Back from vacation...Numismatic book report: Part 1
RYK
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I am back from a week at the beach with the family and had the opportunity and inclination to read two numismatic books while away: Bowers' "Adventures with Rare Coins" and "The Neighborhood Mint: Dahlonega in the Age of Jackson". I expect that both of these books have been reviewed in the past, perhaps exhaustively, but I will give them both my own reviews in two parts, starting with "The Neighborhood Mint" tonight. (If you find this OT, boring, unnecessary or otherwise a waste of my time and yours, please PM me, and I will not complete the second report.) 
There are occasional threads here (What excites you about Dahlonega?) and queries as to what makes Dahlonega coins so intriguing, especially in light of how relatively poorly struck the coins are. There are numerous interesting historical tie-ins to Dahlonega, the Georgia gold rush of the early 19th century, and the Civil War. One recurring theme for me that as remote as Dahlonega is today (a blip on the map with no major highway to service it), it was equally remote in the 19th century when gold was found in Dahlonega, in what was then Cherokee Indian country. Supplies and qualified labor were very difficult to obtain, and the lack of adequate supplies and workmen made the business of the mint extremely challenging, far more difficult than in Philadelphia. Another interesting point is that the key positions in the Mint were awarded by the political machines in power in Washington, DC at the time. Sitting Presidents actually were involved in the decision of who was to become the Superintendent of the Mint. To me, this would seem to be a trivial matter for the President of the U.S. The third point of interest to me was how gold was coined--not the mechanics and machinery-but that miners brought their freshly mined gold nuggets and flakes to the mint, the material was assayed, the coins were minted, often several weeks after the gold was presented, and the miners received coins in return (with a small percentage in value taken to help defray some of the expenses of the process).
Chapters 1 and 2 covers the largest period of time starting with the discovery of gold in the Appalachains, and more specifically, in Dahlonega by Benny Parks in 1828. In Cherokee, not surprisingly, the word "DAHLONEGA" means "gold." Apparently, the place was literally covered with the precious metal and miners and speculators came early and removed much of the gold from the region. In the early 1830's the creation of the branch mint system and the specifics are discussed. Ignatius Few was charged by the government to arrange for the construction of the mint, a duty that he attended to primarily on an absentee basis, as he lived out of town and had additional responsibilities as a Reverend and a university founder and educator. Eventually, the mint was constructed (though rather poorly), as throughout its life, until it burned to the ground in the 1870's, the building had numerous and recurrent structural problems. Chapter 2 ends with future Civil War hero then Major General Winfield Scott escorting the Cherokees out of Georgia in the "Trail of Tears."
In chapter 3, the first coins are minted. Though gold was coming in rapidly, there were early supply issues (tough to get silver and copper
for the alloy), the roof was leaking badly, etc. The first mint superintendent Joseph Singleton was a rather mediocre administrator. Fortunately, the chief assayer, Dr. Joseph Farnum, ws second to none and worked tirelessly as an assayer and performing other functions within the mint.
In succeeding chapters, one learns about the brutality of politics, the pervasiveness of nepotism and alcoholism, and relative lack of importance of qualifications and job performance in hiring and firing mint personnel. By the 1850's, Georgia gold was in short supply, but California gold was coming back east and allowed the mint to stay busy for the succeeding years. Interestingly, Georgia gold was considerably more "fine" than California gold, the latter requiring additional processing ("parting") before it could be made into coins. By the time the State of Georgia took over the mint in 1861, one could have made the argument that the mint was an unnecessary expediture for the US government. However, like any good government "pork" project, once it gets started, it is hard to stop. In fact, the US government continued to pay salaries in 1861 for a while after Superintendent Kellogg had declared the mint to be controlled by Georgia, not the US Treasury.
During the Civil War, the mint was occupied first by Confederate troops and then by Federal troops. After the Civil War, the Treasury Department tried to sell the mint but received no reasonable bid ("did not hit the reserve") and the property was transferred in 1871 to the North Georgia Agricultural College, but burned to the foundation eight years later.
