Part 3

If an attempt be made on the Mint he will act conformably to his secret instructions on that subject. In case of fire occurring in or near the Mint, he will ring the Alarm Bell if one has been provided, or sound the alarm with his rattle, and thus as soon as possible bring some one to him who can be dispatched to call an officer, and in other particulars will follow his secret instructions. The secret instructions given him from time to time he must be careful not to disclose. The delicate trust reposed in all persons employed in the Mint, presupposes that their character is free from all suspicion, but the director feels it his duty nevertheless, in order that none may plead ignorance on the subject, to warn them of the danger of violating so high a trust. Such a crime as the embezzlement of any of the coins struck at the Mint, or of any of the metals brought to the Mint for coinage, would be punished under the laws of Pennsylvania, by a fine and penitentiary imprisonment at hard labor. The punishment annexed to this crime by the laws of the United States, enacted for the special protection of deposits made at the Mint, is DEATH. The 19th Section of the Act of Congress, establishing the Mint, passed April 12, 1792, is in the following words: Section 19, _and_ be it further enacted, That if any of the gold or silver coins, which shall be struck or coined at the said Mint, shall be debased or made worse as to the proportion of fine gold or fine silver, therein contained, or shall be of less weight or value than the same ought to be, pursuant to the directions of this act, through the default or with the connivance of any of the officers or persons who shall be employed at said Mint, for the purpose of profit or gain, or otherwise, with a fraudulent intent, and if any of the said officers or persons shall embezzle any of the metal which shall at any time be committed to their charge, for the purpose of being coined, or any of the coins which shall be struck or coined at the said Mint, every such officer or person who shall commit any or either of the said offences, shall be deemed guilty of Felony, and shall suffer death. Printed copies of the Rules here recited are to be kept in convenient places for the inspection of the workmen, but as all may not be capable of reading them, it shall be the duty of the proper officer of the several departments, or such person as he may appoint, to read them in the hearing of the workmen, at least once a year, and especially to read them to every person newly employed in the Mint.

SAMUEL MOORE, _Director_.

Up to 1836 the work at the Mint was done entirely by hand or horse power. In that year steam was introduced. At different periods during the years 1797, 1798, 1799, 1802, and 1803, the operations of the Mint were suspended on account of the prevalence of yellow fever.

“BOND OF INDEMNITY OR AGREEMENT of Operatives to return to the service of the Mint.” Dated August, 1799.

“We, the subscribers, do hereby promise and engage to return to the service of the Mint as soon as the same shall be again opened, after the prevailing fever is over, on the penalty of twenty pounds.”

“As witness our hands this 31st day of August, 1799.

“GEORGE WATT’N, JOHN COPE, LEWIS BITTING, GEO. BOEMING, JAMES ANDERSON, JOHN SCHREINER, JOHN BIRNBAUM, GEORGE MYERS, CHARLES BENJ. K——, GEORGE BAILY, JOHN MANN, (In German) JOHANNES ——, SAML. THOMPSON, MARTIN SUMMERS.”

The above are the signatures of the parties agreeing, written on old hand-made unruled foolscap paper.

This is part of the Mint records, which has been framed for convenience and protection. It hangs in the Cabinet.

THE MINT ESTABLISHED.

The Mint was established by Act of Congress the second of April, 1792, and a few half-dimes were issued towards the close of that year. The general operations of the institution commenced in 1793. The coinage effected from the commencement of the establishment to the end of the year 1800 may be stated in round numbers at $2,534,000; the coinage of the decade ending 1810 amounted to $6,971,000, and within the ten years ending with 1820—$9,328,000. The amount within the ten years ending with 1830 is stated at $18,000,000, and the whole coinage from the commencement of the institution at $37,000,000. On the second of March, 1829, provisions were made by Congress for extending the Mint establishment, the supply of bullion for coinage having increased beyond the capacity of the existing accommodations. The Mint edifice, erected under this provision, stands on a lot purchased for the object at the northwest corner of Chestnut and Juniper streets, fronting 150 feet on Chestnut street and extending 204 feet to Penn Square, (the central and formerly the largest public square in the city). The corner-stone of the new edifice was laid on the fourth of July, 1829; the building is of marble and of the Grecian style of architecture, the roof being covered with copper. It presents on Chestnut street and Penn Square a front of 123 feet, each front being ornamented with a portico of 60 feet, containing six Ionic columns. In the centre of the structure there was formerly a court-yard (now built up) extending 85 by 84 feet, surrounded by a piazza to each story, affording an easy access to all parts of the edifice. Present officers of the Mint: Hon. Daniel M. Fox, Superintendent; William S. Steel, Coiner; Jacob B. Eckfeldt, Assayer; Patterson Du Bois, Assistant Assayer, James C. Booth, Melter and Refiner; N. B. Boyd, Assistant Melter and Refiner; Charles E. Barber, Engraver; George T. Morgan and William H. Key, Assistant Engravers; M. H. Cobb, Cashier; George W. Brown, Doorkeeper.

