Guide to the Numismatic Collection of the Mint of the United States At
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Class lL t&_ Book fPsS -•- < a. I Q < Zh- < h- co Q HI H Z GUIDE TO THE NUMISMATIC COLLECTION OF THE MINT OF THE UNITED STATES AT PHILADELPHIA, PA. (SIGIL. THES. AMER. SEPTEN.) , he WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1913 Treasury Department, Document No. 2677. Director of the Mint. 0, OF D, AUG 23 1913 Treasury Department, Office of Director of the Mint, Washington, January 28, 1913. The honorable the Secretary of the Treasury. Sir: The need has long been felt of a small descriptive guide book which could be sold to visitors to the Numismatic Collection in the Philadelphia Mint. A year ago a complete catalogue of the collec- tion, a book of 600 pages, was published, which sells at $1, and public interest in it has justified the publication. This, however, does not fully satisfy the want. There are thousands of visitors annually who would be served and instructed by a small pamphlet that might be sold for much less than the price of the catalogue, and the usefulness of the collection would be greatly enhanced thereby. The copy for such a pamphlet has been prepared by the curator, Mr. T. L. Com- parette, and is now submitted with the recommendation that an edition be printed and offered for sale at the Mint and through the Superintendent of Documents at Washington. Respectfully, Geo. E. Roberts, Director of the Mint. Approved: Franklin MacVeagh, Secretary of the Treasury. (3) QI ^ w p55 ^ m FLOOR PLAN ** °4 < -»*> ^ N —: : CONTENTS. Page. General information concerning coinage of the United States. 7 Brief history of coinage 8 Antique coins: Greek 16 Roman 20 Mediaeval and modern Europe: British Isles 31 France 34 Italy 36 Portugal 40 Spain 41 Germany Princely houses and kingdoms 42 Cities 50 Archbishops and bishops 53 Prussia 55 German Empire 55 Austrian archduchies 56 Roman-German emperors 56 Austria-Hungary 57 Bohemia 57 Hungary 58 Scandinavian countries 59 Netherlands 60 Switzerland 61 Russia 62 Finland 63 Poland 63 Africa: Independent States 65 European colonies 65 North America United States of America 66 Canada 75 Mexico 75 Central America Under Spain 79 Costa Rica 79 Guatemala 80 Honduras 81 Nicaragua 81 Salvador 81 British Honduras 81 Panama. 81 (5) 6 South America: Page. Spanish, viceroyalties 82 Argentina .-'. 83 Bolivia 84 Chile 86 Colombia 87 Ecuador 88 Paraguay 89 Peru 89 Uruguay 89 Venezuela 91 British Guiana 92 French Guiana 92 Brazil 92 West Indies 95 Oriental countries 99 Medals 102 Wall cases 104 Wall paintings 104 Appendix 105 GENERAL INFORMATION CONCERNING COINAGE OF THE UNITED STATES. Mints of the United States.—An act of Congress of April 6, 1792, provided for a mint. David Rittenhouse, a well-known scientist and engineer, was made director and proceeded to build and equip one. This first mint building was erected on Seventh Street near Arch Street, Philadelphia, and so expeditiously was the construc- tion carried on that trial pieces of proposed coins were produced in November of that year. President Washington in a report to Con- gress refers to half-dismes (dimes) that had been struck. By 1829 the Seventh Street mint had become inadequate and perhaps too simple a structure for the growing Nation, and a second mint building was erected on Penn Square, Juniper and Chestnut Streets. It was occupied in 1833, and for the times was an imposing marble structure of the Greco-Roman style of architecture. Six noble columns that adorned one of the facades of the building now stand at the entrance to the grounds of the Jewish Hospital on Old York Road. The pres- ent mint, a large granite building standing on Spring Garden Street between Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets, was occupied in 1901. From time to time the convenience of gold and silver producing regions have necessitated the establishment of other mints at different cities and a much larger number of assay offices, of which there was but one, and that at the mint, in the earlier history of the coinage. Following are the mints of the country, the marks by which their respective coins are distinguished, and also the dates of organization and, in some cases, of their suspension: Philadelphia (no mint mark) 1792 New Orleans (mint mark 0) 1838 Suspended 1861 Reopened 1879 Coinage discontinued 1910 Charlotte, N. C. (mintmarkC) 1838-1861 Dahlonega, Ga. (mint mark D) 1838-1861 (The last two coined gold only.) San Francisco (mint mark S) 1854 Carson City, Nev. (mint mark CC) 1870-1893 Denver, Colo, (mint mark D) 1906 The assay offices receive gold bullion, determine its value, pay for it, and ship it to the mints. Their operations are similar to those of the mints, except that they do no coinage. The offices at New Orleans and Carson City were established as mints, but no longer do (7) 8 coinage. Following is a list of assay offices and date of acts under which they were established: Boise, Idaho, February 19, 1869. New Orleans, La., March 3, 1835. Carson City, Nev., March 3, 1863. New York City, March 3, 1853. Charlotte, N. C, March 3, 1835. Salt Lake City, Utah, May 30, Deadwood, S. Dak., February 19, 1908. 