THE OFFICIAL REGISTER AND WOMEN IN THE MINT

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V25 2022 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 25, Number 13, March 27, 2022, Article 12

THE OFFICIAL REGISTER AND WOMEN IN THE MINT

Newman Numismatic Portal Project Coordinator Len Augsburger provided the following update on the topic of women working at the U.S. Mint. -Editor

More on Women in the Mint

Following up on Jerome Nashorn's insightful comments in the March 20 issue, the Journal of the Franklin Institute for 1855 reported:

I cannot omit a reference to the very excellent remarks of the chief coiner [Franklin Peale] on the employment of females in some of the operations in his department. This, he informed me, had generally excited the surprise of, and been commented upon, by foreigners, who had visited the Mint. His experience, however, had led him to believe, that in places of trust, where no great physical exertion was called for, but where accuracy and strict integrity were of first importance, the moral perceptions of the female, generally strong and of a higher standard than in the man, would qualify her as his substitute, and thus, while opening a new field of labor for the occupation of females, would strengthen their claims to it by the superior accuracy and economy of their work.

Nashorn also referred to the Official Register, a useful list of federal employees. Newman Portal has extracted, from the Official Register, the lists of employees in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Mint from 1816-1959. A quick examination of the Official Register suggests the prohibition against marriage may have been selectively enforced. The 1881 Official Register lists Mrs. E. Cowan in the Coiner's Department, and others with the title Mrs. Similarly, many married adjusters are listed in the 1891 report. The use of titles is inconsistent – for example, the adjusters have listed titles (Miss or Mrs.) in the 1891 report, while the counters in the coin department, among which are many women, are listed only by their first and last names.

U.S. Mint Officers - 1817 Official Register

Link to the Official Register on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/536877

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MORE ON WOMEN AND THE U.S. MINTsac (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n12a09.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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@gmail.com

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