George Washington had already completed two terms as President when his Farewell Address was published in Daved Claypole's American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796, under the title "The Address of General Washington To The People of The United States on his declining of the Presidency of the United States." Therein, he declined to run for a third term, although he undoubtedly could have been elected as long as he desired to run for the office. Something of a symbolic gesture, Washington stepping down from the Presidency and seeing its occupancy forwarded in a timely and orderly fashion per the laws of the Constitution would help reinforce the notion that the new nation was not just another constitutional monarchy.
The Presidential election of 1796 was the third quadrennial election, but the first truly contested, since Washington declined to run, paving way for a true test of the Constitutional election procedure. Per the Constitution, each elector had two votes, both to be cast for selection of the President. The candidate with the most votes would become elected, while the runner-up would become Vice President.
Incumbent Vice President John Adams offered his candidacy on the Federalist Party ticket, and former Governor Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina, as the next most popular Federalist, selected to run with Adams in an effort to gain both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency of the union for the Federalist party. The plan was to arrange with all Federalist elector loyalists to cast one vote for Adams, and for all except a few electors to cast one vote for Pinckney. In so doing, Adams would get the majority and Pinckney slightly fewer votes than the majority, thus winning both offices for the party.
The Republicans planned to manipulate the procedure in similar fashion, with Thomas Jefferson selected to receive one vote from each Republican supporter, and a handful fewer for Aaron Burr. Despite similar strategies, the contest was an acrimonious affair as the Federalists accused Republicans as being sympathetic to the violence of the French Revolution, while the Republicans accused Federalists of favoring aristocracy and a return to monarchy. Unfortunately for the schemers in this hotly contested affair, there were factors complicating their intent to manipulate the Electoral College. For example, all votes were required to be cast on the same day, and with communications between states extremely slow at the time, it was nearly impossible to coordinate which collectors would cast their manipulating votes for Vice President. Further, rumors abounded (and proved true) that some southern electors who had pledged to Jefferson secretly schemed to throw their second votes to Pinckney in hope of electing him to the Presidency instead of either Adams or Jefferson!
The scheming to manipulate the Electoral College thus backfired on the Federalists, because too many Adams electors failed to cast their second votes for Pinckney, causing him to run only third in the election, with 59 votes. Adams did indeed receive the highest number of electoral votes (71), but Jefferson actually received the second highest number of votes (68), meaning that for the only time in American history, members of opposing political parties were elected President and Vice President.
Mintage: 6,146. 7 graded MS-63, 14 higher at NGC. PCGS shows similar statistics, having graded 10 at MS-63, and 12 higher. NGC’s population includes, of course, the almost inconceivable Eric P. Newman example, which was graded MS-67+ “star” and auctioned for $1.5 million in November 2013. We mention this simply because the toning for that coin and this are notably similar, although the Newman quarter obviously showcased technical quality of an astonishing level, in addition to incomparable aesthetic qualities.
The Benson 1796 quarter, as this famous coin has become known, was sold at Goldberg’s “The Benson collection, Part 2, Sale 13” on February 18, 2002, lot 685. In the catalog, the Goldbergs called it “the poster coin for the Benson collection as it embodies the rich toning seen on virtually all of the coins from this group.” Perusing the original catalog proves this to be true, since the Benson collection featured a remarkable number of silver coins with impressive album-induced color. The primary technical infraction from the standpoint of production, as noted at that time, is localized weakness at the eagle’s head, with similar softness seen at several leaves northeast. Having seen many 1796 quarters in every grade, the cataloger points out that this is a prevalent characteristic seen on virtually all examples. Indeed, it is practically diagnostic to the issue given that the head rests directly opposite Liberty’s shoulder, which is the highest relief point on the obverse. The original sale catalog elicit only passing mention of post-production detractions, and for the sake of accuracy, we mention the presence of faint, fragile yet barely detectable hairlines present beneath the familiar color scheme. However, in the years since the original Benson sale, dealers and collectors alike have alluded to similar discovery for numerous Benson coins. Evidently, many were lightly cleaned, as was the custom of the early 20th century, then placed into old albums, thus presenting the ideal environment for highly regarded (and highly prized) “album toning”. Truth be told, this story is similar to that told of many of the famous “old time collections”, as the preference toward truly untouched, original coins is a fairly recent shift in mainstream collector mentality, stemming back perhaps only forty years. Given that the surface is otherwise noticeably free from any other distractions and lacks any distinguishable contact marks, it is safe to say that the NGC “net MS-63” grade was assigned on that basis.
It is worth stating that the 1796 quarter retains a unique place in United States numismatics as the only regular-production coin ever withdrawn after a single year’s emission (although it is interesting to note that some were struck in the early winter of 1797). As such, a surprising number were saved by astute casual collectors of the day, well-heeled no doubt, since a quarter represented a significant sum in 1796. A number display reflective surfaces, and a few have even become designated as “specimen strikings”, even though there exists no mint record suggesting that any were produced to presentation specifications (PCGS has even graded a single coin as a “specimen”). For early quarter enthusiasts, Colonel. E. H. R. Green owns a well-known place in numismatics, having allegedly amassed a hoard of at least two-hundred 1796 quarters. Many were deemed as being “prooflike”, although once again, if we hearken back to the age when silver coins had their pristine status “preserved” by cleaning processes, it becomes easy to suggest that at least some may have been instilled with reflectivity long after they were produced. The Goldberg catalog even surmises that the Benson quarter might be sourced to the famous Colonel Green hoard, which plays right in to the coin’s specific physical appearance.
On a final note, the 1796 quarter was the only emission of the denomination struck during the 18th century, giving it a unique place amongst its peers, and placing it squarely in the realm of one of the most difficult type coins to acquire, particularly at a high level of quality. We congratulate the new owner of this extraordinary piece of numismatic history, and trust that our little diversion into American Presidential history was not entirely unwarranted.