Numismatic events during the month of August include:

Week of Aug. 1 to 7

AUG. 1, 1862, Congress prohibits private small change substitutes after this date.

AUG. 2, 2002, Indiana quarter dollar makes debut in circulation.

AUG. 3, 1835, United States purchases Dahlonega Mint site for $1,050.

AUG. 4, 1914, SS Cristobal carries 50,000 commemorative medals on trial run through Panama Canal.

AUG. 5, 1939, act bans further striking of any U.S. commemorative coin authorized before March 1, 1939.

AUG. 5, 2003, General Services Administration turns over key to Old San Francisco Mint to city of San Francisco.

AUG. 6, 1892, Congress authorizes World’s Columbian Exposition half dollar.

AUG. 7, 1874, Philadelphia Mint’s James Pollock forwards first 20-cent designs to Mint Director Henry Linderman.

Week of Aug. 8 to 14

AUG. 10, 1927, President Calvin Coolidge formally dedicates Mount Rushmore site, later the subject of U.S. commemorative coins.

AUG. 12, 1947, Secret Service confiscates L.G. Barnard’s 1933 Saint-Gaudens gold $20 double eagle.

AUG. 13, 1985, Crane & Co. receives patent 4534398 for counterfeit deterrent optically active security paper.

Week of Aug. 15 to 21

AUG. 15, 1897, New York

Times reports dismay with new Educational series silver certificates.

AUG. 18, 1793, Philadelphia Mint closes due to yellow fever epidemic.

AUG. 20, 1921, American Numismatic Association annual convention convenes at Boston Public Library.

AUG. 21, 1959, State quarter dollar subject Hawaii admitted to the Union.

Week of Aug. 22 to 28

AUG. 22, 1958, ground breaking for Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of History and Technology.

AUG. 24, 1966, first $50 Federal Reserve notes bearing motto in god we trust produced at Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

AUG. 25, 1792, foundation completed for Mint at Philadelphia.

AUG. 25, 1971, first Presidential Coin & Antique Co. numismatic auction.

AUG. 26, 1872, Jacob Bausch Eckfeldt appointed to assistant Mint assayer.

AUG. 27, 1861, first Confederate Richmond $50 and $100 notes issued.

AUG. 28, 1861, Hiram Prather sends President Abraham Lincoln Confederate currency.

Week of Aug. 29 to 31

AUG. 29, 1814, New York City Mayor DeWitt Clinton tells Common Council there exists “a great pressure for small change.”

AUG. 29, 1862, beginning of Treasury’s National Currency Bureau when clerks cut and trim notes in the Main Treasury Building basement.

Fred Reed has been a collector and writer for many years. If you have additions or comments, you can reach him at www.fredwritesright.com or P.O. Box 118162, Carrollton, TX 75011-8162, and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.