New NARA Research Items 1 1

[RWB]

The following documents from NARA, College Park, Md. have been uploaded to NNP and are available for free access. These are the product of an experimental A2-size scanner that weighs less than 2kg. There are a few obvious glitches, but everything is readable. Actual images are much sharper than posted samples. Shadow was caused by overhead lights ---

RG104 Entry 235 Letters Sent by HQ. Volume 41, 42, 43, and 44. These cover December 31, 1885 through December 22, 1886, and include recipient index for each volume. Sample facing pages from bound volume ---

RG104 Entry 229 Letters Received by HQ. Boxes 125, 126 and 127 (partial). These are all October/November 1900. Sample single page report ---

Users can also check for related documents in Entry 1 General Correspondence.

Edited October 29, 2022 by RWB

[RWB]

For those interested, the test equipment will scan pages, either flat or bound in volumes up to 3-inches (75 mm) thick. It will adjust page geometry and correct for book-page curvature, adjust exposure and color balance, automatically crop and rotate images, and split 2-up images into two facing pages (like the above sample). It will also remove fingers holding down page margins, but this is not entirely consistent - and likely due to user unfamiliarity. Output data is ready for export, minor editing and distribution as JPEG or PDF. High-quality PDF files are about 2 gig in size for 24-bit color; grayscale would be proportionally smaller files, as would reduced-size PDF.

The "2 kg" weight mentioned above is correct. This includes base, mast and camera/scanner arm and even the weight of the black flexible base mat. It fits into a box about 4x4x20-inches when folded for travel. It has 4 built-in LED lights with adjustable intensity. (These are directly over the documents and will cause reflections off originals with glossy pages or packaged in plastic sleeves.) The ability to cover a full A2-size area simply by raising the mast is a great advantage. This allowed me to scan facing pages of large manuscript journals, which immediately cut imaging time by half.

Edited October 29, 2022 by RWB

[VKurtB]

Remind me again what A2 size is. 

[RWB]

A2	420 x 594 mm	16.5 x 23.4 inches
A3	297 x 420 mm	11.7 x 16.5 inches
A4	210 x 297 mm	8.3 x 11.7 inches

Edited October 29, 2022 by RWB

[RWB]

The mast height adjustment has click-stops for A4, A3 and A2.

[VKurtB]

On 10/29/2022 at 1:06 PM, RWB said:

The mast height adjustment has click-stops for A4, A3 and A2.

Suweeet!

[VKurtB]

On 10/29/2022 at 1:06 PM, RWB said:

The mast height adjustment has click-stops for A4, A3 and A2.

A single lens focal length then. 

[Quintus Arrius]

[Page geometry, book-page curvature, raising the mast...  How can a member not gorge on a verbal feast such as this? Thank you Roger, for the virtual victuals!  And cordial jargoning. Between marriages to die for (wrong expression) failed marriages... (that ain't it) Ah yes: die-marriages, cracked-die proofs, or is it, proof die-cracks--and not just matte proofs, but special matte proofs, there is a little bit of something for everybody on this site and, through it all, Roger's eye maintains its focus on the leading edge of tectonic technology. 

I do not understand or speak the dialect, but I appreciate the advances being made and the efforts of those who report the latest developments to the layperson at large!  

A-this, A-that... man, I love this place! Thanks again, Roger!]

Edited October 29, 2022 by Quintus Arrius
Die polishing

[RWB]

On 10/29/2022 at 5:30 PM, VKurtB said:

A single lens focal length then. 

Yes, it is a fixed focus system, which made me very skeptical. However, after shooting nearly 3,000 images in all sizes at NARA, I find very little difference between this device and my normal DSLR quality. The greatest difference is in shooting small items such as note paper and post cards. A DLSR can get closer and focus so that the original nearly fills the frame. This equipment cannot do that, so small documents are not as sharp as with a camera. (I presume the mfgr is using a modified sub-hyperfocal point so that the sharpest range is about 30 to 50cm, rather than the usual 50cm to infinity.) It does not have  a red centering line or scan bar -- that's on the laptop screen.

Here's a somewhat dated-looking illustration. It looks a lot like a bunch of other similar products. (It does not emit blue light.) Frankly, it's the best of about a dozen I've personally tested, and one of only three that made it to real-world tests on my own time. My only connection is that it seems to work OK.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2022 by RWB

[VKurtB]

On 10/29/2022 at 5:14 PM, RWB said:

Yes, it is a fixed focus system, which made me very skeptical. However, after shooting nearly 3,000 images in all sizes at NARA, I find very little difference between this device and my normal DSLR quality. The greatest difference is in shooting small items such as note paper and post cards. A DLSR can get closer and focus so that the original nearly fills the frame. This equipment cannot do that, so small documents are not as sharp as with a camera. (I presume the mfgr is using a modified sub-hyperfocal point so that the sharpest range is about 30 to 50cm, rather than the usual 50cm to infinity.) It does not have  a red centering line or scan bar -- that's on the laptop screen.

