A common missconception is that to 'Coin' a phrase means that you are the
first person say/write a phrase that is then adopted by the
general public.
In fact, to 'coin a phrase' is the
first person to earn a buck from it - for example: in the press.
"When you come down to 'brass tacks' - if we may be allowed the
expression - everybody is governed by selfishness."
All of the other known early citations either
originate in, or refer to, Texas. It is
reasonable to assume that the phrase was coined there, in or about the 1860s.