James Barton Longacre - Ambrotype by Isaac Rehn, 1855b

The Chief Engraver of the United States Mint is the highest staff member at the United States Mint. The Chief Engraver is the person in charge of coin design and

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

dies Dies may refer to: * Dies (deity), the Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Hemera, the personification of day, daughter of Nox (Night) and Erebus (Darkness). * Albert Christoph Dies (1755–1822), German painter, composer, and biographer * Jos ...

at all four United States Mints:

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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and West Point. The position was created by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of Treasury that produces circulating coinage for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1990 after the resignation of Elizabeth Jones, the post of Chief Engraver was left vacant, and in 1996, with Public Law 104-208, was abolished by Congress. On February 3, 2009, Mint Director

Edmund C. Moy Edmund C. Moy (born September 12, 1957) is an American businessman and former government official. From 2006 to 2011, he served as the 38th Director of the United States Mint. Early life and education Born in Detroit, Michigan on September 12, 1 ...

, appointed John Mercanti to the position of Chief Engraver, with duties and prerogatives determined by the Mint’s Office of Public Affairs. The appointment was not a restoration of the original congressionally approved office, but a temporary promotion, renewable annually for one officeholder for no more than five years. Following Mercanti's retirement in 2010, the post remained vacant until February 2019, when Joseph Menna was appointed to the position.

List of Chief Engravers

* Robert Scot (1793 until his death in 1823) * William Kneass (1824 until his death in 1840) *

Christian Gobrecht Christian Gobrecht (December 23, 1785 – July 23, 1844) was the third Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1840 until his death in 1844. He was responsible for designing the famous " Seated Liberty" designs, which were in turn the di ...

(1840 until his death in 1844) * James B. Longacre (1844 until his death in 1869) * William Barber (1869 until his death in 1879) * Charles E. Barber (1880 until his death in 1917) *

George T. Morgan George Thomas Morgan (November 24, 1845 – January 4, 1925) was a United States Mint engraver who is famous for designing many popular coins, such as the Morgan dollar, the reverse of the Columbian Exposition half dollar, and the reverse of the ...

(1917 until his death in 1925) *

John R. Sinnock John Ray Sinnock (July 8, 1888 – May 14, 1947) was the eighth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1925 to 1947. History Sinnock was the designer of the Roosevelt dime and Franklin half dollar, among other U.S. coins. His initials ca ...

(1925 until his death in 1947) *

Gilroy Roberts Gilroy Roberts (March 11, 1905, Philadelphia – January 26, 1992 Havertown, Pennsylvania) was an American sculptor. He served as the ninth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1948 until 1964, and is perhaps most famous for designing t ...

(1948 to 1964) * Frank Gasparro (1965 to 1981) * Elizabeth Jones (1981 to 1991) * Vacant (1991 to 2006) *

John Mercanti John M. Mercanti (born April 27, 1943) is an American sculptor and engraver. He was the twelfth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint until his retirement in late 2010. Biography Mercanti was born in Philadelphia. There, he attended the Penn ...

(2006 to 2010) * Vacant (2010 to 2019) * Joseph Menna (Feb 2019 to present)

References

* {{US-gov-stub