On July 4, 1829, Samuel Moore, then Director, laid the corner stone of the present building, located at the northwest corner of Chestnut and Juniper streets. It is of white marble, and of the Grecian style of architecture, and was finished, and commenced operations, in 1833. Subsequent to that date necessary changes in the interior arrangements, to accommodate the increase in business, have been introduced at various times, and it was made more secure as a depository for the great amount of bullion contained within its vaults, by having been rendered fire-proof in 1856.

COPY OF THE PAPER LAID IN THE CORNER STONE OF THE MINT, JULY 4, 1829.

This corner stone of the Mint of the United States of America, laid on the 4th day of July, 1829, being the fifty-third anniversary of our independence, in the presence of the Officers thereof, Members of Congress of the adjacent districts, architect, and artificers employed in the building, and a number of citizens of Philadelphia, in the which with this instrument are deposited specimens of the Coins of our Country struck in the present year. The Mint of the United States commenced operations in the year A. D., 1793, increasing constantly in utility, until its locality and convenience required extension and enlargement, which was ordered by the passage of a bill appropriating $120,000 for the erection of new and convenient buildings, to accommodate its operations, vesting the disbursement in the judgment and taste of the Director and President of the United States. In pursuance of the above bill, passed during the Presidency of John Quincy Adams, arrangements were made and designs adopted; William Strickland appointed architect; John Struthers, marble mason; Daniel Groves, bricklayer; Robert O’Neil, master carpenter, and in the first year of the Presidency of Andrew Jackson, this corner stone was placed in southeast corner of the edifice.

The names of the officers of the Mint of the United States at this time, are as follows:

DOCTOR SAMUEL MOORE, Director, ADAM ECKFELDT, Coiner, JOSEPH CLOUD, Melter and Refiner, JOSEPH RICHARDSON, Assayer, DOCTOR JAMES RUSH, Treasurer, WM. KNEASS, Engraver, GEORGE EHRENZELDER, Clerk.

MINT OF THE UNITED STATES, _Philadelphia, March 20, 1838_.

TO HON. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury.

Sir:—I had the honor to receive your letter asking my attention to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States, passed March 5, 1838, as follows:

EXTRACT FROM RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS RELATING TO MINT.

“_Resolved_, That the Secretary of the Treasury report to this House the cost of erecting the principal Mint and its branches, including buildings, fixtures, and apparatus; the salaries and expenses of the different officers; the amount expended in the purchase of bullion; the loss arising from wastage, and all other expenses; and the average length of time it requires to coin at the principal Mint all the bullion with which it can be furnished; and further, what amount of coin has been struck at the several branch mints, since their organization.”

MINT OF THE UNITED STATES, PHILADELPHIA.

The cost of the edifice, machinery, and fixtures, was $173,390 Ground, enclosure, paving, etc. 35,840 --------- Total cost of buildings, etc. $209,230 =========

This amount does not include expenditures made under special appropriations for the years 1836 and 1837, for milling and coining by steam power; and for extensive improvements in the assaying, melting, and parting rooms, and machine shops, amounting to $28,270.

It may be proper to mention that the Mint building is on the best street in the city, is of large dimensions, with the whole exterior of marble, and two Ionic porticos; and that the machinery and apparatus are of the best construction. The cost must therefore be considered as very moderate. The new Mint lately erected by the British India Government at Calcutta, cost 24 lacs of rupees, or about $1,138,000.

The Director receives per annum $3,500 Treasurer 2,000 Chief Coiner 2,000 Assayer 2,000 Melter and Refiner 2,000 Engraver 2,000 Second Engraver 1,500 Assistant Assayer 1,300 Treasurer’s Clerk 1,200 Bookkeeper 1,000 Clerk of the weighing room 1,200 Director’s Clerk 700 ------- Total for salaries $20,400 =======

No expenses are allowed, beyond the above sums, to any officer, assistant, or clerk, for the performance of his duties.

As all the gold and silver brought to the Mint is purchased at the nett Mint price, there is no expense, properly so called, incurred on this account.

