The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 41, October 13, 2002, Article 2

NUMISMATIC RESEARCH IN HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS

  Dick Johnson writes: "One of my proudest possessions is a
  scrapbook of newspaper clippings.  It was compiled by John
  McAllister, Jr. of Philadelphia and it covered the period 1831
  to 1857. He hand inscribed a title on the cover: "Coinage /
  Mint Reports / &c."

  Inside are loose newspaper clippings in envelopes by year.
  The envelopes are so fat they have burst the spine of a book,
  whose contents are long since lost or discarded but whose
  covers were pressed into service to corral the envelopes.

  The clippings are just as bright today as in the mid 19th
  century (thank you, rag paper, but for some strange reason
  they don't photocopy well -- the white paper emerges gray on
  such copies).  Most of the articles are mundane --  exchange
  rates, mining production, shipment of ore to the mint, public
  comments on coins. Mostly economic, little numismatic.

  But among the chaff is a real gem!:  a three-part series of
  articles which ran in the weekly "Philadelphia Dispatch"
  January 23 and 30, 1853 and February 6, 1853, headlined
  "The Way Coins Are Made, A Rare Visit to The United
  States Mint."  It is outstanding for reporting the technology
  in use by the Mint at that time! (It predates and far surpasses
  Waldo Abbott's series in Harper's Weekly eight years later,
  1861.)

  I have transcribed all the text of this 3-part series. My
  computer tells me there are 12,426 words, 344 paragraphs
  and 480 sentences. The series is unsigned, and I have been
  to the National Archives in Philadelphia twice searching U.S.
  Mint visitor rosters and correspondence of the period for the
  possible identify of the unknown author. He may have been
  British, or trained in England.  Seven words are the British
  spellings, yet "color" is spelled without the "u" as in England.

  The author's scenario goes through the Mint a department
  at a time -- he calls these rooms -- and describes the
  technology in 14 such rooms.  As a mint technology historian
  I find this fascinating.  It relates data for the most part not
  reported anywhere else. I have affixed 76 notes to the author's
  comments adding data that I could from a perspective 149
  years later.

  I relate this as an example of the absolutely fantastic
  information that can be gleaned from local newspapers. My
  tip for the week is Do Not Overlook Scrapbooks.  (In fact,
  I will buy any scrapbook on the U.S. Mint or American
  medals of any period.)

  Next week: How to do newspaper research and some
  very useful tips and comments on numismatic research in
  newspapers from Dave Bowers."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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