DRAPED BUST CENTS, 1796-1807
WHEN COIN COLLECTING became a national hobby in the 1850s, the first coins to be saved were the old large cents struck before 1857. And then, as now, the most popular series was the Draped Bust design made from 1796 through 1807. Despite their fame among serious collectors, we know little about how the artwork was created and even the name of the artist for certain. It all began in the early summer of 1795.
The first director of the mint, David Rittenhouse, had taken the job in April 1792 at the insistence of President George Washington despite bouts of ill health that kept him away from the Mint days at a time. Finally, in the spring of 1795 Rittenhouse realized that he could no longer function effectively and submitted his resignation.
Washington and his Secretary of State, Edmund Randolph, set about finding a replacement for Rittenhouse and at length decided upon Henry William DeSaussure of South Carolina, thirty-one years of age and a lawyer. The new director took up his duties in early July 1795 and set about doing all that he could to make the institution perform its duties well under his stewardship.
It was during DeSaussure’s term of office, which lasted less than four months, that the Draped Bust design was introduced to the silver dollar. Even though the design was first coined at the end of September, we do not
