1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,439 Speaker 1: a show for those who know the true value of history. 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're examining the coin shortage 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: that resulted from the American Civil War, including how the 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: humble Nickel managed to set things right again. The day 7 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: was May sixteen, eighteen sixty six. The US Congress ordered 8 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: the minting of the first nickel based five cent coin. 9 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: Unlike other forms of American currency, this new coin would 10 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: be named for one of the medals from which it 11 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: was composed, nickel. Notably, the country already had a five 12 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: cent coin in circulation, known as the half dime. This 13 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: small silver coin was actually the first one produced by 14 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: the federal government way back in seventeen So why did 15 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: Congress feel it was necessary to issue a second five 16 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: cent coin. The short answer is the Civil War. Until 17 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: the eighteen sixties, coins of any considerable value were made 18 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: from precious metals, namely gold and silver. This meant they 19 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: had intrinsic value. If the government backing the coins went 20 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: belly up, citizens could simply melt them down into precious 21 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: medals and use that as currency. This provided peace of 22 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: mind in the early years of the fledgling nation, but 23 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: it also led to a troubling side effect. When the 24 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: Civil War erupted in the spring of eighteen sixty one, 25 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: Southern states began to secede from the Union and eventually 26 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: formed their own Row nation, one that no longer recognized 27 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: the government backed value of US currency. The sense of 28 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: uncertainty this created led people on both sides of the 29 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: divide to begin hoarding gold and silver coins, including the 30 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: half dime. It was a way to ensure that, regardless 31 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: of who won the war, a family would have hard 32 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: money on hand to provide for themselves. It didn't take 33 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: long for the coins supply to dry up, and when 34 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: it did, basic transactions like buying bread or mailing a 35 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: letter became all but impossible. Local economies ground to a 36 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,959 Speaker 1: halt as neither storekeepers nor their customers could source the 37 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: coins needed to buy goods or make change. As the 38 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: Civil War dragged on, several substitute currencies were introduced, including 39 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: notes and coins issued by private banks and businesses, as 40 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:01,519 Speaker 1: well as postage stamps and eventually fractional paper bills. These 41 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: bills smaller in size than full dollar notes were printed 42 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,239 Speaker 1: in several denominations, ranging from three cents to fifty cents. 43 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: A five cent fractional bill was rolled out to replace 44 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: the silver half dime, but it proved bizarrely problematic thanks 45 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: to the vanity of a Treasury official named Spencer Clark. 46 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty six, Clark served as the nation's first 47 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: superintendent of the National Currency Bureau, where he oversaw the 48 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: printing of the country's new fractional bills. During the third 49 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: issue of the five cent note, Congress requested that the 50 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: bill be made to honor William Clark of Lewis and 51 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: Clark fame. However, Spencer Clark claimed the document only said 52 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: that the new bill should honor Clark, not William Clark specifically, 53 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: and so, even though he totally knew what Congress was 54 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: asking for, Spencer Clark decide did to print his own 55 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: portrait on the five cent bill instead. As you might imagine, 56 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: Congress was not happy about this, especially a Pennsylvania congressman 57 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: named Russell Thair. After he found out what Clark had done, 58 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: the congressman added a new clause to an appropriations bill. 59 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: It said, quote hereafter no portrait or likeness of any 60 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: living person shall be engraved or placed upon any of 61 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: the bonds, securities, notes, or postal currency of the United States. 62 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: Two months later, that bill passed, and it was decided 63 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: that only dead people would appear on US money from 64 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: that point on. Oh and in case you're wondering, that 65 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:49,280 Speaker 1: law only applies to circulating currency, so living persons can 66 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: still be added to commemorative coins and bills. Following the 67 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: Clark controversy, five cent notes were quietly retired. By that point, 68 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: the war had been over for about a year, and 69 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: precious metal coins had slowly made their way back into circulation. 70 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: There still weren't enough to meet demand, though, which is 71 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: why on May sixteenth, Congress announced the creation of a 72 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: new five cent coin. Unlike the silver half dime, the 73 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,799 Speaker 1: new coin wouldn't be made of a precious metal. Instead, 74 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: it would be a composite alloy of about seventy five 75 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: percent copper and nickel. And yes, you heard that right. 76 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: Despite being called nickels, the coins are mostly copper. At 77 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: the time, neither of those medals were especially rare or expensive, 78 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: which meant the government could make millions of coins without 79 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: the fear of people hoarding them. This was a particularly 80 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: popular idea among the owners of the nation's nickel mines, 81 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: as a nickel based coin would finally provide a lucrative 82 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: use for their plentiful metal. The first of these new coins, 83 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: dubbed Shield Nickels, featured a design by James B. Longacre. 84 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: The coins were adorned with a shield and the inscription 85 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: in God we trust on one side and a big 86 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 1: number five surrounded by a star and ray pattern on 87 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:20,119 Speaker 1: the reverse. In the year it was introduced, the US 88 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: government issued a staggering fifteen million five cent nickels, and 89 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: nearly just as many were made the following year. The 90 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: silver half dime also continued to be produced, though in 91 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: much smaller quantities, until it was finally retired for good 92 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy three. Once nickels flooded the coin star 93 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: of economy, they quickly became the denomination of choice in 94 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: American society. When bottled coca cola hit the market in 95 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty six, it cost exactly one nickel, a price 96 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: point the product held for the next seven decades. In 97 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, coin operated machines like jukeboxes and 98 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: five cent movie theaters or Nickelodeon's ensured the nickels would 99 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: retain a prominent place in americans purses and pockets. Fast 100 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: forward to today, and nichols no longer seemed nearly as 101 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: vital or useful as they once were. Ironically, that decline 102 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: in practical value has been accompanied by a steep rise 103 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: in production costs. Nickel and copper both cost a lot 104 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: more than they did in the eighteen sixties. In fact, 105 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: it now reportedly costs eight cents to produce each five 106 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: cent coin. The U. S. Mint is currently looking into 107 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: ways to reduce the cost of making nickels. One potential 108 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: fix could be the grand return of five cent paper bills. 109 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: It probably won't happen, but if it did, we could 110 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: even put Spencer Clark's portrait on it, back where it belongs. 111 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: And since he's been dead for more than a hundred 112 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: and twenty years in counting, it wouldn't even viole at 113 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: the rules this time. So if anyone from the U. S. 114 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: Mint is listening, please make it happen, you know, for 115 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: the good of the country. I'm Gabe Lucier, and hopefully 116 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 117 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. You can learn even more about history 118 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t 119 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: d i HC Show, and if you have any comments 120 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: or suggestions, you can send them my way at this 121 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler 122 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 123 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 124 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: in History class