When the U.S. Mint opened in Philadelphia, coins were made of copper, silver, and gold, in accordance with the Coinage Act of 1792. Because these coins were made of precious metal, their value was directly related to the amount of metal they contained.  Unfortunately, these coins were also vulnerable to a practice known as “clipping.”  Clipping was the crime of cutting off a small portion around the circumference of the coins, not enough to be noticeable on an individual coin but over the population of all the coins in circulation, it was possible to clip enough scrap metal to create an entirely new coin.  This coupled with Congress’ eagerness to take in all the available gold and silver to remint US coins and you can see how “clipping” became a major concern. 

Clipping was not a new crime.  In 17th-century England, it was so prevailent that almost half of the silver content was absent from most circulating English coins. This resulted in the metal composition of the coins being lower than their face value, a discrepancy that threatened to create a financial crisis throughout the continent, as well as in the European colonies. In order to combat the practice, England turned to the most immanent scientist of the era – Sir Issac Newton.  Newton’ innovation of impressing ridges, and later even engravings, on the edges of the coins made coins that were altered highly visible.  Now a smooth edge on any part of a coin would then be a telltale sign of clipping.

When the United States was founded its mint in 1793, Washington turned to another immanent scientist to create the processes and dies that would be used.  As a member of the Royal Society, David Rittenhouse was quite familiar with Newton’s innovation and from the beginning, our newly founded U.S. Mint followed the practice of impressing ridges on all its coins. 

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