β Scribed by Nellie Tayloe Ross
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
I am greatly complimented and most appreciative to have been invited here tonight to join in a celebration of the latest honor that has come to the great American patriot, Benjamin Franklin. It is most fitting that such a celebration should take place in this historic city, which is rich in traditions and with which the fame of Franklin was so closely linked. It is also fitting that it should be sponsored by an institution of such outstanding distinction as this which bears his name.
Dr. Allen and his associates, through whose grace I am here, did not intend, I believe, when first they approached me about coming, that I should be asked to talk for my supper. The idea seemed to develop, along with the planning, that you might be interested in hearing from one close to the Mint, something of what is involved in the changing of a design on a coin; and a few observations, perhaps, on related subjects.
You might think, if you have given no thought to the subject, that it would be a small matter to change the design of a coin, it being such a small object. There is much more to it, I assure you, than first meets the eye.
By what authority, you may ask, can a change be made? It is by authority of the Congress of the United States. The Coinage Act empowers the Director of the Mint to change the design of any coin, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, but specifies that a change may not be made more often than once in 25 years; and then it is not mandatory.
Any alteration in the physical aspect of one of our coins is quite a serious responsibility. Most people probably pay little attention to the details of any of them, but let an innovation be proposed and it becomes, at once, a matter of intimate, personal interest to almost everybody. And well it may be--for after a new design is impressed upon a coin and it is once launched, it goes on and on into circulation until it is too worn for use.
In a recent radio talk I ventured to suggest this idea, in connection with the new Franklin piece, saying in effect, that when a coin is once released for circulation the public must accept it--like it or not! I had
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