There are a lot of surprising facts about the United States that are unbelievably bizarre but true.
Okay. Do you know that eagle that we see on all of our currency? Well. That eagle is based on an eagle named Pete, who hung out in Pennsylvania’s mint. This, way back in the 1800s.
When did it all begin? June 20, 1782. Let me explain. After numerous design proposals and revisions, Congress finally accepted the bald eagle as the United States symbol on that day in 1782.
Soon after, that good bird’s likeness was spread throughout all of USA’s early branding. The eagle was printed on documents, carved into buildings, and stamped on currency.
Americans immediately adopted the bald eagle as an expression of liberty and freedom.
But, as I mentioned, the eagle featured on US currency wasn’t a fictitious representation of the bird. Instead, it was created in the likeness of Pete the Mint Eagle, a bald eagle that took residence in America’s first (or second) mint in the 1830s.
That mint was initially founded on Pennsylvania’s Seventh Street in 1792. It was the United States of America’s first currency-creating factory.
Here is the good thing. Bald eagles were prevalent in the area, and locals could often look to the sky to see the country’s living symbol of freedom soaring through the air.
And with that, the Philadelphia Mint housed a bald eagle that left each day to go hunting but returned each night to shelter and watch over the company’s coinage production.
Pete was friendly with the workers. He didn’t seem to mind all the passing visitors. Pete the Mint Eagle was so comfortable with his living conditions that the workers allowed him to monitor the coining presses.
The next part is sad.
Unfortunately, this freedom ultimately led to his demise, as one of his wings got caught in a moving press, hindering his ability to fly and search for food.
I’m not sure if he died on his own right or if they put him down. Either way. The mint was unwilling to part with their beloved mascot. So the Philadelphia Mint workers had Pete’s body taxidermied. They placed him in an honorary space of the factory. Woot. He remains there to this day.
The good eagles. I love to see them these days. But we should probably keep them from hanging out in our mints.
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“The eagle flies alone, but his heart is with his brothers.” — African Proverb
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“You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren.” — William Henry Hudson
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“Like an eagle, we rise.” — James Marshall
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