Available Now in PDF – Spring 2013 issue of Journal of Numismatic Research.

[RWB]

The Winter 2012 Issue is 135 pages of detailed articles and rarely seen illustrations covering the work of Benjamin Franklin Peale.

 

Titled Benjamin Franklin Peale – Inventions and Innovations for the United States Mint, 1835 to 1852, this magnificent research edition describes and illustrates every improvement and invention made by Peale for the U.S. Mint. Peale’s inventions turned the Mint from a backwater mint barely hobbling along, into the best, most modern and most economical national mint in the world.

 

From his well known coinage press, to blank cutters, furnaces, electrotyping, die manufacturer, balances, hiring female employees, rolling mills, upsetting machines, coin counters - the list goes on and on, Franklin Peale literally reinvented the US Mint's equipment and operation.

 

Look for a notice of publication next month, or send me a PM if you have questions.

 

[DaveG]

I can hardly wait!

 

Is there any discussion of the southern branch mints?

[AstroTrain]

I think I might have to get my hands on that!

[RWB]

Is there any discussion of the southern branch mints?

 

Nope. It's about Peale's inventions. Investigation into the development of the three southern mints would be an entire book of politics, horse trades, corruption and perseverance. However, without Peale's work, none of the southern mints could have functioned.

 

PS: Peale did not see the need for more than two mints: Philadelphia and San Francisco. That is mentioned in the final section covering his opinions and suggestions for coinage.

 

[RWB]

JNR – Winter 2012 Contents

 

PAGE 9

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PEALE – INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE UNITED STATES MINT, 1835 TO 1852

by Roger W. Burdette

 

During Franklin Peale’s employment at the U.S. Mint from 1833 to 1854, he invented machinery and improved processes. These changes moved the mint from an outdated backwater, into the forefront of international coinage technology. This issue of JNR presents the first comprehensive review of Peale’s important contributions to the economic growth of the United States.

 

PAGE 13

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF MAKING WORKING DIES AND REDUCTIONS – 1835

 

PAGE 23

IMPROVEMENTS IN ASSAYING AND PARTING SILVER, AND RECOVERING PRECIOUS METALS FROM WASTE WATER – 1835

 

PAGE 27

INVENTION OF A TOGGLE-JOINT COINAGE PRESS – 1835

 

PAGE 38

IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING, DRAWING AND ANNEALING – 1835-1836

 

PAGE 47

INVENTION OF THE ECCENTRIC DRIVE BLANK CUTTING PRESS – 1836

 

PAGE 55

INVENTION OF THE UPSETTING MACHINE – 1836

 

PAGE 61

IMPROVEMENTS OF THE PILING BOX AND COIN COUNTING BOARD – 1837 AND 1839

 

PAGE 69

DESIGN FOR A STEAM ENGINE – 1839

 

PAGE 89

IMPROVEMENT OF BALANCES – 1835-1847

 

PAGE 101

IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTROTYPING FROM MODELS OF METAL, WAX AND PLASTER – 1840

 

PAGE 105

HIRING OF WOMEN TO ADJUST PLANCHETS AND OPERATE PRESSES – 1850

 

PAGE 113

DESIGN FOR A STEEPLE ENGINE – 1851

 

PAGE 119

OPINIONS AND COMMENTS ON COINAGE AND

MINT OPERATIONS 1855, 1870

 

PAGE 128

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 

 

 

[johnny9434]

sounds like a real good read here .

[Conder101]

After reading the table of contents all I can say is WOW!

[RWB]

Update --

 

The Spring 2013 issue of Journal of Numismatic Research (JNR) is available in Adobe Acrobat electronic form beginning today, February 27, 2013. A printed version for retail sale will be available in about thirty days. The 135 page soft-cover edition has a cover price of $20, and is available from Wizard Coin Supply, www.wizardcoinsupply.com.

 

This issue is devoted to the inventions and innovations of Franklin Peale for the U.S. Mint.

 

I released the electronic version early so release would not be delayed by printing. It should be on Wizard's site very soon.

[Conder101]

Thanks for the update, keeping an eye on the website!

[RWB]

Franklin Peale redesigned the US Mint's technology and with that, its operations, also. He applied what we now call "system engineering" to the production of coins and medals.

 

The engineers and scientists out there will find Peale's vision and approach both obvious and comforting. His consistent application of basic mechanical principles - many tested during his exposure to the Baldwin's locomotive works - shows the diverse thinking characteristic of the mid-American Industrial Revolution.

 

[RWB]

To Mark (posting on PCGS) -

 

The PDF version is sold separately in response to collectors who said they didn't want a printed edition. For JNR, the present plan is to keep the 2-tier electronic/paper approach in an attempt to serve both markets. I considered bundling a CD with each issue, but that creates another set of problems and costs.

 

However, the From Mine to Mint book will come bundled with a CD containing a medium resolution version (searchable but cannot be printed or edited) and a low resolution (72dpi) version for use on portable text devices. The searchable file avoids a paper index, which would have been huge and still not complete. This way, anyone can search for any word or phrase they like. Also, in the book I've tried to include alternate names/spellings for coin manufacturing terms so that more people can find what they want. (Usually, the alternate names are limited to British English, French and German.)

 

[DaveG]

Well, frankly I have to say I'm a mite disappointed.

 

Usually Roger's bibliographies are a fertile source of plunder for me, but this one only yielded one article that I wanted (plus a couple I couldn't find on the Internet).

 

At least now I know how many coin presses the Philadelphia Mint had in 1854.

 

(Yay - another moderately obscure footnote for a future article!)

 

Also, I can see that I really have to get a copy of Early Engineering Reminiscences of George Escol Sellers.

 

(On a more positive note, the bibliography and footnotes of From Mine to Mint are so awesome that I'll be busy for years!)

 

Oh, by the way, having so far skimmed a couple of the articles, I can say that this is another superlative publication - Peale's influence was enormous and the illustrations are truly impressive (some are well known, but many were quite obscure).

 

Another outstanding addition to my numismatic library!

[RWB]

Dave’s bibliographic observation is on the nose. (Sorry to disappoint on the JNR bibliography.)

 

Many of the bibliographic entries in the Spring JNR are the same as in From Mine to Mint, so there are fewer that are unique to JNR. For most readers of JNR, the references will be "new to them." But for owners of From Mine to Mint many will be duplicate.

 

The research was conducted in parallel so there was a bit of cross-pollination. I described some of Peale's influences in From Mine to Mint, but on a more general level. One of the purposes of the Spring JNR issue was to expand the content and put all of the Peale material in one place. This greatly increased the impact of his contributions and makes me wonder why Congress refused his request for a paltry $10,000 for all his extra work.

 

PS: Early Engineering Reminiscences of George Escol Sellers is interesting but contains many inaccuracies. Sellers published this as a series of articles many years after the events, and his recollections are not entirely reliable.

 

[RWB]

With regard to George Sellers - the portions dealing with Mint steam engines and the work of Oliver Evans and various engineers have been corrected in From Mine to Mint. Corrections came from multiple sources incuding a contemporary survey of steam engines prepared for Congress.

 

Sellers was writing in the American Machinist in the mid-1880s.

 

A reference to read in parallel is Greville Bathe and Dorothy Bathe, Oliver Evans, A Chronicle of Early American Engineering. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1935. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1972; Salem, NH: Ayer, 1984.