We have another excellent issue of the JR Newsletter. Steve Crain starts us off.
Steve Crain wrote:
Half Dime Census:
Your Half dime
census information is now being solicited for inclusion in the July pre-ANA
issue of the John Reich Journal.
Please email your complete inventory listing (including all
duplicates and die states) of all your 1792, Draped Bust, Flowing Hair and
Capped Bust half dimes to:
Stephen Crain at: mrhalfdime(at)aol.com
Or mail hard copies to:
Stephen A. Crain
P. O. Box 1680
Windham, ME
04062
Please include all of
your cud examples as well, as we are responding to collector demand to
include this information.
Please respond before
May 15, 2015 to ensure
inclusion of your collection in this census. This is a hard cut-off date –
no exceptions. The completed census
must appear in the pre-ANA John Reich
Journal.
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Regarding the Mohawk Valley Hoard, Bryce Brown wrote:
In case anyone asks more about the "Mohawk Valley
Hoard", a good number of the coins were sold in the Coin Galleries auction
sale of 3/11/2009.
Best regards,
Bryce
Best regards,
Bryce
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David Finkelstein shared his latest research piece,
"Treasurer of the Mint Receipts For Copper Coins."
Treasurer of the Mint
Receipts For Copper Coins
By David Finkelstein
Audit
trails of the silver and gold coins that were transferred from the custody of
the Chief Coiner to the custody of the Treasurer of the Mint were logged in
three Mint ledgers; the Waste Book, the
Bullion Journal, and the Gold Account Book.
Although the Silver Account Book has never been located within the Mint
holdings at the National Archives and Records Administration, researchers have
assumed that this 4th ledger existed and contained audit trails of
the silver coin deliveries.
Audit
trails of the copper coins that were transferred from the custody of the Chief
Coiner to the custody of the Treasurer of the Mint were also logged in three
Mint ledgers; the Waste Book, the Bullion Journal, and the Copper Account
Book. Although copper coinage production
began in 1793, copper coin deliveries were not logged in these three ledgers
until Q1 1796.
The
Mint utilized a fourth ledger that logged the copper coins that were
transferred from the custody of the Chief Coiner to the custody of the
Treasurer of the Mint. This ledger began
with the first copper coin delivery dated March 1,
1793
and is titled “The Treasurer of the Mint Receipts For Copper Coins” (or
TRCC). See Figure 1. Each entry was written and signed by either
the Treasurer of the Mint (see Figure 2) or the Treasurer’s Clerk (see Figure 3).
Copper
delivery warrants were issued, as required, by the Director of the Mint. Beginning in 1796, each warrant was logged in
the Waste Book, Bullion Journal and Copper Account Book. The copper coin deliveries in these three
ledgers match each other. Copper coin
deliveries entered in the TRCC were done differently than in the three
previously mentioned ledgers. When an
entry was made in the TRCC, it was usually for all copper deliveries that
occurred during the respective quarter.
For example: per Figure 4, copper delivery warrant 3 was dated October
14, 1796
and was for 1,390 Half Cents and 16,675 Cents.
Copper delivery warrant 4 was also dated October
14, 1796
and was for 346,700 Cents. Although
there were two entries in the Copper Account Book (as well as the Waste Book
and Bullion Journal) because there were two separate delivery warrants issued,
there was only one entry in the TRCC.
Per Figure 3, the totals for copper delivery warrants 3 and 4 were
entered in the TRCC on December 31, 1796 as “received from Henry Voigt Chief
Coiner of the Mint in the quarter ending this day”: 1,390 Half Cents and
363,375 Cents.
Entries
in the TRCC provide handwriting examples of Treasurer of the Mint Tristram
Dalton, Dr. Nicholas Way, and Dr. Benjamin Rush,
as well as Treasurer Clerk Isaac Childs, Nathan Thomas, and George
Ehrenzeller. Combined with the Mint
payroll records for the officers and clerks, it may be possible to identify who
made the entries in the Waste Book, Bullion Journal, Copper Account Book, Gold
Account Book, and by deduction, the Silver Account Book.
To
be continued…
Figure 1 – The Treasurer
of the Mint Receipts for Copper Coins
Figure 2 – 1-Mar-1793 & 2-Mar-1793 TRCC Entries
Made by Treasurer of the
Mint Tristram Dalton
Figure 3 – 31-Dec-1796 TRCC Entry Made by Treasurer’s Clerk
Nathan Thomas on Behalf
of Treasurer of the Mint Dr. Nicholas Way
Figure
4 – Copper Account Book – Q4 1796
