The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 7, February 10, 2002, Article 11

CROSBY QUERY: RUPERT VS MACHINS MILLS MINTS

  Paul Schultz writes: "In my reprint of "The Early Coins of
  America" by Sylvester Crosby, the following quote comes from
  the section on Machins Mills in the Vermont chapter (p 191).
  It is a quote from a letter written in the mid-1800s, when the
  operation of the Newburgh mint may have been in the memory
  of those who were alive then.

  "The Mint House at Newburgh...    The coins were made by
  James F. Atlee.  Many of them bore the obverse 'GEORGIUS
  III' and rev. 'INDE ET LIB.'  Others bore the figure of a
  plough on one side."

  The text goes on to assume that these plough coins are
  Vermont coppers, and I know of no other possibility myself.
  However, there are much more recent references to the
  Vermont coppers. On the ANA web site, there is a section
  on Vermont coppers at the address
  http://www.money.org/vermont/vtexhibit.html.

  The section covering the plow design (B1-6 or R 2-7) has the
  heading "Rupert Mint Issues, dies by William Coley". A later
  section, on Newburgh Mint Issues  notes "All of Bust Type".

  Considering what was apparently an early personal observation,
  noted in Crosby, that some plow coins were made at Machins
  Mills, why do we now assign all plow designs to Rupert?
  Can we be certain that the early observation was in error?"

  [Paul doesn't have the most recent references on Vermonts,
  so perhaps the issue has already been settled - can any of our
  readers shed some light on the topic?  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum