NNP Blog
406 records found.
Pete Smith Writes U.S. Mint Coin Bag Guide
Bags surely existed in massive quantities but are infrequently seen today. Smith notes that 56,470 bags would have been required for the 1940-S cent coinage and by extension asks, “where are they now?” Today, the most prized bags are those used to transport gold or Carson City coinage, and nearly all bags identified date to the 20th century.
Newman Portal has digitized some of the late 19th century Mint correspondence relating to coin bags. P. J. Kornder of Brooklyn complained to the Mint Director in 1891: “I would like to call your attention to the enclosed bag which I got from the Mechanics Bank Brooklyn with $10 in Pennies, it is the poorest bag I ever saw and so small that they cannot be properly tied. I spilled them all over the street in carrying. I send you this merely to draw your attention to them, perhaps they are being furnished inferior to the required kind &c.”
Link to The Incomplete Guide to United States Mint Coin Bags on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/624852
Link to Mint bag correspondence, 1879-1895: https://archive.org/details/newmannumismatic?query=bag&sort=&and[]=creator%3A%22u.s.+mint%22
New Orleans Mint Restoration
The New Orleans Mint was designed in Greek Revival style by William Strickland, who was also the architect of the (second) Philadelphia Mint that opened in 1833. The New Orleans Mint struck its first coin in 1838 and its last in 1909, and the building served a variety of purposes prior to its reconstruction, including use as a prison.
Link to “Old Mint Restoration Now Complete”: https://archive.org/details/EPN0322-1979oldmintrestorationn
New York International Numismatic Convention Video on Newman Portal
Video from presentations delivered at the recent January NYINC are now available on Newman Portal. Speakers include John Kraljeivch, Doug Davis, Ursula Kampmann, Doug Mudd, Peter Tompa, David Vagi, Joel Iskowitz, and Their Royal Majesties Alanus I - Rex Bermaniae and Barbara Regina of the Royal House of Ususvir. NNP acknowledges Paul Russell, NYINC Chairman, for his assistance with this content, and Lianna Spurrier of Numismatic Marketing for providing video services.
Link to New York International Numismatic Convention video on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/multimediadetail/529486?Year=2023
Canadian Numismatic Resources Site Announced
The J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a new website, a digital repository of Canadian numismatic sources. The website is aptly named Canadian Numismatic Resources – Ressources numismatique Canada: http://www.cnr-rnc.ca. The CNR website is the first of its kind in Canada and promises to be the most complete resource of Canadian numismatic documents. While content is constantly being added, the new website already contains the equivalent of over 10,000 pages of sources consisting of a variety of material, including numismatic periodicals, coin club journals, numismatists’ catalogues, dealer price lists and auction catalogues, and government and archival records relevant to Canadian currency and numismatics. Most documents are out-of-print and free of copyright protection. Otherwise, permission has been granted on protected documents.
The website is intended to be fully bilingual, although documents added to the site will be available in their original language only. Most of the documents are fully searchable having been scanned with high-quality photography and scanning equipment and enhanced with the OCR [Optical Character Recognition] feature (in the case of printed documents). Content on the website will continue to grow with the expectation of adding at least 20,000 pages of scanned documents every year. But as the website gains traction and support from users and contributors, the output could significantly expand.
The committee overseeing the digitization project is soliciting members of the numismatic community to contribute to the expansion of the website by providing access to their libraries. Contributors can contact the webmaster of the website at webmaster@cnr-rnc.ca for further information.
Although access to the website is completely free to Internet users, the Ferguson Foundation is asking that users contribute to the website either by submitting original high-resolution scanned documents free of any copyright protection or, even more importantly, by making a donation to The J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation through the CNR website.
The J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and financially support the active research of Canadian numismatics. For further information about the Foundation, readers can visit https://www.jdfergusonfoundation.ca/.
To visit the website, see:
https://cnr-rnc.ca/
Rare Dakota Award Medal Surfaces
A Newman Portal user forwarded images of a medal awarded at the Deadwood Fair by the Black Hills Fair Association. The example was awarded to our correspondent’s gr-gr-grandfather, Elisa Pauli, in 1908. The award inscription is crude and not as finely done as usually seen on eastern medals. The Alan Weinberg collection contains an unawarded example, of which Alan writes “White metal. I usually do not put white metal items in my collection, preferring only silver or gold. But this is a territorial Dakota medal, made of Black Hills tin, is extremely rare (I've seen only two), Gem Proof and in an original case of issue - just too much for me to ignore.” We found nothing related to the Deadwood Fair or the Black Hills Fair Association in the usual places; this was likely an agricultural and mechanical fair similar to other such events at the time. Perhaps E-Sylum readers might have additional information?
Images: Deadwood Fair award medal issued to Elisa Pauli in 1908.
Links to Weinberg example on NNP:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/ImageDetail/510828
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagedetail/510829
Thomas Jefferson’s Comitia Americana List Available on NNP
Link to Memorandum on Medals for George Washington on NNP: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/623925
The Trillion-Dollar Platinum Coin Sneaks Through
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called the trillion-dollar coin a “gimmick” and noted that the Federal Reserve Bank would likely refuse the coin, should the Treasury attempt to deposit such a piece. For its part, the Mint continues to annually strike one-ounce platinum American Eagles, denominated as hundred-dollar coins.
In addition to Public Law 104-208, Newman Portal has built a collection of over 300 congressional documents related to numismatics. It’s worth remembering that the Mint, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing, can act only in accordance with public law, and the related paper trail forms a useful research archive. NNP acknowledges Dan Hamelberg and Paul Hybert, both of whom have made extensive contributions to this collection.
We also wish to acknowledge Barbara Hofmann, Library Technical Specialist (Federal Documents) at Washington University in St. Louis. Washington University’s Olin Library is designated as a Federal Depository Library, a program initiated by Congress in 1813 to ensure public access to government documents. As such, Olin Library holds an extensive collection of government publications, which Barbara has helped us navigate since Newman Portal was launched in 2014. Barbara has been with Olin Library since 1969 (not a typo!) and we wish her well on her upcoming retirement.
Link to Public Law 104-208 on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/623082
Link to U.S. Congressional documents on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/512550
George Washington Tributes
Link to William S. Baker works on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/booksbyauthor/195
Daniel W. Valentine
Link to works by Daniel Valentine on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/booksbyauthor/1950
ANA Money Talks presentation by Jerry Fochtman on Valentine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm1ic6OcobE&t=6s
Stories from World War II Exhibit Images on Newman Portal
Link to World War II: Internment and Concentration Camp Money image collection on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/517446
Link to World War II: War Bonds image collection on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/517497
Link to “Washington University Stories from WWII” (E-Sylum, June 26, 2022): https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/club_nbs_esylum_v25n26.html#article6
