RWB

Here's an example of a fractional currency shield. Quote from a Heritage auction: "Fractional Currency Shields were produced to be used in banks and post offices for the purpose of counterfeit detection. They were manufactured between June, 1866 and May, 1869 and are composed of 39 First, Second, and Third Issue uniface Specimen notes affixed to a pre-printed large piece of cardboard. As notes were taken in on deposit, they could be compared to the BEP Printed Specimens, which were true to size, and printed from the same plates as the circulation issues. The presentation satisfied the goal of intercepting counterfeits, and served as art in bank lobbies and offices. The form and function of these pieces is not lost on collectors, who simply love them." Auction prices are in the $4,000 to $6,000 range for nice examples of common background colors. Rare colors can bring multiples. See Robert Friedberg's Paper Money of the United States.

Yep. Thought I'd keep the title short. By 1872 sales were up to $20,000.

Repairs to coining equip -- 4 to 6 weeks. Lots of letters on this subject. (In summary, Linderman found a mess when he took over from Millward.)

The following clip from the Treasurer's report for 1870 will be of interest to those collecting fractional currency shields sold to banks in the 1860s-70s. The shields were used to help identify counterfeit currency.

You know when you have completed revisions when your keyboard becomes sticky with coagulated blood from your bleeding fingers.

I generally prefer waffles....

The U.S. Mint neither inspires the best, demands the best, nor rewards the best.

Small bars were made to be used, not stored. So...they were used and very few survive. hence the unusual demand.

I recall seeing something abut a century ago where some of the descendants were traced...but not certain.

Extracts from NARA data files.

Very informative! Thanks!

No. Approx 1,000 was the number inherited by Pierce and his brother. Only Pierce's were sold. Some also remained on the plantation due to infirmity, illness or childbirth. The Butler plantations were, according to his ex-wife, as efficient as others, but Butler spent and borrowed much more than his income. Most of the auction proceeds paid creditors. Read the source materials for a more comprehensive picture of the 1859 auction and of the rice plantation in 1838.

Nice historical quote!

They were not really custom made. Small bars were poured from nearly empty crucibles so that there was less waste to remelt. This was common for gold and silver, but usually 5 oz or more. Little different than private refinery bars....but cheaper to purchase for merchants.

WARNING! This post contains language which is historically accurate but which some might find offensive today. Pierce M. Butler, along with brother John, inherited a large Georgia rice plantation from their grandfather in 1822. This included 10,000 acres of rice and cotton land and almost 1,000 slaves. Pierce lived in Philadelphia leaving the plantation management to others. Between 1822 and 1856 he squandered about $700,000 plus his income from the plantations, and creditors began forced sale of his assets. In 1858 he was selected by the President to serve on the government’s Annual Assay Commission at the Philadelphia Mint and was present for the coinage trials. In March 1859 creditors brought to sale all of the slaves and these were sold over a two day period at a race track near Savannah, GA. After the sale, in appreciation of their work and devotion to him, Pierce M. Butler personally presented – in his gloved hand, of course – each freshly sold slave four new quarter dollars – one dollar in silver, total. These coins had been procured fresh from the Philadelphia Mint and sat in two canvas bags of $500 each on a table next to the former owner. As author Mortimer Thomson (aka “Q. K. Philander Doesticks”) wrote in his 1859 description of the sale in Savannah, Georgia: "Leaving the [Ten Broeck] Race [Course] buildings, where the scenes we have described took place, a crowd of negroes were seen gathered eagerly about a white man. That man was Pierce M. Butler, of the free City of Philadelphia, who was solacing the wounded hearts of the people he had sold from their firesides and their homes, by doling out to them small change at the rate of a dollar a head. To every negro he had sold, who presented his claim for the paltry pittance, he gave the munificent stipend of one whole dollar, in specie; he being provided with two canvas bags of 25 cent pieces, fresh from the mint, to give an additional glitter to his generosity." Thus, the ignoble gentleman, took in $303,850 for flesh, and paid out to the same 436 chattel the generous sum of $436. [NOTE: The quotation is from 1859 and entirely routine for that era. I was unable to learn when Butler acquired the bags of quarters or if they were bought direct from the Mint or a Philadelphia Bank.] Sources: Thompson, Mortimer, “What became of the slaves on a Georgia plantation? : Great auction sale of slaves, at Savannah, Georgia, March 2nd & 3rd 1859. A sequel to Mrs. Kemble's journal.” 1863. Originally published in the New York Daily Tribune, March 9, 1859, p.5, as “American civilization Illustrated. A Great Slave Auction.” Kemble, Frances Anne. Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1863. (Frances Kemble was the former wife of Pierce M. Butler.) Library of Congress. National Archives and Records Administration.

Skip #7; that could damage an authentic coin. #9 is not a definitive test. A genuine US coin will (nearly always) have the reverse upside down when the obverse is right-side up. (The New Hampshire "innovation" quarter has the reverse intentionally oriented at 45-degrees.) Why not buy a coin that has already been authenticated by NGC, PCGS or ANACS?

The Mints routinely made precious metal bars from 1857 forward. These were sold to dental fabricators, silversmiths and other trades who wanted small quantities of metal of known purity. To be accurate these are NOT Ingots - they are "fine metal bars." (An "ingot" is a specific dimension metal bar once used to roll out strips for cutting blanks.)

EPU should be prominent on the obverse, not some silly religious screed.

Your fake is worth nothing. It is an amusement -- a souvenir -- a common rip-off -- a lie in cheap pot metal.

This is the only thing found during a quick search.

Interesting the absence of innovation in the "innovation" coin series.

Read the articles.

Top post -- counterfeit. Waste of staples. Another good reason to put counterfeit makers in jail and confiscate their tools of fraud. This particular fake has been around for nearly 2 centuries. but the Chinese and Colorado fakes are working their way into every sort of sales and scamming venue.

A badger discovered the hoard while searching for food. He brought about 90 of the coins to the surface near a cave entrance where they were found by local resident Roberto Garcia. “El tesorillo tardorromano de la cueva de La Cuesta de Berció (Grado, Asturias). Primeras valoraciones en su contexto cantábrico” [“The Late Roman hoard of La Cuesta cave in Berció (Grado, Asturias). First evaluations from its Cantabrian location”] Published in CUADERNOS de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Members can download the article (in Spanish) from: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/badger-discovers-roman-coins-2058585 An article in English can be found at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/badger-discovers-roman-coins-2058585

I have no connection with the CPG except for supplying a couple of varieties among DE.