As part of a continuing series to familiarize the public with great artists of heroic persona, the men who designed our national coinage, I will periodically feature short biographies of the creators of our splendid US coins.

Our first entry is James B. Longacre (1794-1869); appointed Fourth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint in 1844. Already an portraitist and designer of some renown , Longacre’s early career is curiously reminiscent of another American legend, Benjamin Franklin. Born impoverished in rural Pennsylvania, Longacre, as did young Franklin, left home for Philadelphia at the age of 12, became apprenticed to an engraver, and spent the next years perfecting his skills which included specie design and engraving and portraiture, for which he opened his own enterprise in 1819. His self-made-man persona fits well with the American character of independence, self-reliance, ingenuity and sacrifice. The young artist’s meticulous attention to detail, his superb eye for forms and shapes, his master craftsmanship and his work ethic were all honed by his early apprenticeship, in a peculiar way as was Franklin’s.

The young Longacre also exhibited adroit political connections. His National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans, established around 1830, enabled him to meet with and exploit connections with the American upper-crust. Portraits of Daniel Boone and other well-known contemporaries earned the portraitist fame in the 1830s-40s. Famous South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun was one of Longacre’s many influential friends, and it was he who helped ease the way for his appointment to the Chief Engraver’s job, in 1844, on the death of then-head Christian Gobrecht.

Longacres’s long tenure at the mint was marked by conflict. Entrenched interests, politically connected, had long taken residence there. Political corruption, illegal side-vending, graft of all sorts existed in the office at that time, and these entrenched interests worked hard to minimize the oversight and supervision role of the Chief Engraver.

That James B. Longacre fought these forces arrayed against him and, in large part, was able to clean up the political corruption at the Mint, and at the same time produce an array of some of the most beautiful US coins, either gold coins or silver coins, is a testament both to his courage and his talent, both as a designer and as an administrator. That he was able to prosper during the most divisive years of the American Republic, and survive through nine (Tyler Polk Taylor Fillmore Pierce Buchanan Lincoln Johnson Grant) presidential administrations give further heft to his accomplishments.

Some of Longacre’s most famous US coin designs, renowned even today for their beauty, craftsmanship and durability, are the twenty dollar gold piece (1849-1907), the Indian Head cent (1859-1909), the Flying Eagle cent (1856-1858 – based on an original Gobrecht design), and the Shield Nickel, 1866-1883. Many more coins, commemoratives, gold coins, test designs, silver coins, experimental dies, patterns and tools, etc. were the product of his imagination and tools. In a 1928 retrospective honoring the 100 Greatest American Engravers , the prestigious New York Public Library included a retrospective of his work, ensuring that he would be included in the pantheon of famous American designers.

NEXT UP: Charles E. Barber – Boring and Predictable? Or Strong and Durable?