Saint-Gaudens original acceptance letter for new gold coinage 0

[RWB]

This is the original acceptance letter from Saint-Gaudens to Treasury Secretary Leslie Shaw dated August 11, 1905 and signed. The letter's content is known through copies and Dartmouth College's microfilm, but this is original. (I'll also post on the long SG book thread for continuity.)

[GoldFinger1969]

Is that $5,000 all-inclusive....or would he have billed the government extra for his assistants, a new lathe, model supplies, etc.?

$5,000 was alot of money in 1905-07...but he worked on the project for a few years and if he needed equipment back then, it wasn't cheap.

[RWB]

Fixed price for two designs: one for gold and the other for the cent.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 6/6/2023 at 6:12 PM, RWB said:

Fixed price for two designs: one for gold and the other for the cent.

I guess you could spread the fixed overhead of something like a lathe over multiple assignements.

Speaking of lathes....the newly-created Janvier Lathe was used on the MCMVII HR or the regular Saints, right ?  Any idea what one of those would cost new (I believe they came from Europe) ?

[RWB]

On 6/6/2023 at 6:44 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I guess you could spread the fixed overhead of something like a lathe over multiple assignements.

Speaking of lathes....the newly-created Janvier Lathe was used on the MCMVII HR or the regular Saints, right ?  Any idea what one of those would cost new (I believe they came from Europe) ?

Keller Machine Co and Dietsch Bros. had new reducing lathes. Keller made their own and Dietsch sold the Janvier product to the US Mint. Here's a notebook page showing the cost in 1906. (The 1899 French patent is in my 1st issue of Journal of Numismatic Research (JNR). )

[GoldFinger1969]

Thanks Roger...I thought I remember those figures....a few thousand dollars each, not cheap if you were a 1-man shop like ASG. 

[RWB]

Saint-Gaudens did not make the reductions - that was done by the Engraving Dept., and was quite a learning curve Soley & Barber.

[lincolnheath]

On 6/7/2023 at 12:48 AM, RWB said:

This is the original acceptance letter from Saint-Gaudens to Treasury Secretary Leslie Shaw dated August 11, 1905 and signed. The letter's content is known through copies and Dartmouth College's microfilm, but this is original. (I'll also post on the long SG book thread for continuity.)

I must note that this paper held up very well for 1905, amazing. Besides I am very glad to see something like this, because I love to read something historical, by the way I found here check a lot of historical writings, like Matthew Arnold, I find this very interesting, useful and developing!

Edited June 29, 2023 by lincolnheath

[RWB]

On 6/8/2023 at 11:46 AM, lincolnheath said:

I must note that this paper held up very well for 1905, amazing.

The US Mint and Treasury used good quality paper - rarely the cheap, high-sulfide stuff. All of Saint-Gaudens' studio letter seem to be on similar, light blue linen stock and survive in VG to excellent condition. The original image is much sharper than the one visible above, but it has been folded several times to fit into the Mint's "tri-fold" filing system. There is an abstract and date stamp on the reverse. (The NARA locator numbers at top are my file ID headers added in Acrobat, and are not part of the original.)

Additionally, this letter, like most in Mint archives have been in untouched storage for many decades. In that environment, there is little oxygen or moisture, and we find even some lined elementary school writing paper remains in good condition. However, newspaper clippings and some letters are very fragile and are handled with extreme care. When encountered, I scan the image at the best quality I have so that the original can either be protected in separate storage or allowed to crumble. (Years ago I scanned the Anthony de Francisi papers at the Smithsonian. Most of his sketches were on the cheapest, high-sulfur paper and had to be moved using plastic tweezers, and thin slider sheets. Once scanned and given to SI, the originals were put in mylar sleeves and stored in nitrogen-filled archival packing.

Edited June 8, 2023 by RWB

[GoldFinger1969]

Sulfides are bad ?  Linen is unique (that's what currency uses, right ?).....it's different and better, I take it ?

[RWB]

On 6/8/2023 at 12:31 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Sulfides are bad ?  Linen is unique (that's what currency uses, right ?).....it's different and better, I take it ?

Sulfur reacts with moisture to produce sulfuric acid. In cheap paper, the reactions include sulfur dioxide which causes the paper to slowly oxidize (or 'burn'). [See "Evaluation of the Effects of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) on Conservation of Paper."]