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Vol. 10, No. 10 October, 2011
"The Founding of the San Francisco Mint" "The First Brazilian Paper Money" Above: The first and last circulating gold sovereigns of Britain . Top left - Obverse of that of Henry VII (1485-1509) introduced in 1489/90, weighing 240-grains. Center & right - Sovereign of 1931 struck at the Perth Mint , Australia . All about actual size (The London Mint had struck none since 1925 and the later ones of George VI and Elizabeth II were for sets or bullion pieces).
The Mid-Island Coin Club, Dues: $12 per year Mailing Address: Mid-Island Coin Club, c/o West Coast Stamp & Coin, Executive Officers: President: Chris Linfitt
And the winner is: Felix Stawski for the internationally coveted Bill Potts Memorial Trophy, 2011. Congratulations and well earned. The September meeting was attended by 21 members and guests, actually a little light by our standards and since attendance has been nearly static at that level for the past three meetings, slightly disquieting. However, (even though you really can't tell this year) the balmy days of summer are presumably over and collecting more conducive to the cool, dark and damp. Bright note, though: we were pleased to note the attendance of one of our old former members from up-Island. Welcome back. Infotainment October: Our speaker this month will be our own Russ McMullen on the topic of meteorites. Unusual. Interesting. Be sure to catch it. The following should be noted long before it could possibly become a future problem: the auction. September, especially, but a trend extending over the past two or three months, has seen some fairly low returns by bid. Everyone loves a deal (me, too) but such a trend carries its own seeds of destruction. Decent stuff will not be offered there if the owner believes it will fetch less than a fair value; soon the offerings are reduced to the common and residue; then , because the auction is so much part of our meetings, there is the likelihood of a fall in attendance. The long-term result will be that there will be no deals - rather full price from dealers local and mailorder.
It's a matter of balance. No one - even the professional dealers - expects to realize full trends for submitted lots (even though one fiercely contested might realize even above that). Decent lots can reasonably expect to realize 60-80% trends; after all, most of us are not professional dealers and don't have their overhead to meet. Run-of-the-mill common or junky lots will probably bring less (although the current bullion values are distorting even these); really desirable lots, either by scarcity or condition, could well bring close to Trends or even over. If it's that desirable, the market will catch up sooner or later. Perhaps the lot is even a "sleeper" - and there are a fair number in the Canadian series.
Submitters of lots to the auction do have a couple of options to ensure that they not be unduly generous to their fellow collectors, the elite of humanity that they may be. First of all, a reasonable Reserve may be placed on the lot, ensuring that it sell for no less. Secondly, submitters may also bid on their own lots if it seems to be going the give-away route (some clubs frown on this, but I see nothing wrong in the interest of fairness).
It could be that the current rocky stock market is taking bites out of RRSPs and portfolios. Maybe. But whatever the reason, try to be as fair as a bidder as you would expect to be treated as a submitter of the lot. The warning has been given.
The Founding of the San Francisco Mint.
On two occasions, the West Coast experienced gold rushes. On both occasions, much of this Canadian metal left the country and benefited others rather than ourselves. On both occasions, it was the cause of high prices while the price of gold was depressed. On both occasions, the obvious solution was a mint; the first resulting in the short-lived New Westminster establishment and the second in the founding of the Ottawa Mint in 1908.
View of the town and harbour of San Francisco in the 1840s before the Gold Rush. A few years later, the harbour would be a forest of masts, some of ships abandoned by their crews after being stricken with "gold fever". This was not an unusual state of affairs; California experienced precisely the same circumstances during their Gold Rush in the late 1840s and early 1850s - and eventually resulted in the founding of the San Francisco Mint that began production in 1854. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in the late 1840s was followed by a frenzied influx of seekers after the new " El Dorado ". Overnight, the gold camps - and especially the closest port of San Francisco - were overrun with numbers with which they could scarcely cope. Prices for all commodities went sky high while at the same time, due to distance from the central government and less than absolute purity, gold settled at a price of only $16 per ounce - in contrast to the contemporary world price of $20.67 U.S. per Troy ounce when pure. Later, when shipments of the California gold were received at government offices, it was found that it assayed at an average of $18.25 per ounce, meaning that the original discoverers had been discounted some $2.25.
