GILROY ROBERTS SKETCHES A COIN PRESS

Currently in processing at Newman Portal is a correspondence group related to Eric P. Newman and Ken Bressett's The Fantastic 1804 Dollar. Among the correspondents was Gilroy Roberts, then chief engraver of the U.S. Mint (1948-1964). The Roberts file begins in late 1959, as Newman is trying to understand the precise relationship between the planchet, press, and collar as it might have been when the 1804 dollars were struck.

Newman asks numerous, detailed questions with respect to upsetting blanks, border beading, edge lettering, and one-piece vs. split collars. Roberts included a sketch to demonstrate the depth of the collars currently in use, in response to Newman's query regarding how the dies enter the collar and to what extent. Newman used this information in chapter 4 of Fantastic ("Changes in Coin Production Methods After 1804"), with the table on page 33, for example, drawn from the Roberts correspondence.

Image: Gilroy Robert's sketch, October 20, 1961

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