10 Dollars from Philadelphia Engraver: Robert Scot (American, born Scotland, 1745–1823)
Maker: United States Mint (founded 1792)
Mint: Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)

1799

Numismatics

On view, 1st floor, Numismatics


This is the earliest American gold coin in the Yale University Art Gallery's collection. It highlights the work of Robert Scot, the first chief engraver of the U.S. mint, who held the office from the mint’s foundation in 1793 until his death in office in 1823. It bears what we would now regard as a pedestrian portrait of Liberty, but the heraldic reverse is magnificent.

Medium

Gold

Dimensions

17.47 g, 6:00, 32.47 mm

Credit Line

Transfer from the Yale University Library, Numismatic Collection, 2001

Accession Number

2001.87.4

Geography

Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Culture

American

Period

18th century

Classification

Numismatics

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Numismatics

Obverse Description

Obverse Description: LIBERTY from 12:30; 8 stars to l., 5 to r. around border. Liberty bust r. draped and wearing cap.

Reverse Description

Reverse Description: UNITED - STATES OF - AMERICA inwardly from 7:00. Heraldic eagle facing l., wings upraised, with shield of Union on breast, arrows in r. claw and olive branch in l. claw. Between head and shields, 13 stars.
Provenance
Fletcher E. Nyce, Sr. (1878-1929), Pa.; given to his son Fletcher Nyce, Jr. (1906-1997), Cincinnati, Ohio, about 1925; given to Sterling Memorial Library, New Haven, Conn. November 11, 1986; transferred to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2001 [see note 1]

Note 1 : According to his son in an 1986 letter, Fletcher E. Nyce, Sr. acquired the coin from an estate that the bank in which he worked, the Pennsylvania Trust Company, was settling.
Bibliography
  • Helen A. Cooper et al., Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2008), 130, no. 71, ill.
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

coins, dollars (coins), money

Technical metadata and APIs

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