Tobacco - an icon in American culture and history

[ShiniKoroshi]

Recently I read an article on American architecture and there was specific mention of the "Hall of Columns" in the Supreme court. (ill comment with a link once I find it) The tops of the columns are, according to the architect, tobacco leaves. Today my daughter hands me a Barber dime and asks if those leaves are tobacco too.

I think they look like Little Dutch. What do you think?

 

[TigerTom]

Based on the seed heads, I'd say the major part of the wreath looks like some sort of grain crop. The bottom looks like tree leaves -- the acorn on the right gives it away as oak, and the bottom left looks like it could be maple, but it isn't clear.

 

[Alpine]

I concur: maple leaf on the left, oak on the right and grain (wheat?) at the sides.

pier

 

[deluxestogie]

Tobacco production is what saved the Virginia colony from economic failure and collapse. Tobacco leaves were depicted in many historic, official symbols. Little by little, such symbology, when eventually noticed, has been replaced by similar, non-tobacco leafage.

Bob

EDIT: In the image of the Dime, each side of the wreath depicts an amalgam of multiple agricultural products. I believe those are tobacco leaves on the mid left side (narrowed sufficiently to match the motif). There is an ear of corn (maize) in the middle of the right side.

 

[johnny108]

The left side flower head looks like a tobacco flower…to my eyes, anyway.

Edit: my eyes (and mind) are a bit too focused on tobacco.

Barber Dime, 1892-1916 | CoinWeek

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes ..... The Mint Finally Updates Its Subsidiary Silver Coinage The Mint Act of 1890 allowed

coinweek.com

“Reverse:
A wreath of two branches of corn, wheat, maple leaves, and oak leaves forms a concentric circle inside a ring of denticles next to the rim. The branches are tied by a ribbon at the bottom. The denomination ONE DIME is in the center, each word on a separate line. Barber Dimes were minted at Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Denver; O, S, and D mintmarks are located below the knot of the ribbon bow inside the rim.”

 

[deluxestogie]

corn, wheat, maple leaves, and oak leaves

That looks authoritative, however, the suspect leaves (center of left side) are clearly not oak or maple leaves, and both corn and wheat are grasses, with a clearly different venation pattern. I'll vote for "tobacco".

Bob

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

This is much easier to see when holding a coin and angling toward light. Bob is correct in that the 9 leaves (above the Maple) on the left have veins. Hopefully it shows better in these pics.

 

[johnny108]

Could be Little Dutch or One Sucker?

 

[TigerTom]

Barber Dimes 1892-1916

The First Barber Dimes were struck at the US Mint on Jan 2, 1892 and continued from then until 1916. This design was brought about through public dissatisfaction with the Seated Liberty design.

www.your-rare-coin-collecting-guide.com

"The reverse of these silver coins uses almost exactly the same cereal wreath used on the Seated Liberty dime of 1860-1891. The wreath was composed of leaves of corn, wheat, maple and oak, and it would remain in use on dimes, essentially unchanged, until the end of the series in 1916."

Wikipedia gives the same composition and lists as its source, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, but I don't have a copy to verify the data.

 

[deluxestogie]

Coin engravers are well known over the centuries for precise detailing. The "T" word has been quietly removed.

Bob

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

Barber Dimes 1892-1916

The First Barber Dimes were struck at the US Mint on Jan 2, 1892 and continued from then until 1916. This design was brought about through public dissatisfaction with the Seated Liberty design.

www.your-rare-coin-collecting-guide.com

"The reverse of these silver coins uses almost exactly the same cereal wreath used on the Seated Liberty dime of 1860-1891. The wreath was composed of leaves of corn, wheat, maple and oak, and it would remain in use on dimes, essentially unchanged, until the end of the series in 1916."

Wikipedia gives the same composition and lists as its source, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, but I don't have a copy to verify the data.

I believe the newer Barber reverse was struck on some Seated Liberty dimes before the full transition to the newer coin design. There is mention of 1899 but here is an example from 1873. Below it is the older reverse struck on an 1870 Seated Liberty. Unfortunately records at US Mints were either lost or never made detailed enough. Regardless, the tobacco motif is being erased from history. It was Killebrews book, I think, that made mention (with photo) of the "Hall of Columns" adorned with tobacco within the Supreme Court and I have yet to find a modern reference or even a picture of the hall.

Truth in history has the tendency to erode the current narrative.

 

[deluxestogie]

Not surprisingly, there is no one "truth" in history. Each historical narrative is written from a unique perspective by authors with unique motivations. Some years ago, I read over 50 books (some were multi-volume books), written by contemporaneous authors, about the French Revolution in 1789, and the events of the subsequent decade. Many of the authors were eye witnesses to the events. Some were instrumental in bringing about the events. While the overall outline of events seemed similar from book to book, the identification of specific underlying causes, and the details of the actual events differed dramatically.

Bob

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

......by authors with unique motivations.

Absolutely correct! Not to mention the publishers have as much control as the authors and are notorious for making "corrections" that suit a particular interest.

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

Could be Little Dutch or One Sucker?

That's what Im thinking.

 

[TigerTom]

Not sure if that's a venation pattern or an attempt by the engravers to show a rippling pattern. Following what appear to be veins out to the leaf margins lines up with what also appear to be ripples, which could occur due to wind or whatever. Regardless, there is even variation among the coins pictured in this thread. The first Barber dime posted shows an acorn among the oak leaves, while the most recent shows no acorn. The first coin appears to have venation patterns in the leaves on the left, but as we look through the coins that pattern seems to disappear. Was it due to weathering, or was it a dileberate attempt to erase a particular crop from our history? Who knows.

At this point, we might as well email the US Mint and ask them what it's at least supposed to be.

In any case, it's beautiful work and I sure wish we still had such artistry on our coins.

 

[deluxestogie]

No conspiracies required. It's just what happens when events are recorded.

Bob

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

Not sure if that's a venation pattern or an attempt by the engravers to show a rippling pattern. Following what appear to be veins out to the leaf margins lines up with what also appear to be ripples, which could occur due to wind or whatever. Regardless, there is even variation among the coins pictured in this thread. The first Barber dime posted shows an acorn among the oak leaves, while the most recent shows no acorn. The first coin appears to have venation patterns in the leaves on the left, but as we look through the coins that pattern seems to disappear. Was it due to weathering, or was it a dileberate attempt to erase a particular crop from our history? Who knows.

At this point, we might as well email the US Mint and ask them what it's at least supposed to be.

In any case, it's beautiful work and I sure wish we still had such artistry on our coins.

Quite valid points. I too noticed the "stem" in the Seated Liberty reverse that had morphed into something else on the Barber reverse, among other slight changes. This is what makes coin collecting intriguing. Ill have to ask my Numis dealers if they know and have a printed reference.

I too wish we had the artistry and the silver/gold coinage of a proper Republic. But you know, "conspiracies".

 

[ShiniKoroshi]

Anyhow, back to Tobacco in our Capitol and State buildings.

Hall of Columns
"The hall takes its name from the 28 fluted, white marble columns that line the corridor. The capitals in the Hall of Columns are a variation on the Corinthian order, incorporating not only classical acanthus leaves but also thistles and native American tobacco plants. Earlier uses of American vegetation in the building's capitals include Benjamin Henry Latrobe's corncob capitals in a first-floor vestibule and his tobacco-leaf capitals in the small Senate rotunda."



tobacco-leaf capitals in the small Senate rotunda.