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The E-Sylum:  Volume 4, Number 25, June 17, 2001, Article 10

JOHN GREGORY HANCOCK 

   At a recent local coin club meeting, the name of engraver 
   John Gregory Hancock came up.  Hancock engraved some 
   lovely tokens in the Conder series while as young as nine 
   years old.  A number of his tokens relating to George 
   Washington are listed in chapter fourteen of the Breen 
   Encyclopedia. 

   "John Gregory Hancock, Sr. (1775-1815), was a 
   juvenile engraving prodigy, becoming one of the finest 
   artists in the history of 18th-century British diemaking. 
   While working for Birmingham token manufacturer 
   Obadiah Westwood, Hancock received the honorific 
   assignment for making dies for two types of cents 
   portraying George Washington, as samples for a 
   proposed federal contract coinage...  These are the 
   famous Large Eagle and Small Eagle cents.  Hancock's 
   portrait punch derived from an engraved copy of Pierre 
   Eugene DuSimitiere's drawing." (Breen, p137) 

   The portrait designs were rejected by Washington as 
   "too monarchical," and the Mint Act of April 2, 1792 
   specifically called for emblems of Liberty on America's 
   coinage. 

   "When news of Washington's rejection reached 
   Birmingham, John Gregory Hancock (doubtless with 
   Westwood's gleeful consent, possibly even at his 
   instigation) undertook an extraordinary piece of 
   revenge.  As Washington's spokesman had compared 
   the idea of presidential portraits on coins to the practices 
   of Nero, Caligula, and Cromwell, so Hancock's (and/or 
   Westwood's) idea was to portray Washington on a coin 
   as a degenerate, effeminate Roman emperor.  Hancock's 
   satirical masterpieces, the "Roman Head" cents, manage 
   to convey this impression - with a subtle resemblance. 
   ... The dozen or so survivors were privately distributed 
   among Hancock's and Westwood's friends in Birmingham; 
   their existence was kept secret for over 40 years lest it 
   become an "international incident!"  Beginning as tokens 
   of incredible spite, these cents have become among the 
   most highly coveted of Washington items." (Breen, p140) 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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