R. M. PATTERSON, _Director of the Mint_.

Previous to the passage of the law by the Federal government for regulating the coins of the United States, much perplexity arose from the use of no less than four different currencies or rates, at which one species of coin was recoined, in the different parts of the Union. Thus, in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Virginia and Kentucky, the dollar was recoined at six shillings; in New York and North Carolina at eight shillings; in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland at seven shillings and six pence; in Georgia and South Carolina at four shillings and eight pence. The subject had engaged the attention of the Congress of the old confederation, and the present system of the coins is formed upon the principles laid down in their resolution of 1786, by which the denominations of money of account were required to be dollars (the dollar being the unit), dismes or tenths, cents or hundredths, and mills or thousandths of a dollar. Nothing can be more simple or convenient than this decimal subdivision. The terms are proper because they express the proportions which they are intended to designate. The dollar was wisely chosen, as it corresponded with the Spanish coin, with which we had been long familiar.

VISITING THE MINT.

The Mint, on Chestnut street near Broad, is open to the public daily, excepting Sundays and holidays, from 9 to 12 A. M. Visitors are met by the courteous ushers, who attend them through the various departments. It is estimated that over forty thousand persons have visited the institution in the course of a single year. Owing to the immense amount of the precious metals which is always in course of transition, and the watchful care necessary to a correct transaction of business, the public are necessarily excluded from some of the departments. These, however, are of but little interest to the many and are described under their proper heads. The system adopted in the Mint is so precise and the weighing so accurate, that the abstraction of the smallest particle of metal would lead to almost immediate detection.

On entering the rotunda, the offices of the Treasurer and Cashier are to the right and left. Farther in, in the hall, to the rear, on the right, is the room of the Treasurer’s clerks; a part of this was formerly used by the Adams Express Company, who transport to and from the Mint millions of dollars worth of metal, coin, etc.

THE DEPOSIT OR WEIGHING-ROOM.

[Illustration: SCALES.]

On the left is the Deposit or Weighing-room, where all the gold and silver for coining is received and first weighed. The largest weight used in this room is five hundred ounces, the smallest, is the thousandth part of an ounce. The scales are wonderfully delicate, and are examined and adjusted on alternate days. On the right of this room is one of the twelve vaults in the building. Of solid masonry, several of them are iron-lined, with double doors of the same metal and most complicated and burglar-proof locks.

[Illustration: AUTOMATIC WEIGHING SCALES.]

It is estimated that about fifteen hundred million dollars worth of gold has been received and weighed in this room; probably nine-tenths of this amount was from California, since its discovery there in the year 1848. Previous to that time the supplies of gold came principally from Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. During the past ten years considerable quantities have been received from Nova Scotia, but most of the gold that reaches the Mint, at the present time, comes from California, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Dakota, Virginia, South Carolina, and New Mexico.

Formerly the silver used by the Mint came principally from Mexico and South America, but since the discovery of the immense veins of that metal in the territories of the United States the supply is furnished from the great West.

The copper used comes principally from the mines of Lake Superior, the finest from Minnesota. The nickel is chiefly from Lancaster County, Pa.

THE DEPOSIT MELTING ROOM.

After the metal has been carefully weighed in the presence of the depositor and the proper officials, it is locked in iron boxes and taken to the melting room, where it is opened by two men, each provided with a key to one of the separate locks. There are four furnaces in this room, and the first process of melting takes place here. The gold and silver, being mixed with borax and other fluxing material, is placed in pots, melted and placed in iron moulds, and when cooled is again taken to the deposit room in bars, where it is reweighed, and a small piece cut from each lot by the Assayer. From this the fineness of the whole is ascertained, the value calculated, and the depositor paid. The metal in its rough state is then transferred to the Melter and Refiner.

OFFICE OF THE MELTER AND REFINER.

Adjoining the Deposit Melting Room are the Melter and Refiner and assistants. This is the general business office of the head of this department, and is also used for weighing the necessary quantities of the metals used in alloying coin.

THE PROCESS OF ASSAY.

The two essential things regarding every piece of metal offered in payment of any dues were, first, the weight or quantity, next, the fineness or purity of the same. The process of weighing even the baser metals used in coining must be conducted by the careful use of accurate scales, with precise notes of the results. In precious metals, gold, silver, and their high grade alloys, a very small variation in the fineness makes a great difference in the value. Nothing is more essential than the accurate determination of the weight of the sample and of the metal obtained from it. It requires keen sight and most delicate adjustment in the hand which manipulates the Lilliputian scales of an Assayer’s table. The smallest weight used in the Mint is found in the Assay Room; it is the thirteen-hundredth part of a grain, and can scarcely be seen with the naked eye, unless on a white ground. The Assay Department is strictly a technical and scientific branch of the service. It has been practically under one regime, for the last fifty years. There have been but three Chief Assayers in that time, the only removals being by death, the only appointments by promotion. Its workmen are all picked men, selected from other parts of the Mint for special fitness and good character.

THE ASSAYING ROOMS.

These are on the second floor, in the southwest corner of the building. In one of these are fires, stills, and other appliances used in the delicate and complicated process of assay, by which the specific standard of the fineness and purity of the various metals are established and declared.

