Ben Franklin Coin and A New Year!

The US Mint produced two Ben Franklin commemorative coins in 2006.

One of them, the Founding Father commemorative silver dollar coin, was also part of a Coin and Chronicles Set.

Ben Franklin Coin and Chronicles Set cover

 

In the Coin and Chronicles Set, the US Mint included a version of the 1758 Poor Richard Almanack initially produced by Benjamin Franklin in his printshop.

In celebration of the new year, let’s take a look at the January pages of the Almanack:

Ben Franklin Coin and Chronicles Set with Poor Richard Almanack for January 1758

 

Ben Franklin is known for his wise and witty comments in his Poor Richard Almanacks.

In the upper left page for January, he began:

On Ambition

I know, young Friend, Ambition fills your Mind,
And in Life’s Voyage is th’ impelling Wind;
But at the Helm let sober Reason stand,
And steer the Bark with Heav’n-directed Hand:
So shall you safe Ambition’s Gales receive,
And ride securely, tho’ the Billows heave;
So shall you shun the g’ddy Hero’s Fate,
And by her Influence be both good and great.

Turning the page, the upper corner of the February entry continues his discussion on Ambition.

After the January calendar, he continues a discussion begun in the Preface:

…But Idleness taxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is spent in absolute Sloth, or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in idle Employments or Amusements, that amount to nothing. Sloth, by bringing on Diseases, absolutely shortens Life. Sloth, like Rust, consumes faster than Labour wears, while the used Key is always bright, as Poor Richard says. But dost thou love Life, then do not squander Time, for that’s the Stuff Life is made of, as Poor Richard says. —How much more htan is necessary do we spend in Sleep ! forgetting that The sleeping Fox catches no Poultry, and that there will be sleeping enough in the Grave, as Poor Richard says. If Time be of all Things the most precious, wasting Time must be, as Poor Richard says, the greatest Prodigality, since, as he elsewhere tells us, Lost Time is never found again; and what we call Time enough, always proves little enough. Let us then up and be doing, and doing to the Purpose; so by Diligence shall we do more with less Perplexity. Sloth makes all Things difficult, but Industry all easy, as Poor Richard says; and He that riseth late, must trot all Day, and shall scarce overtake his Business at Night. While Laziness travels so… (continued after February)

Anyone who has studied the Poor Richard (Ben Franklin) sayings find they still hold true today – much like a lot of what the Founding Fathers discussed and set forth so many years ago.

But, that aside, take a look at the obverse and reverse of the 2006 Benjamin Franklin Founding Father Commemorative Silver Dollar coin:

 

Ben Franklin Found Father Commemorative Silver Dollar Coin 2006 obverse

 

Ben Franklin Found Father Commemorative Silver Dollar Coin 2006 reverse

Happy New Year! Enjoy the excerpt from the Poor Richard Almanack and the Benjamin Franklin Founding Father Commemorative Silver Dollar Coin.