have been blamed instead. In 1792, the year before the US Mint produced the coins, Washington personally supervised the coinage of half-dimes, featuring a similar face with flowing locks. Folklore has it Martha herself sat for the portrait, but the story lacks evidence. Here she is on another form of early money:
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