author
James Ross Snowden
1809–1878
A lawyer, politician, and numismatist, he helped shape the U.S. Mint in the years before the Civil War and wrote about coins with the eye of both a collector and a public servant.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1809, James Ross Snowden built a career that moved through law, state politics, and public administration. He studied at Dickinson College, served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and was speaker of the house before taking on financial and legal posts in state government.
Snowden is best remembered for his work at the United States Mint. He served first as treasurer and then as director, and during his years there he became closely associated with American coinage and the Mint's growing coin cabinet. He also wrote on numismatics, including A Description of Ancient and Modern Coins, in the Cabinet Collection at the Mint of the United States, reflecting a lasting interest in coins as objects of history as well as money.
His life joined politics, scholarship, and practical administration in a way that feels very nineteenth-century: energetic, civic-minded, and deeply interested in the material record of the nation. For listeners drawn to American history, money, or collecting, Snowden stands out as a figure who helped turn coinage into a subject worth studying as well as using.