Although the Philadelphia Mint was created by Congress in April 1792, nothing was done in the way of regular coinage for the public until early in 1793. The famous Chain cents, struck in late February and early March, were met with a less-than-enthusiastic response, forcing the government to prepare new designs.
The dies for this second design, now called the Wreath cent, were executed by Chief Coiner Henry Voight, who had also prepared the Chain cent dies. The Wreath cents were first struck in April 1793. These new coins met grudging public approval and were coined for several weeks, the last delivery coming in June. Voight served as engraver pro tem for the simple reason that no one else could be found at that time to do the job. He thus had double duty, both as chief coiner and engraver, a singular event in the history of American coinage. The chief coiner was not a skilled engraver, but his work did get better as time progressed.
At the same time as the Wreath cents were being made, Voight was also under pressure to begin work on the half cent dies, as no coins of this denomination had yet been struck. At length, in mid-July 1793, these dies were completed and more than 30,000 half cents were struck. While the half cent dies are reasonably well done, the government still wanted a full-time engraver.
Mint Director David Rittenhouse had tried to find a
