Did Washington Through a Dollar Across the Potomac - Yes and No

 Did George Washington throw a dollar across the Potomac?  

It'a quite possible he did, but.........

Most of us have heard the story about young George Washington throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac River. The question is, would that have been possible? The answer is possibly....BUT.........

First Let Us Look At Some of the Factors

The River

First of all he couldn't have thrown it across the Potomic River, even in his younger days because the river from the shoreline near the Mount Vernan home to a spot on the other bank is over a mile.   He couldn't have done that when he got older either.  As an older guy   trust me on this one.   I think we can rule that story out.

Before moving to Mount Vernon, George Washington, then 6 years old lived on the Rapphannock.  Now lets see if it's possible young Washington could have thrown a dollar across that river.   First let's look at the spot where the event supposedly took place.

The Rappahannock River at George Washington's boyhome is approx. 250 feet wide  Would that have been possible?  Maybe but firse we have to consider these factors..

Was the coin he supposedly threw a silver dollar, could it have been thrown a different type of coin?

Was it even a coin?

Was young George physically capable of throwing anything across the river?

The Rappahannock River near his home is approx. 250 feet side. As an adult, George Washington was a big man. He stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and in later life weighed over 200 pounds. He had broad shoulders, wore a size 13 shoe, and stood ramrod straight. He had a long face with high cheekbones, a large straight nose, a firm chin and blue eyes beneath a heavy brow.  (Reconstructed face of George Washington)

OK, it's possible safe to assume hat young George, was a big kid, but could he have thrown a silver dollar across a river that was only 250 feet wide near his home. Did he do it?   No!

Why? Because the first silver dollar wasn't minted until 1794 five years before his death.



*sigh* But could it have been another kind of coin?   

Yes!  If it was, it might have been a Spanish Milled Dollar.



The Spanish Milled Dollar was minted on a coin press from 1732-1826 where-as the term "milled" refers to the fact that the coin blanks (planchets) were made on a milling machine and were of consistent weight and size of 27.1 grams and 1.65 inches in diameter, slightly larger than the US dollar.

Are We Even Sure It Was A Dollar?

We know young George's family had money, but did they have so much money that George would risk throwing one into a river? I'm sure George's mother would turn over in her grave if she knew that the same silver dollar today sold in 2015 for $10 million dollars. Some historians claim that what Washington threw across the river wasn't a coin at all, but a piece of slate that he "skipped" across the river.  After all, why would he throw money away?

So is the Story True

We've shown young George would been too young to throw anything a mile over the Potomac, but it could have been possible he threw something across the Rappahannock River.  We've shown he didn't throw a silver dollar across it because they didn't exist when he was a youngster. If he skipped any kind of coin it could have been a Spanish Milled Dollar, which begged the question why would he throw money away, and if it was a piece of slate why would anyone write anything about that?.  We've also shown that the river near his home on the Rappahannock is 250 wide so it's possible a large healthy boy could have easily skipped a piece of slate across the river like a frisbee. I've never "skipped" a coin across water (I'm too cheap), but I suppose it is possible.

Since no one, to my knowledge, has tried to skip a piece of slate or thrown a piece of metal the size, shape and weight as a 1794 silver dollar across the Rappahannock, River lately, I can't say the myth is confirmed but it certainly seems plausible.

 

There's Still Hope

George Washington was a competitive individual. Lucky for us otherwise we'd still be having high tea and singing God Save the Queen. In addition to being competitive, we know young George was physically capable of throwing, tossing. skipping or otherwise propelling a coin shaped object across a 250 foot river, however, it's doubtful he was successful in his first attempt. This of course means that some of his "attempts" may still be at the bottom of the Rappahannock.