| Adam Eckfeldt | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Chief Coiner of the United States Mint | |
| In office February 15, 1814 – March 15, 1839 |
|
| President | James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren |
| Preceded by | Henry Voigt |
| Succeeded by | Franklin Peale |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 15, 1769 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | February 6, 1852 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Baush |
| Children | Sarah, Jacob R., Anna Mary M., Elias B., Susannah, Adam C., Margaretta. |
Adam Eckfeldt (June 15, 1769 – February 6, 1852) was a worker and official in the early days of the United States Mint. A lifelong Philadelphian, Eckfeldt served as the second chief coiner of the Mint, from 1814 until 1839.
Eckfeldt's father owned a large smithy, and involved himself in early attempts at American coinage. Adam Eckfeldt built early presses for the Mint, engraved some of its early dies, and is responsible for the designs of early American copper coinage, as well as the 1792 half disme which some consider the first United States coin. He was appointed assistant coiner of the Mint in 1796, and became chief coiner on his predecessor's death in 1814.
Even after his 1839 retirement, Eckfeldt continued to perform his duties at the Mint until his 1852 death. Eckfeldt's death caused his replacement, Franklin Peale, to seek an assistant.
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Eckfeldt was born in Philadelphia on June 15, 1769, the son of a large-scale tool manufacturer.[1] He was the son of John Jacob Eckfeldt, who had immigrated from Nuremberg, Bavaria about 1764 with his wife Maria Magdalena Eckfeldt.[2] John Jacob Eckfeldt had made dies for Robert Morris's coinage in 1783 and owned a large smithy. Adam was his father's apprentice, and was skilled in iron work and machinery.[3]
According to numismatic historian Don Taxay, as early as 1792, Adam Eckfeldt helped strike the Getz and Birch pattern coins which served as a basis for the eventual Mint issues.[4] When the Mint was founded, Eckfeldt was hired to construct some of the machinery for it,[1] and helped superintend the early coining.[5] Eckfeldt built the first screw press for the Mint.[1]
In 1792; the Mint acquired three balances from Eckfeldt. He also lent the Mint his lathe, used for turning dies.[6] Eckfeldt is believed to have made the die from which the 1792 half disme, considered by some the first official U.S. coin, was struck—in 1829, a visitor to the Mint met Eckfeldt and later described him as "an artist [who] made the first die used in it".[7] Other later accounts document Eckfeldt's role in this striking: an 1863 auction sold a half disme supposedly given by Eckfeldt to demonstrate his work, while Eckfeldt is given as the source for the tradition that the half dismes were struck at the request of President George Washington to be used as presents.[8] Eckfeldt also produced a pattern disme, of which only a few were struck.[9] When the Mint's initial cents were found to be excessively crude and attracted public ridicule, Eckfeldt was called upon to design replacements. He placed a wreath on the back of the cent instead of the original chain, and placed a trefoil under Liberty's head on the obverse.[10] He also engraved the first half cent dies, later the same year.[11]
In 1793, he built a device for automatically feeding planchets into the die collar and ejecting the struck coins.[12] Eckfeldt is mentioned on the October 1795 Mint payroll as a "Die Forger and Turner" at $500 per year.[3] On January 1, 1796, Mint Director Elias Boudinot appointed him as Assistant Coiner, with the consent of President Washington.[1] His duties in that capacity were broad, and in 1806, Mint Director Robert Patterson requested a pay increase of $200 for him, writing to President Thomas Jefferson that Eckfeldt had "the management of the whole coining department".[3]
On the death of the first chief coiner, Henry Voigt, in early 1814, Eckfeldt was appointed as his successor, and served in that capacity for a quarter century.[1] Eckfeldt put aside "master coins"—coins struck with extra care using new dies and polished planchets.[13] He also put aside interesting foreign coins sent in to the mint as bullion. These pieces became the Mint's Cabinet, or coin collection.[14] Among the pieces acquired for the Mint was a Brasher doubloon, of which only six are known today.[15] Eckfeldt often spent from his own funds to acquire the coins for the Mint. The collection eventually evolved into the Smithsonian Institution's National Numismatic Collection.[16]
Even after his resignation in 1839, Eckfeldt continued to work at the Mint, without compensation.[1] He continued to perform the functions of chief coiner without pay until a few days before his death.[17] He died on February 6, 1852.[1] After his death, his replacement as chief coiner, Franklin Peale, wrote what Taxay terms a "frantic letter" to Mint Director George N. Eckert, seeking the appointment of an assistant.[17]
A biographical sketch of Eckhardt, published in 1897, describes him:
He was a man of large information on many subjects, possessed an inventive genius, and was enabled to introduce some excellent improvements in minting processes. He was singularly industrious and energetic, and for his social qualities and uprightness was universally respected, and, indeed, beloved by the officers associated with him and the extended circle of his acquaintance.[2]
Eckhardt had a taste for horticulture, and owned rural property in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, which was owned by his two sons after his death. Adam Eckfeldt's son, Jacob R. Eckfeldt, was appointed in 1832 as Assayer of the Mint, and served in that capacity for forty years.[2]