ASSAYING GOLD.

The gold is melted down and stirred, by which a complete mixture is effected, so that an assay piece may be taken from any part of the bar after it is cast. The piece taken for this purpose is rolled out for the convenience of cutting. It is then taken to an assay balance (sensible to the ten-thousandth of a half gramme or less), and from it is weighed a half gramme, which is the normal assay weight for gold, being about 7.7 grains troy. This weight is stamped 1000; and all the lesser weights (afterwards brought into requisition) are decimal divisions of this weight, down to one ten-thousandth part.

Silver is next weighed out for the quartation (alloying), and as the assay piece, if standard, should contain 900-thousandths of gold, there must be three times this weight, or 2700-thousandths of silver; and this is the quantity used. The lead used for the cupellation is kept prepared in thin sheets, cut in square pieces, which should each weigh about ten times as much as the gold under assay. The lead is now rolled into the form of a hollow cone; and into this are introduced the assay gold and the quartation silver, when the lead is closed around them and pressed into a ball. The furnace having been properly heated, and the cupels placed in it and brought to the same temperature, the leaden ball, with its contents, is put into a cupel (a small cup made of burned bones, capable of absorbing base metals), the furnace closed, and the operation allowed to proceed, until all agitation is ceased to be observed in the melted metal, and its surface has become bright. This is an indication that the whole of the base metals have been converted into oxides, and absorbed by the cupel.

The cupellation being thus finished, the metal is allowed to cool slowly, and the disc or button which it forms is taken from the cupel. The button is then flattened by a hammer; is annealed by bringing it to a red heat; is laminated by passing it between the rollers; is again annealed; and is rolled loosely into a spiral or coil called a _cornet_. It is now ready for the process of quartation. This was formerly effected in a glass matrass, and that mode is still used occasionally, when there are few assays. But a great improvement, first introduced into this country by the Assayer in 1867, was the—“platinum apparatus,” invented in England. It consists of a platinum vessel in which to boil the nitric acid, which is to dissolve out the silver, and a small tray containing a set of platinum thimbles with fine slits in the bottom. In these the silver is taken out, by successive supplies of nitric acid, without any decanting as in the case of glass vessels. The cornets are also annealed in the thimbles; in fact there is no shifting from the coiling to the final weighing, which determines the fineness of the original sample by proportionate weights in thousandths. In this process extra care has to be taken in adding the proportions of silver, as the “shaking” of any one cornet, might damage the others.

ASSAYING SILVER.

The process of assaying silver differs from that of gold. To obtain the assay sample, a little of the metals is dipped from the pot and poured quickly into water, producing a granulation, from portions of which that needed for assay is taken. In the case of silver alloyed with copper there is separation, to a greater or less degree, between the two metals in the act of solidification. Thus an ingot or bar, cooled in a mould, or any single piece cut from either, though really 900-thousandths fine on the average, will show such variations, according to the place of cutting, as might exceed the limits allowed by law. But the sudden chill produced by throwing the liquid metal into water, yields a granulation of entirely homogeneous mixture that the same fineness results, whether by assaying a single granule, or part of one, or a number.

From this sample the weight of 1115 thousandths is taken; this is dissolved in a glass bottle with nitric acid. The standard solution of salt is introduced and chloride of silver is the result, which contains of the metallic silver 1000 parts; this is repeated until the addition of the salt water shows but a faint trace of chloride below the upper surface of the liquid. For instance: if three measures of the decimal solution have been used with effect, the result will show that the 1115 parts of the piece contained 1003 of pure silver; and thus the proportion of pure silver in the whole alloyed metal is ascertained. Extensive knowledge and experience are required in such matters as making the bone-ash cupels, fine proof gold and silver, testing acids, and other special examinations and operations. The Assayer must, himself, be familiar with all the operations of minting, as critical questions are naturally carried to him. The rendering of decisions upon counterfeit or suspicious coins has long been a specialty in this department. Once a year the President appoints a scientific commission to examine the coins of the preceding year. There has never yet been a Philadelphia coin found outside of the tolerance of fineness.

THE SEPARATING ROOM.

This department occupies the largest part of the west side of the building, on the second floor. Here the gold and silver used by the Mint in the manufacture of coin and fine bars are separated from each other, or whatever other metals may be mixed with them, and purified. It goes to this room after having been once melted and assayed. In separating and purifying gold, it is always necessary to add to it a certain quantity of pure silver. The whole is then immersed in nitric acid, which dissolves the silver into a liquid which looks like pure water. The acid does not dissolve the gold, but leaves it pure. The silver solution is then drawn off, leaving the gold at the bottom of the tub. It is then gathered up into pans and washed.