Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/United States Assay Commission

United States Assay Commission
This nomination predates the introduction in April 2014 of article-specific subpages for nominations and has been created from the edit history of Today's featured article/requests.


 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the TFAR nomination of the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new TFAR nom underneath.

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/February 13, 2013 by BencherliteTalk 10:51, 30 January 2013‎ (UTC)



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.

Three points. Until it was abolished, the commission met on the second Wednesday in February, which this is. It's also two points as we haven't featured a government commission in the past six months. I'm hopeful of improving the image, as I will be doing some archive work this week but feel free to propose alternatives.--Wehwalt (talk) 02:41, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Support, I'm liking the date relevance, and there's also been sustained significant interest in this subject matter lately. &mdash; Cirt (talk) 18:20, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I too was wondering about the image - perhaps one of the medals instead? And it's about time we had another coin-related TFA - nothing since 17th October last year. BencherliteTalk 18:23, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Well, first of all, I'll get a better scan of that image this morning I hope. The Numismatist was not copyrighted until 1958, so I am hopeful for later, better shots of the Assay Commission.  Let's see what I come up with at the ANA library.  There's no particularly logical coin article to run right now, as Buffalo nickel, centennial this year, seems to have run a couple of years ago.  The 75th anniversary of Jefferson nickel is this year, but the logical dates are later in the year.  But the medal is fine.--Wehwalt (talk) 13:45, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I've replaced the image with a slightly better version scanned from the actual periodical, but it's a lousy image even in the original. Still looking.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:24, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I was able to find several decent images of the Assay Commission published before The Numismatist started using copyright notices in 1958. I have several group shots from the 1910s and 1920s I can upload, but I think the ones showing the commissioners doing stuff are better.--Wehwalt (talk) 14:38, 17 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Support - topical, not only due to the platinum coin issue but popular issue for other reasons as well. (e.g. In my state, we have a state legislator who wants to be paid in gold...) Great opportunity for WP to showcase our factual, NPOV, encyclopedic approach.  19:29, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Tell him he can have them as soon as the Assay Commission meets.--Wehwalt (talk) 14:38, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I've added an image. I found some fine images no longer under copyright at the ANA library.--Wehwalt (talk) 02:41, 17 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Support: The new image goes well with the article.--Chimino (talk) 09:34, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Support per Cirt, good to see Commission work featured --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:03, 17 January 2013 (UTC)