1892 Carson City Mint letter

[RWB]

The following letter to the Carson City Mint reveals the number of dies used there in 1892. It might also offer clues to the 1900 O/CC Morgan dollars.

 

January 16, 1893

Superintendent, U.S. Mint Carson City, Nevada

Sir:

 

…I would also call your attention to what the Engraver terms the “reckless way dies are ordered” for your mint. It has been found by him that of the pairs of Double Eagle dies ordered but one pair has been used; out of ten pairs of Eagle dies but one pair has been used; of ten pairs of Half-Eagle dies but one pair has been used; and of twenty pairs of standard silver dollar dies only ten pairs have been used. During the calendar year 1892 you ordered one hundred dies. Of these sixty-three were destroyed and thirty-seven saved by the Engraver, which shows that dies were ordered in excess of your requirements.

 

This Bureau, in ordering dies to be sent to you, is governed entirely by your requisitions for the same, and in the future I have to request that you will exercise more judgment in this matter.

 

Edward O. Leech,

Director

 

[This letter is dated four days after one ordering the Carson City Mint to cease all silver dollar production at the end of January 1893. NARA RG 104, entry 235 vol. 066, pp.454-455.]

 

[CaptHenway]

Fascinating!

 

Kevin Flynn has a thread going on ATS about his Morgan dollar die variety book where we have been discussing how the Mint's die shop might have changed the leftover CC reverses to O-mint reverses.

 

TD

 

 

[DWLange]

The Carson City Mint was stripped of all coining equipment and materials in 1899, and that is when the remaining CC dies would have been shipped back to Philadelphia. Of course, the obverse dies had likely been defaced at the end of 1893, but any serviceable reverse dies were evidently repunched for use at New Orleans.

[RWB]

Any dies held at Carson when it was officially closed, would have been sent to Philadelphia right away. They were considered high security items and were supposed to be under lock at all times when not in use. Other materials were not as important and could wait final disposition of the mint property.

 

But, engraver Barber might have not wanted to destroy CC dies until he was completely sure the Carson Mint would not reopen.

 

The full Carson City Mint inventory will be found at NARA-CP, RG 104, entry 229, box 105 [11/20/1899-12/13/1899]. It occupies about 1/3 of the box. I did not see any mention of dies, but might have missed it amidst the dust and dried insect parts.

[johnny9434]

an interesting read for me for sure

[tommy44]

Very interesting, Roger. Thanks for sharing.

[DWLange]

Any dies held at Carson when it was officially closed, would have been sent to Philadelphia right away.

 

The Carson City Mint didn't close until 1933. It simply didn't receive a coining appropriation after Fiscal Year 1893, so there was no money to make coins. The mint had been something of a boondoggle all along and a political plum for . The Democratic administration of Grover Cleveland had shut down coining there in 1886-88, and Cleveland's return to office in 1893 once again suspended coining at the end of the fiscal year in June. It was not readily apparent at the time that coining would never resume, but when the McKinley Administration declined to push for it, all materials were shipped to Philadelphia in 1899.

 

Carson City continued to function as a federal assay office alone, until the Great Depression finally forced Treasury to acknowledge that it and the other western assay offices were inefficient money losers.

[DWLange]

I just noticed that some auto-correct function turned the "R" word into "spoon." I just want to clarify that, lest anyone think that it was my doing. I'm completely apolitical in such matters.

[Conder101]

Yes, I believe it used to turn both the R word and the D word into "spoon". Probably to keep down political harping, But I've noticed in this and other threads that now it just seems to affect the R word.

[CaptHenway]

Silly question. Do I understand that the Carson City Mint equipment (presses, rollers, etc.) was shipped to the Philadelphia Mint after CC was shut down for good?

 

If so, why not just ship it to San Francisco to be used as replacement equipment there?

[Raisethis2]

I got a kick out of the tone of the author. Clearly he was unhappy about the waste and expense in making numerous die sets that went unused. I wonder if such letters are written by figures in government currently? Today I think they just pontificate on the House or Senate floor and let it go at that.

[RWB]

Just to clarify -- Carson closed as a mint in 1893: it was not permitted to perform coinage functions thereafter. Secure materials such as uncancelled dies would normally have been sent to Philadelphia as soon as the halt in coinage was made official. Remaining coinage equipment was inventoried and shipped elsewhere (or scrapped) in late 1899.

 

The place functioned solely as an assay office until closed in 1933. The Roosevelt administration eventually closed all the small assay offices, which got the government out of the precious metal buying, assaying and other businesses that were better done privately.

[Conder101]

Carson City was also closed as a mint in 1885. Is there any evidence that uncancelled dies or equipment were shipped out then? Or shipped back in 1889?

[RWB]

I have not looked. Others might have.

[DWLange]

The answer is found in Rusty Goe's wonderful book, James Crawford---Master of the Mint at Carson City.

 

As in 1893, the mint was not formally closed. Instead, its employee roster was gutted of all but the key officers and watchmen needed to safeguard the bullion and coins on hand. On March 19, 1885, two weeks after Grover Cleveland's inauguration, Treasury ordered that all others be let go indefinitely. Confirming that the move was largely political, the Carson Daily Appeal reported that if activity resumed "the place will be packed with [D'crats] from cellar to garret."

 

There was no order to surrender any dies or other minting tools, but in September the new D'cratic superintendent was told to ship all remaining coins and bullion back East, its destination being the New York Assay Office. The CC Mint regained a few employees in October of 1886, when it was permitted to continue operating as an assay office alone. It didn't begin receiving deposits for coining until October, 1889, after the other party returned to power.

[RWB]

Great info! Thanks!

[CaptHenway]

Ah, parlortricks!