Not all seekers after gold were prospectors. Surer, steadier - and probably even more lucrative - were the returns to suppliers of goods and services. At once the local high prices were exploited by merchant entrepreneurs who sometimes realized a return by the hundreds of per cent by shipping from the industrial east; in addition, they were paid in "cheap" $16-per-ounce gold and realized yet another eighth or so on their investment. Many of these entrepreneurs were from the eastern U.S. , shipping their goods around the Horn but the British also were major players. It was the perceived gains of the latter that induced the U.S. politicians to propose the establishment of a U.S. branch mint at San Francisco so that the benefit of California gold might remain completely for that of the country as a whole.
The first mintage of California gold was in the form of 1848 $2.50 "Quarter Eagles" struck at the Philadelphia Mint with the addition of the word " CAL " counterstamped on the upper reverse. These coins were minted from the 230 ounces of gold sent to Secretary of War Marcy by Col. R.B. Mason, Military Governor of California . Only some 1,389 were coined but they are considered by many collectors to be the second com- memorative issued by the U.S.
With the arrival of the hoards of gold seekers came the buyers, many of whom set up their own assay offices and later expanded these into sorts of private mints. Californians were desperate for decent coin and quantities of eastern silver coin could readily be converted into gold at the low price of $16 per ounce. But the trip around the Horn was long and chancy, resulting in minor coin being eternally scarce. To fill the gap, many with the appropriate equipment and abilities began to produce "private coinage". There were gold quarter-, half- and one-dollar coins, most of which were reasonable copies of the regular U.S. gold coins, although the majority carried the additional word " CAL " on them. They exist with dates ranging from the early 1850s into the 1880s but how many are contemporary and how many were produced years later for the jewellery and collectors' trade is hard to determine. Until the huge jump in gold prices in the late 1970s, most collectors assigned them a quite modest value.
But above these small pieces were much larger ones, ranging up to 50-dollar coins (or more). Today we acknowledge some 15 "definites" as companies that issued their own gold coinage in California . The majority of their designs were, as usual, semi-copies of the regular U.S. gold while others used other specific designs and yet others issued what could be called stamped and assayed bullion bars.
We believe that the first of such private pieces was issued in 1849 by the firm of Norris, Gregg & Norris, consisting completely of gold Half-Eagles (i.e., $5). Although stamped " SAN FRANCISCO ", a newspaper account of May 31, 1849 describes them as having actually been minted in Benicia City . Oddly, it was not until 1902 that collectors discovered the name of the firm represented by the initials N.G.&N. on the pieces. Of special importance was the firm known as Moffat & Co. who were the largest of the California private coiners. The assay office they operated was semi-official in nature and the firm itself went through several changes. During 1849-53, they operated as Moffat & Co, issuing first of all small gold ingots that, having been assayed and weighed, were stamped with the appropriate value. Many of these were for odd amounts, one for $9.43 known and another, no longer in existence, reported to carry the value of $264, making it the largest coin (or "coin") issued in the U.S. That shown below is somewhat odd in that it is an even 1-ounce and valued at the usual $16.00, obviously manufactured to a predetermined weight and fineness.
They also issued U.S.-appearing $5 (1849, 50) and $10 (1849), the last of which had its dies cut by Albert Kuner, the same man who would sink the dies for the British Columbia $10 and $20 pieces in 1862. Moffat & Co. also supplied the bullion to the U.S. Assay Office, operated by Augustus Humbert who had minted gold $10, $20 and $50 pieces (1851-2). In 1852, Moffat & Co. dissolved and reorganized into a new company known as the United States Assay Office of Gold, composed of Curtis, Perry and Ward, issuing gold $10, $20 and $50 pieces.
Moffat & Co., Gold ingot of 20 ¾ Carat, valued at an even $16.