The book, written by Sylvia Gailey Head and Elizabeth W. Etheridge, was published first in 1986 and reprinted more recently in 2000 by the Gold Rush Gallery. There are 206 pages, including index, appendix, and glossary. There are about ten contemporary photographs. It is a fun and interesting read that has further piqued my interest in Dahlonega gold. It is available (along with a lot of nice Dahlonega gold coins) from the
Gold Rush Gallery.
There are occasional threads here (What excites you about Dahlonega?) and queries as to what makes Dahlonega coins so intriguing, especially in light of how relatively poorly struck the coins are. There are numerous interesting historical tie-ins to Dahlonega, the Georgia gold rush of the early 19th century, and the Civil War. One recurring theme for me that as remote as Dahlonega is today (a blip on the map with no major highway to service it), it was equally remote in the 19th century when gold was found in Dahlonega, in what was then Cherokee Indian country. Supplies and qualified labor were very difficult to obtain, and the lack of adequate supplies and workmen made the business of the mint extremely challenging, far more difficult than in Philadelphia. Another interesting point is that the key positions in the Mint were awarded by the political machines in power in Washington, DC at the time. Sitting Presidents actually were involved in the decision of who was to become the Superintendent of the Mint. To me, this would seem to be a trivial matter for the President of the U.S. The third point of interest to me was how gold was coined--not the mechanics and machinery-but that miners brought their freshly mined gold nuggets and flakes to the mint, the material was assayed, the coins were minted, often several weeks after the gold was presented, and the miners received coins in return (with a small percentage in value taken to help defray some of the expenses of the process).
Chapters 1 and 2 covers the largest period of time starting with the discovery of gold in the Appalachains, and more specifically, in Dahlonega by Benny Parks in 1828. In Cherokee, not surprisingly, the word "DAHLONEGA" means "gold." Apparently, the place was literally covered with the precious metal and miners and speculators came early and removed much of the gold from the region. In the early 1830's the creation of the branch mint system and the specifics are discussed. Ignatius Few was charged by the government to arrange for the construction of the mint, a duty that he attended to primarily on an absentee basis, as he lived out of town and had additional responsibilities as a Reverend and a university founder and educator. Eventually, the mint was constructed (though rather poorly), as throughout its life, until it burned to the ground in the 1870's, the building had numerous and recurrent structural problems. Chapter 2 ends with future Civil War hero then Major General Winfield Scott escorting the Cherokees out of Georgia in the "Trail of Tears."
In chapter 3, the first coins are minted. Though gold was coming in rapidly, there were early supply issues (tough to get silver and copper
for the alloy), the roof was leaking badly, etc. The first mint superintendent Joseph Singleton was a rather mediocre administrator. Fortunately, the chief assayer, Dr. Joseph Farnum, ws second to none and worked tirelessly as an assayer and performing other functions within the mint.
In succeeding chapters, one learns about the brutality of politics, the pervasiveness of nepotism and alcoholism, and relative lack of importance of qualifications and job performance in hiring and firing mint personnel. By the 1850's, Georgia gold was in short supply, but California gold was coming back east and allowed the mint to stay busy for the succeeding years. Interestingly, Georgia gold was considerably more "fine" than California gold, the latter requiring additional processing ("parting") before it could be made into coins. By the time the State of Georgia took over the mint in 1861, one could have made the argument that the mint was an unnecessary expediture for the US government. However, like any good government "pork" project, once it gets started, it is hard to stop. In fact, the US government continued to pay salaries in 1861 for a while after Superintendent Kellogg had declared the mint to be controlled by Georgia, not the US Treasury.
During the Civil War, the mint was occupied first by Confederate troops and then by Federal troops. After the Civil War, the Treasury Department tried to sell the mint but received no reasonable bid ("did not hit the reserve") and the property was transferred in 1871 to the North Georgia Agricultural College, but burned to the foundation eight years later.
The book, written by Sylvia Gailey Head and Elizabeth W. Etheridge, was published first in 1986 and reprinted more recently in 2000 by the Gold Rush Gallery. There are 206 pages, including index, appendix, and glossary. There are about ten contemporary photographs. It is a fun and interesting read that has further piqued my interest in Dahlonega gold. It is available (along with a lot of nice Dahlonega gold coins) from the
Gold Rush Gallery.
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