Q. David Bowers
Collectors Swarm Treasury
The following article from the Billings(Montana) Gazette, March 20, 1964, was reprinted in The Con-gressional Record, March 25, 1964:
Collectors Swarm Treasury in Silver Dollar Stampede:
By Kenneth Scheibel.
WASHINGTON-Coin collectors and speculators from all over the nation swarmed to Washington Thursday for what could be a final raid on Treasury's dwindling supply of silver dollars. I watched goggle-eyed as hundreds moved through the "Cash Room" of the U.S. Treasury, across the street from the White House. A few days ago the Treasury had a total of $20 million in silver dollars. Thursday it was down to $16 million-and disappearing fast.
Men and Women, young and old, well-dressed and shabby, working man and dilettante, exchanged currency for bags of silver dollars from a newlyopened Treasury vault. Walking up the steps to the Treasury, collectors found hastily painted signs reading, "Silver dollars in bags window No.8."
Awaiting their return in line at a single window were collectors carrying an array of receptacles to tote away their purchase. Most of the purchasers were alone-but some had "partners." Some had suitcases, others carried, small briefcases. A few shopping bags were in evidence. There were some contraptions resembling saddle bags. Other purchasers made no attempt to conceal their silver dollars-slinging bags of them on their shoulders and walking out-into the street.
What caused the rush by collectors and speculators to grab every silver dollar in sight? Nobody in Washington really knows. But one factor might be a recent speech by Eva Adams, a Nevada native, Director of the Mint. Miss Adams said the odds were "8 to 5" that Congress would not authorize more silver dollars. So what she Was saying, in effect, was that existing supplies almost automatically would become collectors' items.
Many collector-speculators toted $1,000 bags 'of cartwheels, The bags weighed a hefty 60 pounds each. Other buyers were content with $100 or $200. And it was obvious that many came through the line several times-but they were limited to $1,000 each trip. A reporter was told that dealers were buying heavily, in hopes of finding a modern "bonanza." One man in line was heard to say, "One guy got 50,000 silver dollars-and another got 31,000 dollars." There was no way of checking this, or a report one purchaser obtained 200,000 silver dollars. But the reports seemed plausible.
Mr. and Mrs. George Baughman of nearby Alexandria, Va., each purchased a bag. Baughman dropped the two bags of cartwheels into an Army-style handbag. He found he couldn't lift it. So he headed for an exit, dragging his prize along the floor. His wife waited at the curb in their car.
One Treasury official, watching the melee, commented, "Those dollars are going into the hands of collectors, and I don't know why. I understand there are 12 million collectors. Maybe it's for profit, or for a hobby."
A long line of collectors jammed Treasury corridors and the Cash Room. For four hours there was an ebb and flow in traffic. The mob spilled out of the room, into the hallways. Collectors with their newly acquired dollars sprawled into available space, using benches, chairs and windowsills, to quickly sort through their dollars. Sorting even went on in washrooms.
"We took the benches out of the hall," a Treasury official said. "But that didn't stop them. We have to keep hustling them out of the Cash Room."
A traffic jam always brings "the law." And the silver dollar raid was no exception. Burly Treasury guards kept a nervous eye on the foray. They were on the unfriendly side.
The new interest in U.S. silver dollars apparently has rocked Western states where cartwheels are a major form of exchange in commerce. So tight are supplies of silver dollars that the Treasury is asking Congress for $1,925,000 to mint $150 million new silver dollars. Backing the proposal is Montana's delegation to Congress, including Senators Mike Mansfield and Lee Metcalf, and Representatives James. F. Battin and Arnold Olsen.
The Treasury quit minting silver dollars in 1935, after having produced 875 million. The other day the Treasury opened a new vault of silver dollars for distribution to banks and to anyone calling at the Treasury. Some of the coins have never been in circulation. Others in this vault had been out of circulation for 30, 40, or 50 years. So perhaps some of the coins have new value. For example, a dollar minted at Carson City, Nevada, might be worth $5, $10, or $100 to $200. Baughman said an [1893] San Francisco minted dollar could be worth $3,500.
Many of the collectors appearing in the Cash Room of the Treasury were reported from such spots as New York, Chicago, Denver, and other cities. A banker from Mississippi came in. Treasury officials noted many out-of-town license tags on cars toting away dollars.
Reminiscent of the old Western gold rush days, rumors of "finds" spread like wildfire. One collector standing in line said, "I heard one fellow got a whole bag-a thousand Carson Cities-yesterday. He sold 'em to a dealer for $75,000." But this was a rumor and could not be verified.
Another collector showed a reporter a silver dollar, bearing a "CC" for Carson City. "That's worth $2.50," he said. A Treasury official remarked, "Every bus that comes to town brings more collectors. This is sure hitting us hard-right when we are getting out the new Kennedy half dollars."
Every day collectors haul away $500,000 to $600,000 in silver dollars. Some will carry them home. Others, from near Washington, will return them to the Treasury the same day they buy them, after they have pored over them to determine value. The Coin Room in the Treasury receives the dollars which go back to the vaults, for later distribution.
In addition to dispensing silver dollars across the counter in Washington, the Treasury is also shipping supplies to Federal Reserve banks at Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Helena, Mont. These are the only such banks getting cartwheels. "What caused all the excitement," said one Treasury official, "is opening up a new vault. People thought maybe we had something there."
Maybe the Treasury did-but if so it won't be there long. Baughman was asked what he would do with the dollars which he did not plan to keep-obviously the bulk of his $2,000 purchase. "Well," he said, "I'll ship them to my cousin in Oklahoma. He's a banker. And he can't get silver dollars."