Another firm was Baldwin & Co, striking gold $5, $10 and $20 coins in 1850, '51 after taking over the business of F. D. Kohler, California State Assayer in 1850, and displaced by the establishment of the U.S. Assay Office on Feb. 1, 1851. Kohler issued stamped gold ingots of uneven values during his tenure.
Politics of the Founding of the San Francisco Mint. For many years, numismatists and historians have contended that the holdup in the establishing of a branch U.S. mint in San Francisco was due completely to jealousy from other sectors of the country. That is patently untrue, members of the U.S. Senate as well as Congress realizing the need early and almost universally prepared to pass such a bill. As early as December 5, 1848 , outgoing president James Polk urged such an act, as did the incoming Zachary Taylor. The problem was that the establishment bill was so widely favourable that many senators and, later, members chose to exercise that odd American parliamentary function by using it as a "hobby horse" and tacking on all sorts of amendments and "riders" for their own individual interests. So festooned, such a bill must be approved or rejected as a whole. One major amendment was that New York also be granted a mint and this was generally unacceptable to the rest of the country. States with their own branch mints such as Louisiana ( New Orleans ), Georgia (Dahlonega) and North Carolina ( Charlotte ) all saw a New York mint as a threat to their own - and even members from Pennsylvania saw such a mint someday superceding their own, the main mint at Philadelphia . But something had to be done; California gold was pouring into the eastern mints after a long, hazardous trip: $44,177 in 1848; $6,147,519 in 1849 and more than $31-million in 1850.
After much too-ing and fro-ing, the bill for the establishment of the San Francisco Mint finally received senate approval on May 29, 1850 and was sent to the House of Representatives. There it was debated through a couple of congressional sessions, at one time so loaded with amendments, substitutions and points of order in early 1851 that parliamentary procedure completely broke down, everyone in confusion. Sweeping away the entire motion, a new one was introduced in late 1851, this one only for the establishment of the mint in California . Making its way through the Ways and Means Committee, the bill began debate on June 14, 1852 . This time, most members were determined to have it remain "clean" and when Briggs ( New York ) rose to ask if he could add an amendment, he was answered with "Oh, Briggs, keep quiet!". Effective if not very parliamentary.
On June 22, 1852 the bill authorizing California 's branch mint was passed by the House and actually began production in 1854. During its first year of operation, the San Francisco Mint coined only gold in the form of dollars (14,632), $10 eagles (123,826) and $20 double eagles (141,468). As well, they struck a few $5 (268) and $2.50 pieces (246). In the next year, they expanded into silver quarters and half-dollars as well as gold $3 pieces.
The fears of the small southern mints were realized before too many years - although it was the Civil War that closed them in 1861. Neither Charlotte nor Dahlonega ever opened again but the New Orleans Mint did reopen after a number of years, finally closing for good in 1906.
Oddly, the new San Francisco Mint had problems achieving full production and was not supported by local businessmen for some years. The older privately minted gold coinage continued to be produced and circulate until nearly 1860.
It was through the exchange houses - and perhaps even the presses of the San Francisco Mint - that a large portion of British Columbia 's gold from the Cariboo Gold Rush passed, some of it returning as struck coin. This set off demands for a mint, the result being that still-born at New Westminster . Again, by 1898, much of the Klondike gold from the Yukon was again being shipped to San Francisco , setting off yet more cries for a Canadian mint, British Columbia being among the strongest boosters. Eventually, this did result in the "Royal Mint - Ottawa Branch" in 1908, actually somewhat late to take advantage of our last and greatest gold rush. But the Royal Canadian Mint remains.
San Francisco Mint, 1854 ************************************************************************
The Making of the Dies.
Up until the 1780s, the manufacture of coining dies was a time-consuming process, frequently low on quality as well. Each set of dies used to strike the coins - the "working dies" - had to be engraved individually by hand. There were shortcuts: on large or sustained coinages, it made economic sense to manufacture punches of the ruler's portrait and major reverse devices in the various needed sizes, a case of time spent being more than made up later. The die design was finished with the use of letter and number punches as well as the small details entered with the graver.
