Sunday, March 8, 2015

JR Newsletter: 8 March 2015 (231)



The Portland ANA Show has just closed and the first of perhaps many more reports from the show has arrived with this issue of the JR Newsletter.  In addition, we have an original contribution from David Finkelstein and a request for help from a member seeking to add to his numismatic library.

First, from John Okerson:

Wanted – I need 5 issues of the John Reich Journal to complete my set.  Does anyone have Volume 4 #3, Volume 5 #3, Volume 8 #2, Volume 8 #3 and Volume 17 #1 for sale?  johnokerson(at)gmail.com

John
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David Finkelstein provided an original work, “The Bullion Journal”. 


The Bullion Journal
By David Finkelstein

The first United States Mint used a double entry General Ledger system. When metals or coins were transferred from the custody of one officer of the Mint to the custody of another officer of the Mint, one officer received a credit to his copper, silver or gold General Ledger account (or account) and the other officer received a debit to his copper, silver or gold account.  In addition, each depositor had their own account.  As multiple bullion deposits and coin returns were made, the Mint was able to keep track of the bullion-in-process amounts for each depositor.

The Mint & Coinage Act of 1792 required all Mint accounts to be balanced quarterly. Total credits (or the total value of the bullion / coins transferred into an officer’s custody) minus total debits (or the total value of the bullion / coins transferred out of an officer’s custody) better equal the total value of the bullion / coins that were still in the officer’s custody.  If not, silver and/or gold was missing, and the officer was held accountable.  In addition, the total value of the bullion / coins in the custody of all Mint officers better equal the total value of the bullion-in-process amounts for all depositors.

The Mint used two similar, but different, ledgers to maintain an audit trail for all of the above activity; the Waste Book and the Bullion Journal.  Whereas the Waste Book appears to have been a temporary ledger, the Bullion Journal was the Mint’s official ledger.  When an entry from the Waste Book was transferred to the Bullion Journal:

1.     The date of the entry was most likely when the activity was completed (whereas the date of the Waste Book entry was most likely when the activity was started).

2.     The entry reflected any corrections after the Waste Book entry was made.

3.     The entry contained the General Ledger account numbers in the left column.

Based on my analysis, I believe the total value of a Bullion Journal entry was credited to the top account number and debited from the lower account number.  See Figures 1 and 2.  The exception to this was when coins were returned to a depositor (see bullet 4 below).  Based on Bullion Journal entries, the accounting entries for converting silver bullion into money were as follows.  General Ledger account numbers are in ().

1.     After a silver bullion deposit was assayed, the value of the deposit was credited to the Treasurer of the Mint’s silver bullion account (# 5), and debited from the depositor’s account.

2.     After silver bullion was transferred from the custody of the Treasurer of the Mint to the custody of the Chief Coiner, the value of the transfer was credited to the Chief Coiner’s silver bullion account (# 16), and debited from the Treasurer of the Mint’s silver bullion account (# 5).

3.     After silver coins were transferred from the custody of the Chief Coiner to the custody of the Treasurer of the Mint, the value of the transfer was credited to the Treasurer of the Mint’s silver coin account (# 31), and debited from the Chief Coiner’s silver bullion account (# 16).

4.     After coins were returned to a depositor, the total value was credited to the depositor’s account.  The respective value of the gold, silver and/or copper coins returned was debited from the Treasurer of the Mint’s gold coin account (# 36), silver coin account (#31), or copper coin account (#28).  If the Mint charged the depositor a melting and refining fee, that amount was debited from a miscellaneous bullion profit and loss account (# 48).

