Where did the first San Francisco silver come from?
topstuf
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We know private struck fractional gold was first and most probably from gold rush assay metal.
Where did the first silver coin metal come from?
Foreign coin melt? Scrap? Local ore? Bullion "around the horn?" I think it was too early for the Comstock silver.
?
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I don't have documentary evidence, but of course Mexico was converting literal Mountains of silver into coin - this was what was making the New Orleans Mint possible too.
The First San Francisco Mint started minting silver coins in 1855.
I would guess that the mint records are in the National Archives somewhere.
I read Neil Carothers' book Fractional Money (1930, republished 1967) some time ago and it mentioned that in the 1850's the US Treasury was purchasing worn Spanish and other foreign coins and the Philadelphia Mint was minting silver coins from them. I can not remember if he mentioned the San Francisco Mint doing the same.
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Could it be the Comstock Load for large US produced silver?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_Lode
Comstock did not provide early silver to SF. The Comstock was not discovered until 1859 and during the first several years the silver was tossed (yes, true). Finally they realized that the Comstock was about 50% silver/gold and they started processing it.
So, my guess is Mexico which was rich in silver but I don't know.
bob
I seem to recall...and I cannot remember where I read it... that the first silver coins from San Francisco were made from Mexican silver....I know this is not authoritative, but I did read that somewhere...will check my library later to see if I can find a reference. Cheers, RickO
I like both suggestions about Mexican silver. I kinda thought the Mexican coins circulated on their own merits... as coins
However...bullion... could surely have been shipped from there.
Be kind of interesting to know if our relations with Mexico would be good with such a short time since the war with them.
iIRC, the Mexican law provided that the newly mined silver could not be exported __before__it was coined - this to ensure that the Mexican State got its cut (20% I think - what was formerly 'The King's fifth').
Mexico had no choice but to export the silver... they had several Mountains that were chock full of the stuff, and it would have swamped their economy if kept locally... foreign interests who had loaned money were involved in all of this too...
Pretty certain that New Orleans was handling silver that had already been coined.
I will readily admit that my knowledge is casual and not up to academic standards... or 25 years ago I knew where/what sources to look in, but now I have forgotten...
I think that would have been too late. SF started coining in 1854 with gold and the silver in 1855,
Virginia City?
The coinage act of 1857 changed the rules so that the treasury and assay offices would no longer pay out foreign silver as coin. They would buy it in as silver bullion and send it to be coined.
The law also required the director of the mint to assay and report the fineness of coins commonly found in circulation. You will see tables of this in the reports for many many years.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Book for your library. MEN TO MATCH MY MOUNTAINS by Irving Stone. Everyone here will enjoy learning about Crazy Judah, Horace Tabor, and Baby Doe. A must read for any numismatist.
If one looks at pre Civil War (61-65) or pre Comstock Lode 1859 silver
deposits at the SFBM they run the gamut of available silver. I have seen deposits of foreign silver coins like
French Francs, or Mexican coin I.e. half dollars, Spanish dollars, Bolivian half dollars and dollars, Rupees, jewelry, silverware, church artifacts from Mexico, US coin, and of course silver bars in the record books. You name it.
When the Branch Mint first opened
for coinage in April of 1854 , they actually had a silver shortage. While silver is a natural alloy found in California gold the coinage refining process required 2 parts of silver for every 1 part of gold. There was
also a shortage of parting acids used in the refining process. The P
Mint sent the SFBM bars of refined silver to assist them in the early refining process and small silver
coins to be paid out to depositors.
In February of 1855, a California newspaper mistakenly reported that Barry & Patton had received newly minted Branch Mint quarters for their deposit of French francs. When in reality they had actually received Seated quarters struck at the P mint via the SFBM.
The half dollars and quarter dollars were first coined at the SFBM in
March of 1855.
The dimes in December of 1856.
The silver dollars were first coined in May of 1859. John S Bolton of Bolton, Barron & Co. deposited several thousand dollars worth of
Mexican silver in the form of cakes, old plate and bars in March. He
had to wait until May to receive his payout of nearly 9,000 Seated 1859 S Seated dollars.
In November of 1859 LL Lawrence arrived in SF by schooner with a cargo that newspapers referred to as silver ornaments of the altar and images. He deposited it at the SFBM (they called it Old Plate) and he was paid over $7,500 on Dec. 2nd. Not in silver dollars, probably halves or
possibly bars.
I have my grandma's copy of that book. It was read so many times that it is held together with tape. Of course with my family history there in Cali before it became a state I am absolutely fascinated with that era. Some more fascinating characters in that book are Brigham Young, William Sharon and the "Rose of Sharon" Sarah Althea Hill. Interesting times they a were.
