Q. David Bowers
Distribution of Silver Dollars
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1892, told of the number of silver dollars being held at the mints:
In mints July 1, 1891: Philadelphia 51,163,675; San Francisco 36,362,220; New Orleans, 10,884,500; Carson, 2,880,360; total 101,290,755.
Coinage of the fiscal year: Philadelphia, 1,602,851; San Francisco" 876,000; New Orleans, 4,458,616; Carson, 1,392,000; Total, 8,329,467.
In mints July 1,1892: Philadelphia, 50,083,000; San Francisco, 36,301,366; New Orleans, 9,701,300; Carson,4,126,636; total, 100,212,302.
Distributed: Philadelphia, 2,683,526; San Francisco, 936,854; New Orleans, 5,641,816; Carson, 145,724; total, 9,407,920.
Silver Dollars in Circulation
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1892, gave this information: On July 1, 1892 it was estimated that 357,171,273 silver dollars were owned by the Treasury Department, 7,466,596 were in national banks (as of July 12, 1892), and 49,350,866 were in general circulation and in other banks for a total of 413,988,935 silver dollars. Further:
"The number of silver dollars in actual circulation, that is, outside of the Treasury, on July 1, 1892, was 56,817,462, against 58,826,179 at the commencement of the fiscal year, showing that the number of silver dollars in bodily circulation fell off during the last fiscal year $2,008,717, notwithstanding the fact that the government stands ready to ship such coins, free of expense, to any person in the United States depositing lawful money for the same.
"The number of silver dollars owned by the Treasury on July 1, 1892, was 39,308,448, against an ownership of 39,597,123 at the commencement of the year, showing that the number of these dollars owned by the government was reduced $288,675 during the year."
Cost of Producing Silver Dollars
The costs of producing coins, not including minor coins, at each mint in fiscal year 1892, per the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1892: Philadelphia $0.0146+; San Francisco, $0.029+; New Orleans, $0.0118-; Carson, $0.0764+. Further:
"It is exceedingly gratifying to report that the cost per piece of coinage executed was reducing during the last fiscal year from an average of nearly one cent to an average of eight-tenths of one cent, while the cost per piece, exclusive of minor coins struck, was reduced from about two cents in 1891 to one and eight-tenths in 1892.
"The economy, however, is more marked when the cost of coinage is compared with the year 1890, when the average cost of coinage executed exceeded one cent per piece, or, excluding minor coins, two and one-half cents a piece.
"The percentage of good coins produced from ingots operated upon for the fiscal year 1892-silver ingots-was as follows: Philadelphia 52.3%, San Francisco 47%, New Orleans 49.1 %; Carson 54.1 %, showing that Carson City had the most efficient conversion of ingots to coins. This percentage figure is calculated by determining the weight of the ingots in relation to the weight of the finished coins received. There is wastage in the preparation of strips, cutting out planchets from the strips, etc., accounting for the difference."
Silver-Producing States
The production of silver for the calendar year 1892 was estimated by the Director of the Mint and published the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1893:
Fine ounces: Alaska 8,000, California 360,000, Colorado 24 million, Georgia 400, Idaho 3.2 million, Michigan 60,000, Montana 17 million, Nevada 2.2 million, New Mexico 1.1 million, Oregon 50,000, South Carolina 400, South Dakota 60,000, Texas 310,000, Utah, 8 million, Virginia 1,000, Washington 150,000.
The Year 1892 in History
Grover Cleveland, running on the Democratic ticket, captured the White House, with Adlai E. Stevenson as his running mate. President Benjamin Harrison, the incumbent, lost because of widespread dissatisfaction with the economy, and, in particular, the perceived ill effects of the McKinley Tariff Act, which diminished exports of agricultural products.
Under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, the Standard Oil Trust was made illegal, but soon thereafter a new company, Standard Oil of New Jersey, chartered under liberal state laws, assumed control, and the "Oil Trust" continued business as usual. The Homestead, Pennsylvania plant of the Carnegie Steel Company was the site of a bitter strike and conflict between the management and a union, a battle took place, and over a dozen people were killed.
In Chicago, William Wrigley, Jr. began selling chewing gum. Electrical genius Nikola Tesla developed the first practical alternating current motor. Financier J. Pierpont Morgan arranged the formation of the General Electric Company by combining certain interests, including one of Thomas Edison's companies. Morgan was the foremost deal maker of his era, and later would create U.S. Steel, among other mergers. The Ingersoll "dollar watch" was introduced and aggressively marketed by mail order. Buying things through the mail was becoming increasingly popular, and anything from whiskey to parlor organs could be purchased this way. John Muir established the Sierra Club to protect the wilderness.
Charles K. Harris' popular song, After the Ball Is Over, was published. Harris wrote other songs and at one time was in the film business, but today he is known for his 1892 hit. Budding architect Frank Lloyd Wright drew up the plans for Charnley House, in Chicago, the first of many houses he would design. Astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard was the first to observe the fifth moon of Jupiter; the four largest moons had been known since the time of Galileo.
The immigration facility on Ellis Island in New York Harbor was opened on January 1,1892. For the next 60 years, 20 million immigrants would come through the "Golden Door" there. In Italy, the minimum age for marriage was raised to 12 years.
The World's Columbian Exposition, scheduled to open in Chicago in 1892 to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in America, was delayed until 1893 (although a ceremony took place in 1892). The first United States commemorative half dollar, the 1892 Columbian, made its appearance, followed the next year by an issue dated 1893 and by the 1893 Isabella quarter dollar. New designs for the circulating dime, quarter, and half dollar, by Charles E. Barber, continued in use until 1915-6. After having been used since 1836, the Liberty Seated design was now no longer seen on new American coinage.
This was the centennial year of the Philadelphia Mint, but the main recognition of this seems to have been the "Centennial Edition" of George G. Evans's Illustrated History of the U.S. Mint.