Post a coin that is more than 100 years old - because 101 years ago this date .......

1630Boston

Post a coin that is more than 100 years old

The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 killed 21 after 2 million gallon tank erupted
The wave moved at 35 miles per hour and was 25 feet high and 160 feet wide at its outset as it rushed through the city's densely populated North End.

By Ben Kesslen
On Jan. 15, 1919, at around 12:30 p.m., Boston Police patrolman Frank McManus was at a call box reporting back to headquarters when he heard a loud scraping and grinding noise. Pausing to figure out the source, he suddenly found himself overcome with shock.

McManus managed to make out to the dispatcher: “Send all available rescue vehicles and personnel immediately — there’s a wave of molasses coming down Commercial Street," according to Stephen Puleo, historian and author of “Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919.”

The wave was 2.3 million gallons, moving at 35 miles per hour, 25 feet high and 160 feet wide at its outset, rushing through the city's crowded and densely populated North End.

A massive, 50-foot-high steel tank holding the molasses had ruptured. People in its direct path were immediately swallowed, drowned and asphyxiated by the notoriously viscous substance.

Within seconds, two city blocks were flooded. Puleo told NBC News that the tide of molasses ripped the Engine 31 Firehouse from its foundation, almost sweeping the building into the Boston Harbor. The brown wave busted windows, overturned railcars and flooded homes. By sunset, 21 people were dead, 150 were injured and the North End looked like it had been bombed.

1630Boston

So please post an old coin

bearcave

WOW!

coinbuf

Interesting story and what a mess that must have been to clean up.

1630Boston

@coinbuf said:
Interesting story and what a mess that must have been to clean up.

Especially in January, in Boston because it cooled quickly and made it hard to move debris while searching for people.

BryceM

I've read about this before....... Not to diminish the tragedy, but it's always seemed a bit odd that a person could be overtaken by flowing molasses. Kind of like being assaulted by a sloth.

This one is over 100 years old, but it wasn't when I bought it:

ricko

What a horrible way to go.... I had not heard of this event... What a mess that must have been. Thanks for the history and picture....Cheers, RickO

BackroadJunkie

Yeah, it was a real sticky situation...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMjx80xBC_w

koynekwest

divecchia

Living just outside of Boston and having visited the North End frequently in my youth I was aware of this story. I remember as a child in the 1970's people talking about it with my dad.

Thanks for sharing it.

Donato

jmlanzaf

So, "slow as molasses" means 35 miles per hour?

1630Boston

@BryceM said:
I've read about this before....... Not to diminish the tragedy, but it's always seemed a bit odd that a person could be overtaken by flowing molasses. Kind of like being assaulted by a sloth.

THE STICKY TSUNAMI
If you're familiar with the phrase “slow as molasses,” it’s hard to make sense of the 1919 flood. Dr. Nicole Sharp, a science communicator and an expert in fluid dynamics, said that when she heard the 35-mph number, she was surprised. “One of my first questions was, is that number plausible?” she said.

Sharp decided to look into the science behind the flood, along with a team of scientists at Harvard. “I found that the initial wave could have moved at that speed,” she said.

Sharp said the flood could be broken down into two stages, with the first called “The Tsunami.”

“Molasses is 1.5 times heavier than water. It’s very dense,” Sharp said. The tank, piled so high with molasses, stored a large amount of potential energy. When the tank ruptured, all that potential energy became kinetic energy. “The fact that the molasses is extremely viscous doesn't matter for the first 60-90 seconds. The inertia is so much more powerful than the forces that can be moved by the viscosity.”

When the tank broke and the molasses exploded, there was no outrunning it. “When the initial wave came through, it just pulverized everything,” Sharp said. People’s bones were crushed, their bodies thrown onto buildings and train cars. Many survivors had broken backs and fractured skulls

Sailors helping with the rescue after the Great Boston Molasses Flood in 1919.