In the 1780s, a new process came along, developed in England by Matthew Boulton, owner of the Soho Mint, Birmingham , and his colleague for a short time, Jean-Pierre Droz. A set of dies was sunk just like before but this time, instead of using them to strike coins, the "master dies" (or "matrix dies") were used to raise a number of positive image "punch dies" (called "hubs" in the U.S.; "intermediate punches" in Canada and Britain); each of these hubs were then used to sink a number of the "working dies" that struck the actual coins by the tens of thousands per die set. This was the "matrix-hub-working die process" and allowed a single set of original dies to be responsible for a huge number of essentially identical coins. But within a few decades there came along another invention that allowed even the master dies to be produced in quantity - the "reducing machine". Part pantograph and part lathe, it could use a relatively large model and, by the various settings, manufacture dies in the exact size required. For such obverses as were identical in design, the same model could serve to produce primary minting tools in the various required sizes. The dies produced were positive images, called "production punches" and, in an extension of the "m.-h.-w.d process", were used to sink a number of master dies, the total mintage possible now greatly multiplied.
One great advantage of the reducing machine is that there doesn't really have to be talented engraver present at all (and the reverse of the Canadian 5-cent commemorative of 1951 was done without the services of one being used). There does have to be a "modeller", an accomplished artist/sculptor conversant in the needs of minting practices. Many times, he is second in a two-part team, the first being the designer who may submit only a drawing; it is the modeller who translates it into a three-dimensional image, usually in plaster or clay of a fair size - perhaps a foot diameter or more.
Of course, the steel stylus in the reducing machine tracing the various contours cannot do so using a soft model; there must be a hard surface. This was done by spraying the original model with a "releasing agent", placing it face up in a mould and making a casting in plaster. This negative plaster cast was then placed in an electrolytic bath and, by electrolysis, a layer of metal built up on its face, the shell becoming thicker the longer it was left in. Early on, the favourite metals for this "model shell" were copper and fine-grain iron; later on, nickel was preferred. The shell was then typically backed with lead since it has such a low melting point that the heat given off is not enough to cause warping.
Burnished and touched up, this metal-faced "primary model" copy was placed in the reducing machine and used to make the "intermediate model". This one was cut in iron or steel and was typically 3" (say 75mm) in diameter. It was required since huge reduction at times had a disquieting habit of not making "good copy" and 3" was slightly larger than the diameter of any coin likely to be struck from the resulting dies. The intermediate model, once burnished, touched up and so forth, then took the place of the primary model (that went into storage) in the reducing machine. From it, all the required "production punches" were made, whether for one or a number of denominations. The production punches sunk a number of negative "master dies"; each master die raised a number of "hubs" (or "intermediate punches"); each hub sunk a number of "working dies"; and each working die struck the actual coins by the thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands (depending on diameter, metal, quality control, etc).
The use of the reducing machine made the whole process more "mechanical" and, if not artistic, at least more accurate - and certainly faster and cheaper. From the illustration above, it seems apparent that once the necessary settings and adjustments had been made, the process was largely one of "watch and wait". It took a while to produce a finished punch from the intermediate model, especially since quality standards usually demanded it be reproduced in two or more "cuts" for added sharpness without undue stress on the machine. The reducing machine aside, there was also its much simpler cousin: the "transfer lathe". It, too, reproduced punches and dies but was preset to make diameters only at 1-to-1; very handy when a sharp hub could have a production punch copied from it (after a little cleaning up) or a new, cheap master die from another master or even a sharp working die. There were all sorts of possibilities and permutations available to the mint workers and followed through as judgment calls on an individual basis. During much of the period 1850-1950, production punches for reverses were usually made lacking the final couple of date digits. These would be added on the new master die - or dies since a lot of fairly recent Canadian and Newfoundland coins show a detectable shift. If, like the example shown below, the date was early in a century, it made sense to omit only the last two figures, allowing the other two to serve as a sort of reference point.
