Lewis Feuchtwanger (, 11 January 1805 – 25 June 1876) was a German-born

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

known primarily for his work on United States coinage. Feuchwanger was married to Augusta Levy and had five children.

Biography

Lewis Feuchtwanger was the son of a

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

, and inherited a taste for natural science, to which he devoted special attention at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. After receiving his doctor of philosophy degree there in 1827, he emigrated to the United States in 1829, and settled in New York, where he opened the first German

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, and also practiced medicine, being particularly active during the

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic of 1832. Subsequently, he devoted his entire attention to chemistry and mineralogy, and became engaged in the manufacture and sale of rare chemicals. He introduced in 1829 the alloy called

German silver Nickel silver, maillechort, German silver, argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, or alpacca is a cupronickel (copper with nickel) alloy with the addition of zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver ...

, and was the first to call the attention of the U. S. government to the availability and desirability of nickel for small coins. In 1837, he issued, by permission of the U. S. government, a large quantity of one-cent pieces in nickel of which were known as

Feuchtwanger Cent The Feuchtwanger cent was a nickel silver private token coin circulated in the U.S. by Lewis Feuchtwanger during the 1830s and 1840s. Three-cent varieties were also available, though not as plentiful as the one-cent tokens. The tokens were ori ...

s, and in 1864, he had struck off a number of three-cent pieces in the same metal, but they were not put into circulation. After the great fire of 1846 he called the attention of the authorities of New York to the fact that saltpetre would explode under certain conditions. This statement created much discussion; the expression "Will saltpetre explode?" became a byword, and a play was acted at one of the theatres in which a character representing Feuchtwanger was presented. He made two large collections of minerals of which he partially sold in 1832, one of these he exhibited in London at the World's fair in 1851, and the other, he bequeathed to his daughters, was for a time on exhibition at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. Feuchtwanger was a member of scientific societies in this country and abroad, and contributed papers to Silliman's ''American Journal of Science'' and to the ''Proceedings'' of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. In the 1850s to the 1870s, Feuchtwanger opened up a chemical plant because of his buying and selling of commercial quantities of minerals for use in preparing chemical preparations from the raw material. Lewis Feuchtwanger died on June 25, 1876, in New York City.

Works

* ''Popular Treatise on Gems'' (New York, 1838) * ''Elements of Mineralogy'' (1889) * ''Treatise on Fermented Liquors'' (1858) * ''Practical Treatise on Soluble or Water Glass'' (1870)

References

An Online Guide: Feuchtwanger Cents. (n.d.). An Online Guide: Feuchtwanger Cents. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://pontornocoins.webs.com/feuchtwang

External links

Biographical information
at coinbooks.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Feuchtwanger, Lewis 1805 births 1876 deaths American chemists Bavarian emigrants to the United States People from the Kingdom of Bavaria University of Jena alumni

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links