I think I found your answer here:
https://www.ngccoin.com/boards/topic/418108-us-mint-historical-questions/
Isn't this about Colorado mines, much, much later?
bob
China
From Cap'n Henway's link:
*The earliest silver issues for the San Francisco Mint were made from melted Spanish/Mexican silver coins and from refining native California (and western North American) gold. Proportions were approximately equal.
California gold was about 0.880 fine (depending on source) and most of the natural alloy was silver. The balance was mostly copper, platinum, iridium, and osmium. Part of the recovered silver was used in alloying gold coins and as business increased at the Mint, enough was available to produce silver coins. These coins were in high demand locally. (The San Francisco Mint was the only government mint and refinery in North America west of the Mississippi River. Customers came from Canada and Mexico as well as the US territories.*
Thankee Cap.
I wish they had melted markup language.
Never know what to expect when posting and learn by error.
Basically, the book is about the settlement of the inter-mountain West from the 1840's-1890's. Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California, with the mining activity playing a prominent role. As an aside, I'm amazed to learn that SaorAlba's family roots go back in California history, as do mine, before it became a state. I thought I was the only one left. To find out that there are two of us on this forum is AMAZING. SIMPLY AMAZING!
P.S. Actually I've known two other families, since childhood, who were here before statehood. The Weaver family who's ancestor was Pauline Weaver, a noteworthy Mountain Man, and the Guffy family. The Guffy house is the oldest in Riverside, County and the site of many historical events of early California. My father and Mr. Guffy were life long friends.
As I recall, before the Coinage Act of 1873 U.S. gold coins were only allowed to have up to 5% silver alloy. Therefore, they had to remove silver from the raw gold to bring the gold up to 90% AND the silver down to 5%. I assume that some copper was added to replace it.
That said, the naturally-occurring trace elements can give early San Francisco gold coins some wonderful colors!
TD
My great grandfather was a 49'er and made a fortune in the streams of N. Cal before he moved to NV in 1859. Rinckel, CA was named after him (it's now under Lake McCloud). Mathew Mathias Rinckel if you want to google.
bob
I don't think that 5% silver alloy maximum was an enforced rule at the various mints until a discrepancy was noted by Snowden.
Per the article linked below:
"Mr. Birdsall noted in his book that apparently the Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, James Ross Snowden, had written to Dahlonega Mint Superintendent Julius Patton (in September1853), where he pointed out that the coins produced at the Dahlonega Mint were a different color than those made at Philadelphia. Mr. Birdsall did not have access to Mr. Snowden's letter, but its content can be inferred by the reply letter sent by Supt. Patton on October8, 1853. Patton states that he had maintained a silver content of 73 (parts per thousand), "but would now change to comply with your late instruction." Although the X-ray fluorescence analyses above do not confirm the 73 parts per thousand of silver claimed by Supt. Patton, they do indicate a significant drop in the silver content in 1854, in apparent compliance with Snowden's directive. Oddly, Supt. Patton’s claim of 73 parts per thousand of silver is actually above the legal limit of 50 parts per thousand. According to Mr. Birdsall, Mint Director Snowden claimed that the silver content of the Philadelphia coins was 8 parts per thousand, even lower than the 11.3 parts per thousand for the 1855 Philadelphia Mint gold dollar that was analyzed by Union Carbide. It should be noted that there may be 1853-dated Dahlonega half eagles (and possibly quarter eagles) that were minted in late 1853, after the Dahlonega Mint was directed to reduce the silver content, that have a silver content more inline with the 1854 Dahlonega coins that were analyzed."
https://www.goldrushgallery.com/news/coloration.html
My uncle's father made a fortune sitting in a bar in Jenny Lind, CA drinking and ....LOANING.... miners FIVE BUCKS
(which was the rate to file a claim) and making the condition that the miner could keep the gold and give him the land the claim sat on.
Thousands of acres of ...nearly free.... grazing land.
You're probably being cheeky, but China doesnt have it's own silver deposits. In the 19th Century most of its silver came from Mexico.
8 Reales Madness Collection
Exactly.
In March of 1855 when the fist SF BM halves and quarters were struck
The dominant silver being deposited was in the form of French silver francs That is what the Branch Mint’s Record Books show.
Thousands of them.
Of course silver from Mexico would become a significant source too
Washoe or Comstock lode silver doesn’t really show up until the 3rd
Quarter of 1860 and a significant amount of Washoe silver bars are deposited in 1861 forward at the
SFBM
Like I stated earlier all kinds of Silver was deposited I would like
Chilean coin etc even some German coin
8 Reales Madness Collection