PHILADELPHIA MINT MEDAL DEPARTMENT, 1856-1868

 

This is an important documentary discovery from the Fred Weinberg Collection. It was a 6 x 7"notebook of about 50pp (100) of which 17pp were used (34pp of front and back), with numerous little paper notes on scrap, including notes on a gold bullion Mint receipt. The covers are no longer present.

This book was misidentified in a 2008 article in the Rare Coin Market Report. It is unmistakably a record of the Philadelphia Mint's Medal Department.

The book contains notes of expenses and orders from the Medal Department from 1856-1868, thus one must assume it is in the hand of the same clerk employed throughout. Our clerk here divided up the book into various sections annually: "Simple orders"; Requisitions Sanctioned", "Bills approved and signed by the authority of the Director".

Within these annual sections are found fascinating entries, many containing information not known previously. A number of these entries tell us quite a bit about the Medal Department, which first operated April 1, 1854 under the Coining Department. The "old medal press" is described by Burdette in From Mine to Mint (2013), p325. A number of the entries in this book directly relate to that press, inclusive of a bill to Morgan & Orr, press manufacturer, for "forging dies." (1/1/1857). Wm Eckfeldt ordered "bags and rings" for the press. Interesting orders include ordering "red chalk for the Medal Dept.", "50 oz. aluminum to the medal dept., 2 gals of white wine vinegar, 594 bushels of charcoal, "date punch, new copper strips", "iron casting to protect the screw press from water (4/19/1856) ; "one medal milling machine" ordered from David Gilbert (1/30/1860); "magnifying glasses" from McCallister (2/17/1858)

Many of the Medal Department engravers are mentioned including Barber, A. C. Paquet ("small figure punches"); "Engraving loupe for M. Paquet" ordered from Isaac Schaitman (4/10/1858), Geo. Eckfeldt

Numerous specific medals are mentioned: "castings for the Japanese medal" from Morgan and Orr (5/19/1860); there is much on the special gold Cyrus Field Medal designed by Wm Barber. "Letter punches for the Field Medal" (12/31/1867)

This is a priceless previously unrecorded record of great significance to US medal collectors.

To read the complete lot description, see:
US Mint, Medal Dept. Clerk's Record Book, 1856-1868 (https://holabirdamericana.liveauctiongroup.com/US-Mint-Medal-Dept-Clerk-s-Record-Book-1856-1868-196515_i56377969)

For the complete sale, see:
The "Mint State" Americana & Numismatics Auction (2025 May) (https://holabirdamericana.liveauctiongroup.com/The-Mint-State-Americana-Numismatics-Auction-2025-May_a72190)

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