All Carson City coins have been CLEANED ... ALL of them!!!

astrorat

From "The Story of the United States Mint at Carson City, Nevada" written by Howard Hickson and published by the Nevada State Museum in 1972.

Reporting on a US Branch Mint policy (likely created by Ricko's great, great grandfather! ), Mr. Hickson writes (page 31):

"Each newly struck coin was pushed off the lower die, which fell and rose with each revolution of the bid side wheel, into a box underneath.

"Then it was immersed in a weak solution of sulphuric [sic] acid to whiten it and placed in a revolving drum filled with sawdust to be dried and polished."

Acid dipped AND polished!

With this revolutionary discovery of this long-ignored numismatic passage, I sense a new policy at PCGS: If it has a CC, it goes in a Genuine holder!

Swampboy

That must be why the sniffer was sneezing all the time.

PerryHall

I think they were refering to the planchet preparation rather than the finished struck coins.

Nysoto

Sounds more like a description of planchet preparation after annealing, before the coins were struck.

astrorat

It all depends on which "they" you are referring. If it is Hickson, the reference to struck coin is clear (and directly quoted from his text). He immediately followed with:

"The coiner weighed and counted the finished coins and presented them to the treasurer, who put them in a vault for future payment to depositors, or shipment to other mints."

It is quite possible that Hickson misinterpreted Mint records or other documents; I can't comment on his interpretation, just what he printed. I just found what he wrote to be interesting.

lcoopie

You can't believe everything you read

AUandAG

1972? Rather doubt that that information is correct. The Carson City Mint was under great scrutiny
during its years of operations. If it was done at CC then it was done everywhere. CC would not have
the option to do as they please.

It does in fact sound like planchet preparation to me. I do know that they washed the planchets and
dried them in sawdust. Perhaps the washing involved acid. That part is plausible.

bob

Gemineye

I wonder the type sawdust used...oak ..maple ..pine...!!!...

Spooly

<< <i>I wonder the type sawdust used...oak ..maple ..pine...!!!... >>




What a "sappy" thing to do!

astrorat

Just to set the "official" record straight ... I think Hickson was mistaken and this does indeed refer to planchet preparation, between annealing and striking. The US Mints (at that time) would not concerned about "improving" the appearance of coins after striking. There is no manufacturing benefit to an acid bath and sawdust polishing after striking. They just needed to have the coins ready for commerce.

I quoted the passage as I just thought it was interesting and a chance to poke a little fun at Ricko!

Nysoto

I had a silversmithing hobby/business and did much annealing - which is the process to soften sterling by heating it to 1200 F, and quenching it in a mild acid solution, or "pickling solution". The mild acid removes any firescale, which is oxidation caused by heating the silver. I exchanged some PM's with RWB on this, and he explained that the Mint does use a mild acid solution for quenching planchets.

edit - The sawdust was probably used to remove the acid quenching solution, which removes firescale from annealing, but will leave some discoloration to the silver. In silversmithing, I just polished the pickling solution off.

AUandAG

<< <i>I wonder the type sawdust used...oak ..maple ..pine...!!!... >>



Larry, it would have been Ponderosa Pine or Yellow Pine but the Ponderosa was
the wood of the area.
No oak or maples on the east slope of the Sierras.

bob

Unknown

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astrorat

<< <i>

<< <i>From "The Story of the United States Mint at Carson City, Nevada" written by Howard Hickson and published by the Nevada State Museum in 1972.

Reporting on a US Branch Mint policy (likely created by Ricko's great, great grandfather! ), Mr. Hickson writes (page 31):

"Each newly struck coin was pushed off the lower die, which fell and rose with each revolution of the bid side wheel, into a box underneath.

"Then it was immersed in a weak solution of sulphuric [sic] acid to whiten it and placed in a revolving drum filled with sawdust to be dried and polished."

Acid dipped AND polished!

