United States Government. ACTS PASSED AT THE FIRST SESSION OF THE SECOND CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BEGUN AND HELD AT THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, ON MONDAY THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF OCTOBER, IN THE YEAR M,DCC,XCI. AND OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES, THE SIXTEENTH. VOLUME II. Philadelphia: E. Oswald, 1793. 8vo, modern tan half calf with marbled boards; spine ruled in blind with original gilt-lettered red morocco label laid on. 380, (26) pages, including index. Signature of Reynold Keen (c. 1738–1800) on the title. Scattered light browning and foxing, one index leaf with corner fold resulting from printing error. Very good or better. An important volume from the Mint's first year of full-time production, including the final version of the Act establishing the Mint. This volume collects and prints all of the Acts passed during both sessions of the Second Congress (1791–1793), despite the title's implication that it includes only those from the First Session (there is a second half-title on page 129 introducing the Second Session). It also includes the text (including translations where relevant) of Treaties entered into by the United States. The full text of the final, amended "Act Establishing a Mint, and Regulating the Coins of the United States," can be found on pages 56–63, and the "Act to Provide for a Copper Coinage" can be found on pages 120–121. A rare volume, unrecorded by Charles Evans in his massive bibliography of 17th- and 18th-century American imprints, and noted only in the 1969 Shipton and Mooney Short-Title Evans and the Bristol Supplement to Evans that appeared around the same time. Bristol records only four copies in the libraries surveyed. The publisher's designation of this as "Volume II" is misleading, as "Volume I" was the Acts of the First Congress: this is the complete work as issued. ¶ The history of the Mint Act goes back to Alexander Hamilton's January 28, 1791 report to the House of Representatives on establishing a Mint and a uniform currency. That report drew upon earlier efforts, but Hamilton's work was the seed from which the final Act really grew. On March 3, 1791, Congress passed a Mint Act, albeit one that did little to establish U.S. coinage in any practical way. On October 25, 1791, President Washington reminded Congress of the vital need to address this matter. A committee was formed, and by January, the Senate version entered its third reading, with various amendments discussed. That version of the Act retained the wording in Section X mandating the likeness of the president on U.S. coins. The bill was sent to the House for their approval, but they sent it back on March 26 with an amendment to this section, which the Senate initially refused. After the House adhered to its amendment, the Senate receded from its disagreement. The bill was enrolled on March 28 and signed on March 30 by Vice-President John Adams, following the signing of the bill by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On April 2, 1792, the Mint Act was signed by President Washington. ¶ This contemporary printing of the foundational Mint Act, included as it is amongst the other Acts approved by the Second Congress, allows one to appreciate the Act within the surrounding historical context and as a vital part of American history. This copy is in very good condition, with only minor browning and foxing throughout, and is in a handsome binding in period style. It also boasts an interesting provenance: Reynold Keen, whose signature appears on the title page, was charged with high treason in 1778 for allegedly aiding the British during their occupation of Philadelphia. He was pardoned by an Act of Assembly the following year and went on to become a Philadelphia alderman and the head of the Inoculating Society of Philadelphia. Other important Acts discussed in this volume are the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the establishment of a post office, the development of uniform militia laws and laws regarding protection of the Northwest Territory. A very rare volume. Bristol B8507. Shipton and Mooney 46909. Ex David F. Fanning Numismatic Literature, January 2009; ex Cardinal Collection Library.