1630Boston

Beautiful coin @divecchia

mannie gray

I had not heard of this before.
Thank you for sharing the history lesson........

crazyhounddog

Whoa!! I’ve never heard of this until now. Thank you for the history.

1630Boston

Can anyone guess why they had 2.3 million gallons of molasses?

here's a coin

Downtown1974

What a crazy story. I’ve heard of it before but never researched it. Good read for sure.

Kliao

1630Boston

@koynekwest and @crazyhounddog actually had 1919 dated coins, very nice

asheland

1909, ten years prior:

1630Boston

The molasses was used to make dynamite !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A U.S. Industrial Alcohol (USIA) subsidiary, Purity Distilling Co., built the tank in 1915 to keep up with increasing demand for military weapons. The tank stored molasses from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the West Indies, which was then brought to a distillery in East Cambridge and turned into industrial alcohol. Companies in the U.S., England, and France bought the alcohol, which they desperately needed to make dynamite, smokeless powder and other explosives used in World War I

markelman1125

Compared my gold eagle to examples at the MFA Boston 👍

SaorAlba

I remember reading in the Boston Herald when I was a kid that sometimes during particularly hot days that people could still smell molasses in the late '70s and early '80s.

coinsarefun

Dang @crazyhounddog that is a Buffalo to be envious of!!
.
.
@1680boston I just read or watched this a few months back and was astounded by that.
I also can understand how it happened, however crazy this sounds.
.
.
I always loved the Boston Numismatic Society’s design.
.

CaptMorgans

Unknown

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fastfreddie

Photo credit to GFRC.

1630Boston

That is a great quarter @Flackthat

WillieBoyd2

It was probably not a news story here:

British India Rupee 1919

bearcave

I don't know how to open it!

1630Boston

@WillieBoyd2 said:
It was probably not a news story here:

Perhaps not but I'm sure it was here : Cuba, Puerto Rico and the West Indies, the U.S., England, and France.

The molasses was used to make dynamite !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A U.S. Industrial Alcohol (USIA) subsidiary, Purity Distilling Co., built the tank in 1915 to keep up with increasing demand for military weapons. The tank stored molasses from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the West Indies, which was then brought to a distillery in East Cambridge and turned into industrial alcohol. Companies in the U.S., England, and France bought the alcohol, which they desperately needed to make dynamite, smokeless powder and other explosives used in World War I

Lakesammman

Wow - never heard of it - fascinating reading - thanks for posting!

kaz

Still amazes me that it actually happened!

mirabela

Bad picture of a pretty good coin. I just finished reading Dennis Lehane's excellent novel The Given Day, which is set in Boston from the arrival of the flu epidemic in 1918 through the aftermath of the police strike in 1919, and the molasses flood features prominently. If you like a good man-vs-social-injustice story set in a closely researched history, and/or you have Boston connections, I suggest it with enthusiasm.

yosclimber

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKKJV0Aiiv0

She had a West coast strut that was sweet as molasses
Now, what really knocked me out was her cheap sunglasses

crazyhounddog

An Indian I just picked up I'll do a thread on when I get more time.

crazyhounddog

@kaz said:
Still amazes me that it actually happened!

@kaz This walker is very easy on the eyes. Very nice.

Sandman70gt

Way cool story, hadn't heard that one and also didn't know that molasses was used for explosives.
Thanks for sharing.

Baley

@1630Boston said:
Can anyone guess why they had 2.3 million gallons of molasses?

>

I get why they had so much molasses but why in One Huge Tank? Why not a couple or few smaller ones?

1northcoin

1northcoin

@1northcoin said:

Thanks Boston.

If interested, here are some details about the pictured coin:

The attribution as provided by firstmint with regard to my 1850 Double Eagle:

"That is certainly a distinctive coin. However, in 1949, when Max Mehl catalogued it, he disagreed with the Proof designation.