Here's a somewhat dated-looking illustration. It looks a lot like a bunch of other similar products. (It does not emit blue light.) Frankly, it's the best of about a dozen I've personally tested, and one of only three that made it to real-world tests on my own time. My only connection is that it seems to work OK.

 

 

Fills its niche quite well. “Nothing does everything.”

[RWB]

Quality is, as expected, not comparable with the $35,000 75kg permanent professional archiving units. However, for ordinary research, and especially the kinds of Treasury and Mint documents commonly encountered, this will likely work very well. At less than $400 it seems like a good value.

[I can pretend that NNP volunteers equipped with one of these could scan the San Francisco and New Orleans Mint documents much quicker than can now be attempted. Possibly the same for the greater mass of Philadelphia and College Park records, too. Then there are university, LoC, and private library materials.]

Edited October 30, 2022 by RWB

[GoldFinger1969]

Any memos and discussion pieces talking about more popularly-collected series like Double Eagles, Morgans, etc. ?  That would be very interesting, I would think.

I would think there should be some interesting back-and-forths on the relative lack of use in regular commerce, especially Saints/Liberty's.  If not for backing Gold Certificates and because of domestic silver producers, both coins could have probably justified much smaller mintages at great savings.

[Quintus Arrius]

🐓 :  Know what this means, don't you?

Q.A.:  Yup, the hatchet's been buried.  (Now if we can only find some way to get him to refrain from making any references to cats... and aretha franklin.)  

[VKurtB]

On 10/29/2022 at 5:14 PM, RWB said:

Yes, it is a fixed focus system, which made me very skeptical. However, after shooting nearly 3,000 images in all sizes at NARA, I find very little difference between this device and my normal DSLR quality. The greatest difference is in shooting small items such as note paper and post cards. A DLSR can get closer and focus so that the original nearly fills the frame. This equipment cannot do that, so small documents are not as sharp as with a camera. (I presume the mfgr is using a modified sub-hyperfocal point so that the sharpest range is about 30 to 50cm, rather than the usual 50cm to infinity.) It does not have  a red centering line or scan bar -- that's on the laptop screen.

Here's a somewhat dated-looking illustration. It looks a lot like a bunch of other similar products. (It does not emit blue light.) Frankly, it's the best of about a dozen I've personally tested, and one of only three that made it to real-world tests on my own time. My only connection is that it seems to work OK.

 

 

Did you buy this or is it a piece owned by the NARA? I think this is a BRILLIANT solution, but I just don’t have the volume use case for it. 

[RWB]

On 10/30/2022 at 11:20 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Any memos and discussion pieces talking about more popularly-collected series like Double Eagles, Morgans, etc. ?  That would be very interesting, I would think.

I would think there should be some interesting back-and-forths on the relative lack of use in regular commerce, especially Saints/Liberty's.  If not for backing Gold Certificates and because of domestic silver producers, both coins could have probably justified much smaller mintages at great savings.

Internal Treasury documents are business-oriented and very rarely touch on collectors or similar things. Documents were seldom separated by subject except in the 1915-34 period when different filing systems were used. None of the systems were actively maintained after a switch was made. Thus there were piles upon piles of papers which eventually got mixed up. When the WPA workers started organizing things they had limited guidance and only mixed things even more by creating  unofficial categories such as "Franklin Peale Papers" or "Buffalo Nickels," etc. Added to this was a lack of understating of content by the workers, so the Buffalo Nickel microfilm is actually a mix of subjects.

In short: most of what had been found was discovered by a page-by-page search, not by any topical heading.

Edited October 30, 2022 by RWB

[VKurtB]

On 10/30/2022 at 2:46 PM, RWB said:

Internal Treasury documents are business-oriented and very rarely touch on collectors or similar things. Documents were seldom separated by subject except in the 1915-34 period when different filing systems were used. None of the systems were actively maintained after a switch was made. Thus there were piles upon piles of papers which eventually got mixed up. When the WPA workers started organizing things they had limited guidance and only mixed things even more by creating  unofficial categories such as "Franklin Peale Papers" or "Buffalo Nickels," etc. Added to this was a lack of understating of content by the workers, so the Buffalo Nickel microfilm is actually a mix of subjects.

In short: most of what had been found was discovered by a page-by-page search, not by any topical heading.

Government level work. (Written by a former gov’t worker.) The condition of PA legislative archives is horrendous, and they have the temerity to brag about it. At least they have the Penn brothers’ original royal Charter for Pennsylvania. 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 10/30/2022 at 3:46 PM, RWB said:

Internal Treasury documents are business-oriented and very rarely touch on collectors or similar things.

So you're saying they might have talked about that stuff but not put it in writing ?  Interesting....

I would have thought there'd be lots of interesting banter once FDR decided to start melting/confiscating gold.  You'd also think some people might have objected to striking 1933 DE's (and Indian Head $10) into May 1933 when it was apparent by April 1933 that they'd all be turned into bars.

But I could also see why they'd TALK about it and not put it in writing, since it was so political and you could probably lose your job or be demoted/lose a promotion if you disagreed with their moves.

