The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 14, April 2, 2006, Article 25

THE GREAT SILVER DOLLAR FLOOD OF 1894

Coin World published a great article in the March 27, 2006 issue
about an unusual event at the Philadelphia Mint.  Written by Nancy
Oliver and Richard Kelly, the article concerns an avalanche of
silver dollars that shook the building like an earthquake and had
workers running for their lives.  Based on accounts of the incident
in contemporary newspapers, the article recounts events that
unfolded once officials decided to inventory 50 million silver
dollars that had been moldering in a vault for over 60 years.

"On Tuesday, May 1, at about 5 o'clock, Clerk Wellington Morris
was up on top of one of the huge mounds raking in some loose
silver coins when suddenly a bag beneath him burst and spewed
its contents.

Like a snowball on a mountainside, the mass of sliding silver
dollars grew in size.  There was a massive rumble as bags began
to break by the dozens, and looking up, the workmen could see a
flood of silver rushing toward them.

Seeing the impending danger, the workmen rushed for the door,
just barely in time to keep from being crushed by 112,000 pounds
of falling coins."

The workers feared the worst for Morris, but he managed to exit
the vault unharmed.

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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