The United States Assay Commission was an agency of the United States
government from 1792 to 1980. Its function was to annually supervise the
testing of the gold, silver, and (in its final years) base metal coins
produced by the United States Mint to ensure that they met
specifications. The Mint Act of 1792 authorized the Assay Commission.
Beginning in 1797, it met in most years at the Philadelphia Mint. Each
year, the President of the United States appointed unpaid members, who
would gather in Philadelphia to ensure the weight and fineness of silver
and gold coins issued the previous year were to specifications. Although
some members were designated by statute, for the most part the
commission, which was freshly appointed each year, consisted of
prominent Americans, including numismatists. Appointment to the Assay
Commission was eagerly sought after—for one thing, commissioners
received a commemorative medal, different each year, and, with the
exception of the 1977 issue which was sold to the general public,
extremely rare. In 1971, the commission met, but for the first time had
no gold or silver to test, with the end of silver coinage for
circulation. Beginning in 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed no
members of the public to the commission, and in 1980, he signed
legislation abolishing it.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Assay_Commission>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1660:
The five-year-old Charles XI became King of Sweden.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XI_of_Sweden>
1867:
Work began on the covering of the Senne (pictured), burying the
polluted main waterway in Brussels to allow urban renewal in the centre
of the city.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covering_of_the_Senne>
1945:
World War II: The Allies began their strategic bombing of
Dresden, Saxony, Germany, resulting in a lethal firestorm which killed
tens of thousands of civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II>
1961:
American geode prospectors discovered what they claimed was a
500,000-year-old rock with a spark plug encased inside it.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coso_artifact>
1978:
A bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, the site of
the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, killing three people and
injuring eleven others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Hilton_bombing>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
troika:
1. A Russian carriage drawn by a team of three horses abreast.
2. A party or group of three.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/troika>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
In love there are no penalties and no payments, and what is given is
indistinguishable from what is received.
--Eleanor Farjeon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Farjeon>