Left: The probable appearance of the production punch for the contemplated Canadian silver dollar of 1910. Center: Used to sink a negative die that, with the addition of the "10" became the master die as on Far Right.
As nearly everything in the real world, things were not always simple and mints had to constantly make judgments as to how to best - and most economically - realize their desired ends. For instance, past experience might indicate that a reverse master die for a given denomination could be expected to accommodate a certain number of coins - let's give it a factor of 100. If the required mintage was 80, fine; one master die but a hub or so less (and consequently that many less working dies) should work out. If the mintage was to be 175, there would be two master dies, the products of the first used completely, that of the second to a lesser extent. If we examine Canadian 10-cent pieces of 1957 under a glass, we will notice that the majority have the tops of the 5 and 7 exactly line up - but on others, this line is not straight, the 7 being a hair low. Therefore, there were at least two master dies used for this coinage. Problems arose when the needed coinage was just over a master die's capability - possibly 110 or 115. A second master die was unjustified but one of the earliest and sharpest of working dies could be reserved and used in its place for the single(?) hub and the consequent number of working dies the hub could sink. This was "double matrixing". Before acquiring its own reducing machine in 1949, the RCM was sometimes forced to use a hub (after tiddling it up appropriately) as a production punch. This "double hubbing" was probably the process used by Thomas Shingles & Crew in 1948 in the production of the Legend One cents of that year. There is also the possibility that a few reverse working dies of the various denominations with their last figures lacking were also tucked away in the event only a highly limited number of coins be struck to complete a mintage; this might explain some of the rare date-varieties of the past century such as the 1926-"Far 6" 5-cent whose total mintage of less than a million would scarcely have required a second hub, let alone master die. Obverses might be carried forward since they were the same year after year but not the reverses with their dates. Every effort was made to have the number of them on hand balance with their production need. Silver dollars of 1945-8 appear to have had their entire dates punched in at the working die stage. This was probably justifiable considering their limited mintages and low strikes-per-die (usually ranging 2,500 to 6,000 each); less understandable are the 50-cent pieces from the War years that, even with their high mintages, also appear to have had their dates stamped in at the same stage.
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The First Brazilian Paper Money.
Shown below is a draft dated at Tejuco ( District of Minas Gerais , Brazil ), 10 December 1773 to the amount of 5 Oitavas in the name of José Gomez Ferreiro. These drafts constituted the first paper money in Brazil .
The drafts were issued to pay successful diamond prospectors and circulated at face value as paper money. Unfortunately, no example of the actual drafts appears to have survived; that shown above is actually the "talon" (or recorded receipt) of the note. Since most of them (or at least those of which we're aware) were for fairly large sums, it is no small wonder that all were redeemed - and quite promptly. The above was probably one of the smaller "denominations" but even it was quite large. In the Brazilian system at the time, 1 Oitava = 32 Vintens = 1200 Reis. Since in the contemporary coinage 6400 Reis = 1 Peca = 4 Escudos, we see that the above "small"-denomination note was for nearly a large gold "Joe" - or 4 Escudo piece. (Actually, it was for 15/16ths of one). Such drafts had wide (if temporary) usage until the beginning of the 19th century when they began to lose their value. The mining of diamonds in the Minas Gerais district of Brazil ceased in 1841.
This aside, "real" Brazilian paper money - bank notes or government issues of various types - did not appear until about 1808.
Not Just in Canada .
When the officials of New France first issued promises to pay written on playing cards in 1685, they established one of the first paper money issues in the western world.
With the possible exception of some examples of the 1714 issue in French archives, none of these Canadian playing card pieces exist today (apparently). But their example was copied by the French themselves during the Revolution. The card above was issued in 1790 by the Revolutionary government and is very rare today.
It's pretty obvious printing techniques for the cards hadn't improved much in the last century or so.
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October 2011"The Founding of the San Francisco Mint" "The First Brazilian Paper Money"
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