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
_______________________________ 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
_____________________________ 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
___________________________ 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
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