The accounting entries for converting gold bullion into money were identical as above, except the following gold account numbers were used: Treasurer of the Mint’s gold bullion account (# 10), Chief Coiner’s gold bullion account (# 25), and Treasurer of the Mint’s gold coin account (# 36)

By analyzing the entries in the Bullion Journal, the Mint’s chart of accounts can be extracted.  The following is a partial chart of accounts:

Acct
Account Description

Acct
Account Description
2
Treasurer’s uncoined copper

60
David Rittenhouse (Phila)
5
Treasurer’s silver bullion

61
Charles Gilchrist (Phila)
10
Treasurer’s gold bullion

62
Bank of Maryland (MD)
13
Chief Coiner’s copper

63
Bank of the United States (Phila)
16
Chief Coiner’s silver bullion

64
Bank of North America (Phila)
25
Chief Coiner’s gold bullion

65
Moses Brown (MA)
28
Treasurer’s copper coins

66
Joseph Searight (NY)
31
Treasurer’s silver coins

67
James Fisher (Phila)
36
Treasurer’s gold coins

68
John Vaughan (Phila)
43
Misc. profit & loss on copper

69
Joseph Anthony (Phila)
48
Misc. profit & loss on bullion

70
Elliston & John Perot (Phila)

Prior to December 31, 1795, those that deposited silver and/or gold bullion with the Treasurer of the Mint, received their money from the Treasurer of the Mint.  Quantities of coins, by denomination, that were returned to each depositor, were logged in both the Waste Book and the Bullion Journal.  See Figure 2.

Beginning January 1, 1796, those that deposited silver and/or gold bullion with the Treasurer of the Mint, received their money from the Bank of the United States (5 blocks away from the Mint at Carpenters’ Hall).  Quantities of coins, by denomination, that were returned to each depositor were no longer logged in the Waste Book and Bullion Journal.  Beginning November, 1796, Director warrants were issued to transfer the silver and gold bullion to the custody of the Melter & Refiner so the bullion could be melted, refined to the standards of the United States, and made into ingots.  In each case, the chart of accounts was revised, and the entries in the Waste Book and Bullion Journal were modified to support the workflow changes.  To be continued...




Figure 1 – Bullion Journal Entries: 04-Feb-1795 to 31-Mar-1795






Figure 2 – Bullion Journal Entries: 30-Jul-1795 to 31-Jul-1795
 


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Winston Zack wrote about his experiences in Portland:

Fellow Bust Silver collectors,

I am writing this the night before I leave Portland after a wonderful ANA show. This was my first trip to the continental NW. And I was happy to visit two states I had not been to previously, Oregon and Washington.

In addition, and quite coincidentally, I had a business trip here in Portland earlier in the week and extended my stay, obviously, for the coin show. I must say, Portland is a cool town to visit and my stay here was wonderful.

First and foremost, I kicked off the two days I was at the show with a presentation to the JRCS on contemporary counterfeit Bust Dimes. Many thanks to Richard Meaney and Brad Karoleff for setting up a room only a month before the show. The meeting was attended by about 10 members, most being local northwesterners. It was great to meet members who I have only previously communicated with via email, or had not met before. My presentation was well received by all who attended, and I greatly appreciate the support. It was an even greater success because David Kahn, Jim Matthews, Gerry Fortin and Kirk Gorman supplied images and/or counterfeit examples to share with the attendees. In addition, Rich Uhrich rounded off the counterfeit coin memorabilia on display by bringing a contemporary 1815 Bust Half Dollar mold, which he has for sale. With that, many thanks for all who attended and expressed interest in the subject. This presentation will be followed-up by an article in the John Reich Journal, and hopefully more presentations in the future!

Now, for the show! There were plenty of amazing, rare, attractive, cool coins to see and buy. Bourse traffic was relatively modest, but picked up quite a bit on Saturday. I ended up striking out on pieces I was looking for, but instead had a fun time talking with collectors and dealers. That said, on Saturday I found a poor, old 1830's dated Bust Half (ex. jewelry) and turned it into a rolled coin with the Portland ANA design stamped on the obverse (see photos below).  I know some collectors will be upset with what I did, but there wasn't much else going for this coin, and now it's a cool novelty!

All the best from the West,
Winston






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Finally, a note from the editor:  I plan to write something next week about my experience at the Portland ANA.  I'm a bit too travel weary today to do much more than cobble together this week's newsletter and send it off to interested readers worldwide.  I commend the dealers and others who travel to coin shows week after week, year-round.  I don't know how you do it!

Richard