Did the Denver Assay Office ever have real coin presses? 0

[RWB]

The accompanying note is attached to an otherwise nondescript New Orleans Mint report on the sources of bullion. The language clearly indicates that during FY 1900, New Orleans acquired "one coining press from Denver" - a place that never made a U.S. coin and had no functional coinage presses. (The had some leftover junk from Clark, Gruber & Co.]

Thoughts? Ideas? Rumors? Roomers? B&B?

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by RWB

[kbbpll]

Had to be a Clark, Gruber & Co press, didn't it? Wikipedia says they minted $18k per week, so the machinery doesn't seem too shabby. The US bought it all in 1863. The assay office "Operations began [in late 1864] in the facilities of Clark, Gruber and Company, located at 16th and Market Streets and acquired by the government for $25,000, which it was simply able to print off at the location". The latter seems to imply that they minted the $25k on the spot, which seems curious. Perhaps it was in gold bars, Denver's thing at the time.

FY 1900 was around the time A.W. Downing was sent to New Orleans from Philadelphia to figure out why their dies were breaking so fast. Maybe that's relevant.

[RWB]

The Clark, Gruber & Co. press was a small, clunky thing that was called "useless" when Treasury bought the Denver building. The Mint Bureau kept trying to give it away, largely to Denver/Colorado historical interests. Earlier letters treat all the C-G&Co. equipment as "old iron" and scrap. This note, above, is the only mention I've seen of a usable coin press ever having passed through Denver - until construction of the Mint. I wonder if the "one coining press from Denver" was a press bought for the new Mint there, and temporarily sent to New Orleans until the Denver building was ready? (Hmmm...but that would be strange given that at least 2 presses had been ordered for the new Philadelphia building - due to open in 1901.)

The annealing equipment likely relates to Downing's early 1900 examination and finding about insufficient planchet annealing capacity. 

Edited March 15, 2020 by RWB

[DWLange]

Clark, Gruber & Company's coining equipment resides today with the Colorado Historical Society. As Roger noted, it was barely suitable to its role with the company and completely inadequate for producing United States coinage. The technology was comparable to that used by the U. S. Mint in the 1790s!

[Just Bob]

So, the most likely explanations are: A) It was a mistake on the part of the superintendent, and the press actually came from a different mint. Or B) The press came from a different mint but passed through Denver on its way to New Orleans.

[RWB]

2 hours ago, Just Bob said:

So, the most likely explanations are: A) It was a mistake on the part of the superintendent, and the press actually came from a different mint. Or B) The press came from a different mint but passed through Denver on its way to New Orleans.

Most likely...but not definitive. The answer might lie in other documents as yet unavailable.