United States Assay Commission

The United States Assay Commission was an agency of the U.S. government from 1792 to 1980. Its function was to supervise the annual testing of the gold, silver, and base metal coins produced by the United States Mint. The commission consisted of prominent Americans, including numismatists. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed no members of the public to the commission, and in 1980, he signed legislation abolishing it.

About United States Assay Commission in brief

The United States Assay Commission was an agency of the U.S. government from 1792 to 1980. Its function was to supervise the annual testing of the gold, silver, and base metal coins produced by the United States Mint. The commission, which was freshly appointed each year, consisted of prominent Americans, including numismatists. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed no members of the public to the commission, and in 1980, he signed legislation abolishing it. The first assay commissioners did not meet until Monday, March 20, 1797, a month later than the prescribed date. In 1971, the commission met, but for the first time had no gold or silver to test, with the end of silver coinage. In 1801, Numismatist Fred Reed suggested that the delay was probably due to poor weather, making it difficult for officials to travel from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia for the assay. In response, Congress changed the designation of Congress to the House of Representatives, and the commission was abolished in 1980. The last meeting was held on April 27, 1801; the last coins struck since the last meeting were in 1817, except for the 1977 issue of the Assay Medal, sold to the general public. The Mint Act of 1792 authorized the Assy Commission, and it met in most years at the Philadelphia Mint. It was created in response to Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s report to Congress proposing the establishment of a mint. In addition to setting the standards for the new nation’s coinage, Congress provided for an American version of the British Trial of the Pyx: That from every separate mass of standard gold and silver, which shall be made into coins at the said Mint, there shall be taken, set apart by the Treasurer and reserved in his custody a certain number of pieces, not less than three, and that once in every year the pieces so set apart and reserved, shall be assayed under the inspection of the Chief Justice of the United states, the Secretary and Comptroller of the Treasury, the secretary for the Department of State, and the Attorney General of theUnited States,  .

The following January, Congress passed legislation changing the date on which the designated officials met to the second Monday in February. The first Mint document mentioning assay pieces is from January 1796 and indicates that exactly USD 80 in silver had been put aside. Minting of silver began in 1794 and gold in 1795, and some coins were saved for assay: the first Mint Document indicating assay pieces was from January 13, 1796, when the Mint was not yet striking gold orSilver. The Commission was created to ensure the weight and fineness of silver and gold coins issued the previous year were to specifications. It met each year until 1980 except in 1801 when there had been noGold or silver struck since 1801 as the Mint Director Elias Boudinot complained that depositors were anxious for an audit so the Mint could release coins.

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