Founding Father Spotlight: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, born on January 17, 1706, was a prominent founding father of the United States. His passionate dedication to our budding nation and his unending diligence to his work were instrumental in America becoming an independent nation.
Throughout his career, Franklin proved to be a prodigious inventor. He brought sight to those struggling to see through his invention of the bifocal. He warmed the homes of countless families on unforgiving winter nights through his invention of the Franklin stove.
Franklin’s undying interest in the sciences led him to his studies of electricity, where his monumental findings still affect our lives today.
As one of the most influential Americans of the time period, Franklin was invited to be a member of the Committee of Five, whose responsibility it was to draft the Declaration of Independence.
His diplomatic nature secured France as an ally during the Revolutionary War. Eventually leading Franklin to his position as the United States Minister of France, where he dutifully negotiated the Treaty of Paris in 1783. This treaty ultimately aided in ending the American Revolutionary War.
Unfortunately, Benjamin Franklin’s life would end in 1790, but not before attending the Constitutional Convention, where he worked with other Founding Fathers to draft the document which our country is founded upon: The Constitution.
In many ways Benjamin Franklin provided the blueprint for our country to be built on, so it is no surprise that Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross chose him to be depicted on the half dollar from 1948 to 1963. A selection of Franklin Half Dollars recognized by Cameo King Rick Tomaska as having the highest eye appeal are available now at Rare Collectibles TV.