1897. Seattle, Wash., May 21, 1898. Helena, Mont., May 12, 1847. Coinage regulations.—Gold coinage is without restriction. The Government will buy all of the gold bullion tendered at the offices of the mint service and pay its coinage value. The subsidiary silver, nickel, and bronze coins are of limited legal tender, and are issued and redeemed at any office of the Treasury to meet the public demands. The question is often asked how the coinage of the mints gets into circulation. As all gold bullion is paid for at its full coinage value the act of purchase puts an equal amount of gold coin or gold certifi- cates into circulation. The small coins are issued in exchange for the larger denominations of money and usually reach the public through the banks, which order them to meet the wants of their customers. Seigniorage is the difference between the face value of a coin and the cost value of the metal it contains. The United States realizes a large sum each year in seigniorage upon the silver and minor coins, but nothing from the gold coins. Gold bullion, which requires treat- ment to fit it for coinage, is subject to charges sufficient to cover the necessary costs. Gold bullion is purchased at the rate of $20.671834625 per Troy ounce fine. The seigniorage realized by the Treasury upon silver and minor coins during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, was as follows: On the half-dollars, quarter-dollars, dimes $4, 567, 823. 96 On the 5-cent and 1-cent pieces 1, 882, 057. 86 Total 6,449,881.82 Proof coins.—A proof coin is struck by hand on a hydraulic press. The price per set of gold proof coin is $38.50; the proof set of sub- sidiary silver and minor coin, $1.20; the proof set of minor coins, 15 cents. Medals.—A list of medals sold at the mint, with prices, will be supplied upon request. Medals of the Presidents are sold at $1 each. If ordered by mail return postage and registry fee should be added. No premiums.—The Government has never called in any of its coins at a premium. Paper money.—The paper currency is printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington, D. C. Catalogue.—A complete catalogue of the mint collection of coins and medals is sold at $1 per copy. 9 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF COINS. The invention of coins in the Occident took place not far from 700 B. C. The somewhat untrustworthy Chinese chronology claims a much earlier date for the first use of coins in the Orient, and the claim may be correct; but as yet no such reliable data for the origin of oriental coinage has come to light as we have for the beginning of coinage in Asia Minor and at iEgina, in Europe, in both of which places literary tradition is fairly well corroborated by existing monuments. The coin was the result of a gradual evolution from (1) the unmarked lumps of gold and silver that were passed by weight in buying and selling, through (2) stamped ingots of varying size and weight and value, to (3) small ingots of uniform weight and similar shape, provided with the signet of a recognized responsible authority whether private or public. This last form of the ingot was ovoid, or bean shaped, and is recognized as the beginning of coined money. This development of the coin came about gradually in all the corn- Gold stater of Lydia/ time of Croesus, B. C. 568-554. mercial countries around the Mediterranean Sea, but tradition, in fact two rival traditions have given priority, the one to the electrum coinage of Lydia, the other to the silver coins issued at iEgina by Phsedon, King of Argos. The electrum, in which the Lydian coins were struck, was a natural mixture of gold and silver in proportions so varying that the value of the coins was always in doubt. For this reason countermarks are of frequent occurrence on extant specimens of the earliest coins, these countermarks being the private marks of well-known merchants or other business firms, who thus guaranteed the genuineness of the" piece. Herodotus tells us that "the Lydians were the first people to make gold and silver coin"; that is, coins of gold and silver separately; and this separation of the two metals may with reason be attributed to the financial genius of the famed Croesus, King of Lydia, B.