History research paper.
coppercoins
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I'm taking College American History (discovery to Civil War) this semester, and one of the requirements of the class is to do research and write a paper on a topic...what better topic to choose than coinage? So, here's my idea; I'd like to bounce it off you as the audience and have you tell me if you think it sounds like a plan. Then when I write the paper I will post it here for all to read.
The idea surrounds general history of the US mint. I have decided that it might be neat if I take a couple of paragraphs and explain the opening and closing (when applicable) of each of the mints that have made US coins (P, D, D, S, O, CC, C, W). I want to name reasons why the government found it necessary to have each mint, how busy they were, and if they closed, why.
For instance, I believe Charlotte opened because of the discovery of gold at Reed's Mine about 50 miles to the East. A farmer named Reed had some workers digging near a creek on his property when they stumbled upon a 24 pound nugget of gold. They panned the area, found more gold, and ended up digging a mine. The mine successfully pulled gold for a number of years, but when the mine dried up, so did the mint. Both the mine and the mint are open for tours....something like that, but with a little more precise dates, more careful writing style, and more detail.
Another thing I might need a little help on is that I have to have five sources (no problem) but two of the five have to be primary sources. That means they have to have been written first hand back when the event took place. Anyone have any suggestions as to specific primary sources for such an essay?
So, what's the concensus?
The idea surrounds general history of the US mint. I have decided that it might be neat if I take a couple of paragraphs and explain the opening and closing (when applicable) of each of the mints that have made US coins (P, D, D, S, O, CC, C, W). I want to name reasons why the government found it necessary to have each mint, how busy they were, and if they closed, why.
For instance, I believe Charlotte opened because of the discovery of gold at Reed's Mine about 50 miles to the East. A farmer named Reed had some workers digging near a creek on his property when they stumbled upon a 24 pound nugget of gold. They panned the area, found more gold, and ended up digging a mine. The mine successfully pulled gold for a number of years, but when the mine dried up, so did the mint. Both the mine and the mint are open for tours....something like that, but with a little more precise dates, more careful writing style, and more detail.
Another thing I might need a little help on is that I have to have five sources (no problem) but two of the five have to be primary sources. That means they have to have been written first hand back when the event took place. Anyone have any suggestions as to specific primary sources for such an essay?
So, what's the concensus?
C. D. Daughtrey, NLG
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com
My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com
My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.
0
Comments
Go to http://money.org or email library@money.org. They are great people to work with and VERY helpful!
Jeremy
United States Mint history.
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com
My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
The Lincoln cent store:
http://www.lincolncent.com
My numismatic art work:
http://www.cdaughtrey.com
USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.
...and there was much rejoiceing......
Which Mint was it that was taken over by the North in the Civil War or am I thinking of something else...
I vaguely remember reading about some such thing....history buffs help me out on this one.
Here's another article on the B & M site that you must have. Great reading.
I thought I remembered reading this.
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
http://www.coinworld.com/ebay/NewCollector/ebayMintHistory.asp
http://www.coinsite.com/content/articles/INDEX.asp
http://www.pcgs.com/coinguidetext/display_chapter.chtml?chapter=mints
http://www.pcgs.com/coinguidetext/display_chapter.chtml?chapter=design
Here`s my two cents to help along. Keep in touch with us on how it goes.
<< <i>Which Mint was it that was taken over by the North in the Civil War or am I thinking of something else... >>
I believe you are thinking of the New Orleans mint which was first taken over by the State of Louisiana, then it was taken over by the Confederacy, then it was taken over and vandalized by the Union forces.
This should serve your interest quite well as a primary source -
A Treatise on the Coinage of the United States Branch Mints
By the way - there are several journals & newpaper articles published on-line that were written by those who were personally involved with the discovery of gold in the SE United States. Just do a bit of searching and you'll run across them. If you have trouble finding them let me know & I'll point the way. Don't want to do all of the work for you
Good luck with the paper.
What a great topic. It is the history that drew me to coin collecting and I have a great interest in the Dahlonega Mint. I would love to read your research paper upon completion. Good Luck!
"There is no precise record of just what went on at the Mint during the first year. However, the general conditions under which work was carried on, and some of the difficulties peculiar to the undertaking are known. All employees worked 11 hour days, 66 hours a week, beginning at six in the morning during the summer and at seven during the winter. Average pay for the coin press operators was $1.29 per day. All power was furnished by horses and humans muscle. The rolling machinery (for the manufacture of strips from which planchets were cut) fell short of expectations. For a decade or more there was chronic and often acute shortage of copper as well as great variability in the assay and consequently in the color and hardness of that metal. We have only begun the list of hardships and difficulties. The struggle to manufacture copper planchets was apparently heroic."
James Ruddy adds -
"During the early years of the Philadelphia Mint, copper supplies were erratic. Sources included reclaimed hoops from wooden barrels, melted down cannon from the Revolutionary War, copper sheathing from roofs and ship bottoms, and metal taken from other coins and tokens."
It's easy to understand the varied appearance of these coins, and the problem they had with streaked planchets. It's a pretty interesting read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in the mint process.
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
Text
I doubt that there is a whole lot of information out there as it never got beyond the proposal stage. They did have a building chosen for the proposed mint and it is still standing today and is today, I believe, a feed store.
the Charlotte mint but was eliminated because of transportation issues. There
was a private minter there however. Sounds like a great concept for a paper
and look forward to reading it.
Here's a link you'll like.
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
Two books that will be a big help as far as documentation from that time period are Birdsall's books on the Charlotte and Dahlonega. These books contain some of the original correspondence from the directors of the Mint's, handwritten sections from the Mint logbooks and even the original surveys of the Mint property along with a very detailed accounts of the building, opening, operating and eventually shutting down of these faciities. If you're an ANA member you can might be able to borrow them from their library.