Q. David Bowers
A Visit to the Mint Cabinet
William E. DuBois, in Pledges of History: A Brief Account of the Collection of Coins Belonging to the Mint of the United States, More Particularly of the Antique Specimens, 2nd edition, 1851, noted the following:
"Collection of Specimen Coins at the Mint, Philadelphia:
"The suite of apartments in the Mint appropriated to. the exhibition of coins, ores, and national medals occupies the front of the building in the second story, and measures 16 feet wide by 54 feet long. Originally there were three rooms, connecting with each other by folding doors; the removal of these has made one large saloon, with recesses, very commodious and suitable for the use to which it is applied. The eastern and western rooms are of uniform size and construction; the central one has a dome and skylight, supported by four columns; with a corresponding window in its floor (protected by a railing) to light the hall of the entrance below.
"The ancient coins are displayed in eight cases, mitred in pairs, and placed erect against the walls in the wide doorways and the middle room. The modern coins ,are variously arranged; part (including all those of the United States) being in a nearly level case which surrounds the railing above mentioned; and part being in upright cases, disposed along the walls of the middle and west rooms. The ores, minerals, and metallic alloys are placed in the west room; in the eastern are shown the national and other medals, and the fine beams used for the adjustment of weights. The middle room also contains portraits of the directors of the Mint, beginning with Rittenhouse, the first director. All the cases are fronted with glass, and, besides allowing an inspection of every specimen, present an agreeable coup d'oeil on entering the room, especially by the middle door. Visitors are admitted at prescribed hours, if attended by an officer or conductor of the institution.
"The collection was commenced in June 1838. Long before that date, however, Mr. Adam Eckfeldt, formerly chief coiner, led as well by his own taste as by the expectation that a conservatory would some day be established, took pains to preserve master-coins
(Term used for what would later be called Proof coins. The writer goes on to identify the major source for rare coins at the time as being coins brought to the Mint as bullion. Today, the Mint Cabinet coins are a part of the National Coin Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.)of the different annual issues of the Mint, and to retain some of the finest foreign specimens, as they appeared in deposit for recoinage. As soon as a special annual appropriation was instituted for this object by Congress (which was as soon as it was asked), the collection took a permanent form, and from the nucleus above mentioned, has gone on in a continual course of augmentation ever since. It is now nearly as large as we expect or wish to have it, excepting, however, that specimens of new coinage, domestic or foreign, must be added as they appear.
"For effecting this purpose we have had singular facilities. A great majority of the coins-almost all of those not over 300 years old-have been culled from deposits, and consequently have cost us no more than their bullion value. They are, moreover, the choicest of their kind; and perhaps there are few cabinets where so large a proportion of the pieces are in so fine preservation, as well the ancient as the modern. We have also the advantage of the correspondence and aid of gentlemen abroad, some of them officially related to our government, and all of them experienced in this business, and disposed to respond to our wishes ....
"At the present time the aggregate of specimens is about 650 in gold, 2,100 in silver, 1,200 in billon [an alloy of silver and copper, the latter predominant], brass, copper, & c.; in all 3,950. Of these, the ancient Greek and Roman number 82 in gold, 503 in silver, and 480 in other metals; in all, 1,065. Compared with the numismatic cabinets of Europe, our collection is indeed but a dwarf in size, and may stand second, in that respect, to some in this country. But it was not our purpose to amass an immense store of coins, the very multitude of which might deter from its examination. We are rather willing to be the first to set an example of moderation in a pursuit which has its temptations to extravagance and excess."
Numismatic Miscellany (1851)
The following interesting and diverse items, including comments on sources of silver, are from New Varieties of Gold and Silver Coins, by Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E. DuBois, 1851:
"[Page 9:] The foregoing [listings in the book] comprehend all the varieties of coin that have been brought to this mint. There have been, besides, two sorts of stamped bars or ingots, evidently intended for currency.
"1. The ingots of Moffat & Co., of various sizes, from about $9 to $264. It may be stated, in general, that some were found to be rated too high, and others too low. The sixteen dollar ingot yields about $15.75, but is irregular.
"2. The issue of bars by F.D. Kohler, Assayer of the State of California, commenced in May 1850. They are of various sizes, from about 40 to 150 dollars. We find a slight undervaluing in his basis of calculation, and generally an error of assay in the same direction; so that on the average his bars are worth at the mint 1%, perhaps 1-1/2%, more than the value stamped upon them.
"[Page 18:] Silver from Lake Superior: Scarcely any discovery of late date has better deserved the attention of men of science, than that of silver occurring in the copper mines of Lake Superior. Hitherto it has been produced in but small quantity; possibly the finding of a rich pocket may yet command the respect of businessmen. The silver is in the native or metallic state, and appears in grains or lumps, firmly attached, or as it were welded, to the copper; and yet the two metals are not at all intermingled or alloyed. Deducting a small proportion of mere earthy matter, the silver is pure, not even containing gold; and the copper is pure also. We are not aware that silver has ever been found, elsewhere, in this most curious position.
"Three deposits of this silver have already been made at the mint. One had been previously melted and cast into bars, and consequently its character was gone, though not its value. The second was a large wide-spreading cake, smoothed somewhat by the action of water; it was found by assay to contain 95% unalloyed silver, and 5% earthy matter. The value of it was $119. This has been retained in the collection of the Mint and forms one of its greatest curiosities. The third deposit, brought very recently, and emanating from the Pittsburgh Company, consisted of grains or lumps, varying in weight from one grain to four pennyweights (say a quarter of a cent to a quarter of a dollar); they had been detached from the copper, and so effectually that very little of that metal remained. The amount of dirt removed by melting was about 2%; the remainder showed a fineness of 962 thousandths. The whole weight was about 238 ounces; and the value, $290. (From time to time the Mint became excited concerning the possibility of a large find of domestic silver, a metal in chronic short supply, but until the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, usually these did not amount to much. In the meantime, silver was where the Mint was able to find it, including, among other places, by melting down riding stirrups (see below)!)