Did George Washington really skip a coin across the Potomac River?

Question

I can't remember if it was to prove a point , or to display his athletic prowess.

Answer 1

A couple of clarifications about those myths, esp. about Parson Weems.

1) Weems's biography did NOT appear "years after Washington's death" -- Washington died in December 1799. Weems's book was published in 1800!

2) Weems's book did NOT include THIS particular story which is better explained as a modification of the Rappahannock story told by his step-grandson
http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/plan/index.cfm/pid/382/

In fact, it would not have fit what Weems was doing. The point of these stories was to hold up Washington's CHARACTER as a worthy model. Telling the truth about chopping down a cherry tree (the most famous Weems creation) does that; throwing a silver dollar across a river does not.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/gw/gwmoral.html

Answer 2

No. This popular myth is often told to illustrate his strength. The Potomac River is over a mile wide and even George Washington was not that good an athlete! Moreover, there were no silver dollars when Washington was a young man. His step-grandson once wrote that Washington threw a piece of slate across the Rappahannock River near his boyhood home in Fredericksburg, which is much more narrow. That may be the origin of this story.

Answer 3

This story came from a Parson Mason Locke Weems who wrote short stories about George Washington to embellish his legacy many years after his death. His most famous story about Washington was cutting down the cherry tree. He also told the joke about Washington throwing a dollar across the Potomac.
The punch line is;
"A dollar went a lot farther in those days."

Answer 4

That's a myth. It's over a mile wide and they didn't have silver dollars in those days.

It may stem from a story about him skipping a piece of slate across the Rappahannock River.

Answer 5

My best guess is that this is a myth that was invented to prove that the government has been throwing money around since long before the present day!

Answer 6

he never skipped a coin across the potomic