Aachen Altar Aachen Altar The Aachen Altar (de: "Aachener Altar") or Passion Altar ("Passionsaltar") is a late gothic passion triptych in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, made by the so-called Master of the Aachen Altar around 1515/20 in Cologne, Germany. The open, three winged polyptych altar image shows scenes from the Passion of Christ to his Ascension in continuous sequence from left to right. At the assumed time of composition, this type of depiction was already well-established. On the left wing of the altar, Jesus is crowned with the Crown of thorns and confronts Pontius Pilate. The central panel depicts the Stations of
Three-dollar piece on March 3, 1851 authorized both a three-cent stamp and a three-cent silver coin. Kentucky Representative Richard Henry Stanton believed that the need to make change from a silver half dime with large copper cents might defeat the new scheme, writing to Mint Director Robert M. Patterson that "reduced postage [rates] depended on a three-cent coin for use in those states where copper does not circulate." According to numismatic historian Walter Breen, "the main purpose of the new 3¢ piece would be to buy postage stamps without using the unpopular, heavy, and often filthy copper cents. By 1853, silver was