With this revolutionary discovery of this long-ignored numismatic passage, I sense a new policy at PCGS: If it has a CC, it goes in a Genuine holder! >>



1st off quoting 2 sentences can easily be taken out of context.
2ndly quoting a modern day author has little to do with something that actually took place 100+ years ago.
This is why I enjoyed RWB, he would go to the original source materials and fully copy it and then report it. The above is unfortunately completely worthless imho and can't effectively be commented on or relied upon. >>

Come on! Did you really get the sense I was serious about all CC coins being cleaned? Really?

Edited to add ... at least Swampboy understood the humor in the OP.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

astrorat

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>From "The Story of the United States Mint at Carson City, Nevada" written by Howard Hickson and published by the Nevada State Museum in 1972.

Reporting on a US Branch Mint policy (likely created by Ricko's great, great grandfather! ), Mr. Hickson writes (page 31):

"Each newly struck coin was pushed off the lower die, which fell and rose with each revolution of the bid side wheel, into a box underneath.

"Then it was immersed in a weak solution of sulphuric [sic] acid to whiten it and placed in a revolving drum filled with sawdust to be dried and polished."

Acid dipped AND polished!

With this revolutionary discovery of this long-ignored numismatic passage, I sense a new policy at PCGS: If it has a CC, it goes in a Genuine holder! >>



1st off quoting 2 sentences can easily be taken out of context.
2ndly quoting a modern day author has little to do with something that actually took place 100+ years ago.
This is why I enjoyed RWB, he would go to the original source materials and fully copy it and then report it. The above is unfortunately completely worthless imho and can't effectively be commented on or relied upon. >>

Come on! Did you really get the sense I was serious about all CC coins being cleaned? Really?

Edited to add ... at least Swampboy understood the humor in the OP. >>



No I didn't think you meant 100% but I did think you were making the point that maybe the tpg's might be a bit harsh when grading these and bbing them for cleaning. Why should I assume you are joking, last I looked this was a numismatic forum not the comedy store >>

Ah ... no attempt at a commentary about TPGs ... other than they should now change their policies and B'Bag all CC coins!

[Warning: For all those just joining the thread or who are numismatically wound a bit too tight ... the above recommendation for a change in TPG policy on CC coins is a JOKE!]

Broadstruck

Astrorat glad to see Hooked on Phonics worked for you and your reading!

cmerlo1

This is when I wish RWB were still here...

I think if this had actually been done to struck coins, all of those lovely GSA dollars would've looked a lot different...

astrorat

<< <i>Astrorat glad to see Hooked on Phonics worked for you and your reading!

>>

Um ... am I missing the joke? I like a good self-deprecating joke as much as the next fella ... but I don't get this one.

johnny9434

it sure is odd to read some of the stuff they believed in back in the day.

astrorat

<< <i>it sure is odd to read some of the stuff they believed in back in the day. >>

My guess is that Hickson was not a numismatic scholar and just misinterpreted something he found Mint reports or the Nevada State Museum records.

LoveMyLiberty

Contained in the following reference books are lengthy discussions of the
minting process in the late 1800's.

Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace Dollars
by Van Allen & Mallis

United States Gold Coins an Illustrated History
by Q. David Bowers

Both books consistently describe the cleaning stage that follows the
"upsetting" procedure, which is:

After upsetting, the planchets were returned to the Cleaning Room, or Whitening Room to be
annealed and cleaned again. They were heated to a cherry red, cleaned and then whitened by
being dipped into a weak solution of sulfuric acid and water to remove any tarnish or oxidation caused
by the heat of annealing. Yes, that's right! After a thorough rinsing in boiling water they were dried
and brightened in a Revolving Riddle with sawdust. The sawdust used was Basswood, from the Tallia
tree, also called the American linded tree. This type of wood, found in the north/east of the U.S., was
preferred because it has very little resin in the wood.

Sounds, perhaps, like a misplaced printing error in Hickson's book.