Edited October 30, 2022 by GoldFinger1969

[VKurtB]

On 10/30/2022 at 5:12 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

So you're saying they might have talked about that stuff but not put it in writing ?  Interesting....

I would have thought there'd be lots of interesting banter once FDR decided to start melting/confiscating gold.  You'd also think some people might have objected to striking 1933 DE's (and Indian Head $10) into May 1933 when it was apparent by April 1933 that they'd all be turned into bars.

But I could also see why they'd TALK about it and not put it in writing, since it was so political and you could probably lose your job or be demoted/lose a promotion if you disagreed with their moves.

The plan to confiscate gold was not a big secret and FDR won in a landslide. Seems to me it might have been highly popular. 

[VKurtB]

What makes sense is that mint decisions have never quite been collector-centric. Even today, but certainly earlier the needs or wants of collectors likely fell into the nuisance category. We’re just not that important to the Mint, and I suspect we never were. At most, ONE division at the Mint cares about us, the smallest and least influential one. 

Edited October 30, 2022 by VKurtB

[RWB]

On 10/30/2022 at 6:12 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

So you're saying they might have talked about that stuff but not put it in writing ?  Interesting....

I would have thought there'd be lots of interesting banter once FDR decided to start melting/confiscating gold.  You'd also think some people might have objected to striking 1933 DE's (and Indian Head $10) into May 1933 when it was apparent by April 1933 that they'd all be turned into bars.

But I could also see why they'd TALK about it and not put it in writing, since it was so political and you could probably lose your job or be demoted/lose a promotion if you disagreed with their moves.

There was no confiscation. Hoarded gold coin and gold certificates were paid for in full.

As technology changed we see changes in the content of documents and other records. Telegrams created duplicate follow-up letters to make the telegram official. Telephones eliminated a lot of small details that had once been in writing. Typewriters mad letter reading easier but altered the flow of business in an office. Carbon paper greatly increased the internal distribution of memos...and so forth. Today it requires extensive auditing trails to keep track of ordinary messages between employees.

[RWB]

As noted above, collectors and responses to their questions are far down the to-do list. The Mint's insularity also contributes to a "closed mind" situation where clear direct answers are often avoided in favor of obscure and confused assertions and claims of non-existent legal authority.

[VKurtB]

On 10/30/2022 at 9:13 PM, RWB said:

non-existent legal authority.

Been there, seen that. The attitude is “We say what the law is. Don’t like it? Hire a lawyer and sue us.” Their legal counsel is on salary, with benefits. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by VKurtB

[GoldFinger1969]

On 10/30/2022 at 6:17 PM, VKurtB said:

The plan to confiscate gold was not a big secret and FDR won in a landslide. Seems to me it might have been highly popular. 

I doubt there's any correlation between them. 

How popular do you think gold confiscation would have been at $20.67 an ounce.....exempting collectors and "The Rich"....and then be told it was worth 70% more at $35 ounce ? 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 10/30/2022 at 10:10 PM, RWB said:

There was no confiscation. Hoarded gold coin and gold certificates were paid for in full.

If you didn't want to sell it, it's confiscation.  Especially when you are told you can get $20.67/oz. and then a few months later it is worth $35/oz., closer to the true spot global price of gold.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 10/30/2022 at 10:38 PM, VKurtB said:

Been there, seen that. The attitude is “We say what the law is. Don’t like it? Hire a lawyer and sue us.” Their legal counsel is on salary, with benefits. 

It can be done. 

FIRREA.    Kicked the lying SOB government regulators right in the nuts. 

[VKurtB]

On 10/30/2022 at 9:43 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

If you didn't want to sell it, it's confiscation.  Especially when you are told you can get $20.67/oz. and then a few months later it is worth $35/oz., closer to the true spot global price of gold.

Nobody knew about the markup until it was status quo ante. 

[VKurtB]

On 10/30/2022 at 9:43 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

It can be done. 

FIRREA.    Kicked the lying SOB government regulators right in the nuts. 

Yeah, I’ve sued governmental agencies and won too. I tried those cases pro se. It’s a fundamental right in PA. I also got PA’s state implementing law from the Clean Water Act repealed through political action. We went from “it’ll never happen” to “done” in six months. It was the House member I worked with on that who hired me years later. The Senator had sadly died. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by VKurtB

[mlovmo]

Awesome.  I hope more Mint documents become available like this...

[GoldFinger1969]

On 10/31/2022 at 9:48 AM, mlovmo said:

Awesome.  I hope more Mint documents become available like this...

Roger finds some very interesting and obscure stuff.  

[Nouzillet]

I remember coming across an old newspaper article from October of 1933. Some wealthy woman in Fresno California was served a Federal warrant (suspected) of hoarding gold.

Turns out she did have a nice pile of the shiny metal. She  reportedly turned into a SF bank $60,000 (face value) in Double Eagles , $430 in Eagles and Half Eagles and $25,000 in $20 Gold Certificates