It is interesting to note that George Washington took a very active interest in our nation's first efforts at coinage. From the time of the Act of April 2, 1792, which established the United States Mint, until his death in 1799, Washington was one of the most outspoken proponents of a mint. He was in good company; Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and David Rittenhouse were all in favor of a circulating coinage based on the decimal system. In his annual address in November 1792, Washington referred to a "small beginning" in United States coinage. He was speaking of the 1,500 Half-Dimes coined recently on a press in John Harper's saw cellar at Sixth and Cherry Streets in Philadelphia, just a few blocks from the eventual site of the first permanent United States mint. Legend has it that some of Martha Washington's silver service from the family's Mount Vernon estate was used to coin these Half-Dimes; while probably untrue, it does serve to underscore Washington's commitment to a national coinage. Before these events, some pattern coinage had been produced here and in England which featured the bust of Washington himself. When presented with specimens of these portrait pieces, Washington rejected them out of hand; he felt they smacked of European style monarchy and were inappropriate in a young Republic.