Mehl had numerous real twenty dollar proofs (from 1871 to 1907) in the same sale to compare this item with, including a 1904, that Green purchased as a Proof, that Mehl correctly catalogued as "brilliant uncirculated with proof surface".

To have this in a TPG holder now, and labeled as a Proof (according to Breen) is a real misnomer. There is no evidence there were any ever presented as special pieces.

IMO, the coin is a first strike from the regular production dies, that happened to get saved and ended up in numismatic channels.

That would be the real story behind this nice coin.

Edited to add the rest of the story -

After doing some quick research and looking for an answer to the reason for such a coin being saved, I uncovered the original appearance for this particular coin.

It came from the James B. Longacre estate (the coin's designer), and was sold in the January 21, 1870 auction sale conducted by
M(oses) Thomas & Sons in Philadelphia. It was lot #178.

The lot description was: "1850, Double Eagle, proof. This piece was from the first dies used for the double eagle, and might be termed a trial piece."

There were also three 1848 CAL Quarter Eagles listed as being proof. However, most everything in the past that was prooflike has been catalogued and sold as a proof, even though that is not the case.

I believe the J B Longacre pedigree (as a first strike) is much more significant than the C W Green listing as a proof w/ enhanced surfaces."

In response to firstmint's attribution, numisma of O.C. Rare Coin & Bullion added:

"I believe the J B Longacre pedigree (as a first strike) is much more significant than the C W Green listing as a proof w/ enhanced surfaces.

I agree. That is an important fact that you provided northcoin and can only add to the allure and historical significance of the piece (as well as the value). Nice work firstmint! This is proof that it pays to have an extensive library.

In today's fast pace numismatic world coins are traded quickly and often. As such, provenance and other historical facts associated with the coins tend to get lost in the transactions, which is regretful. "

The following may also be if interest to anyone who has read this far with regard to my 1850 Double Eagle:

As noted on the holder, it once belonged to C.W. Green. Interestingly in reading Breen's book cataloging gold proofs I came across a reference by Breen to the very coin. He noted that there were possibly several Presentation Pieces a/k/a proofs made of the first $20 gold piece available for circulation in 1850. He went on to note that Green was reported to have one, but that he had never seen it himself. In addition, the coin is featured on CoinFacts.com as its first described "Significant example" of the 1850 Double Eagle, and CoinFacts further notes under Mintage, "Proofs: Unique?"

An added personal footnote to the story. When David Bowers was compiling his book on Double Eagles I afforded him an opportunity to view the coin and to my surprise he kindly added my name to the credits for sharing the coin. ) At the time David Bowers was compiling his book on Double Eagles the coin's earlier auction history and connection to Longacre's personal collection, as above described, had not yet been learned.

In addition, here is the above referenced "Coin Facts" description of the coin and its more recent auction history:

Significant examples:
SEGS Proof-62, "Presentation/PL, enhanced surfaces". Ex - Superior Galleries' "Pre-Long Beach Sale" May 27-29, 2001, Lot 4170A, where it was described as follows: "1850 SEGS graded Proof 62 marked "Presentation/PL" and " Enhanced Surfaces". The coin is also pedigreed to Dr. C. W. Green and so noted on the holder. This is the first collectible issue of the United States Double Eagle series. This coin has a beautiful bold strike with full stars and all other details sharp and clear. The fields are Prooflike and you can see clearly with magnification that the dies and planchet were enhanced prior to striking..."

1630Boston

@Attumra
I always like the design of the early 1900's Canadian Coins.

1northcoin

Thanks again Boston. Here is a link to a thread for even more details on the above pictured 1850 Double Eagle as a consequence of Roger Burdette's impressive research on the general subject of 1850 Double Eagle "Proofs."

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/11974543#Comment_11974543

koynekwest

Kkathyl

I’m pretty sure it’s over 100 years old

1630Boston

OKbustchaser

OKbustchaser

coinsarefun

Paradisefound

One of my fav

1630Boston