Spielberg's Lincoln: A numismatic mistake

Last night, I saw Stephen Spielberg's film, Lincoln.  I was throughly enjoying the cinematic experience until one of Lincoln's adversaries told Lincoln that people from back home hate him so much, they won't even use half dollars with his portrait on them.   Hmmm.  Lincoln's portrait on the half dollar while he was still alive?  The mere thought is absurd.  Lincoln was the president -- not the king.  Certainly he would not be so arrogant as to put his own portrait on a coin.

The words were supposedly uttered in 1864.  The illustration above shows an actual 1864 half dollar. Is Lincoln dressed as a woman on the obverse or is he in an eagle costume for the reverse?  Probably not. In 1864, the nation was suffering through the seated liberty coin design for all denominations.  No Lincoln to be found.  The only time Lincoln was depicted on a half dollar was in 1918 for the Illinois Commemorative half dollar.  He appeared on the Lincoln cent starting in 1909.

Film writer Tony Kushner has a number of historical inaccuracies in the film.  This is to be expected in a dramatic work.  As pointed out by historian, Eric Foner, author of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, the film offers a tremendous exaggeration in Lincoln's role in passing the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery -- an amendment that he did not initiate, and only started to support in mid 1864.  And as I point out, the important contains an important  error in a numismatic reference.

The dollar coin --- will Congress try yet again?

The dollar coin was never popular in the United States.  The main complaint in 1794 was that the dollar was too heavy to carry around.  Today, you would need thirteen dollars clunking around your trouser pockets to provide the same buying power as the original dollar.  Americans are uncomfortable with that and prefer greenbacks folded neatly in a wallet or crumpled in a drawer.

I myself enjoy the dollar coins.  Apparently I have little company.  From Morgans to Ikes to Suzies, the coins had never found a comfortable home in American pockets.

Today, Congress is yet again trying to eliminate the dollar bill and replace it with the unpopular coin.  At a Congressional hearing, the Government Accountability Office regurgitated their comment that the exclusive use of dollar coins would save 4.4 billion dollars over the next thirty years.  It sounds impressive until we do the math and find that it saves each American a mere forty eight cents per year -- not nearly enough to pay for the new pair of pants with the worn out pockets.

Learning about coins in school

From time to time I have complained about the lack of numismatic education in our schools.  I am pleased to report on a school that has decided to include at least some numismatics in their curriculum.

I met an eighth grader named Evie in Kingston, Pensylvxxxx (for her privacy, I have x'd out portions of her address).  During a brief interview, Evie told me that in school she was learning about the portrait on each coin and note.  She even learned that Salmon Chase was on the $10,000 bill (You will recall that Salmon Chase was involved in the origin of In God We Trust on our coins).

Of course, I would like to see much more numismatics taught in the schools.  At least the portrait information is a start.