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Where are the specially saved Columbian halves today?
Zoins
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The Columbian half Wikipedia page has some interesting information on the release of the coins. Coin numbers 1, 400, 1492 and 1892 were removed from general distribution. The article says the First Strike coin went to the precursor of the Field Museum but doesn't mention where the rest went. Can the First Strike coin be viewed at the museum today? Do we know where coins 400, 1492 and 1892 are?
I have to say it's pretty cool to have OGP kegs. Are any of the Mint kegs still around? Was it common to distribute coins in kegs and if not, where any other coins distributed using kegs?
<< <i>On December 15, the Mint shipped five kegs of the new coins, each holding 10,000 pieces, to Chicago. Each keg held five bags with a thousand coins each, though in one keg, one bag was intentionally short four coins, as also in that keg was a cigar box containing four envelopes, with coins number 1, 400, 1492, and 1892 from the first day of production. The kegs were taken to the Chicago Sub-Treasury, and on December 19 at 1:00 pm conveyed to Room 404 of the Rand McNally Building, the exposition's headquarters. There, Harlow N. Higinbotham, president of the Exposition Company, took mallet and chisel in hand and opened the keg, removing the cigar box. Placing three of the envelopes in his pocket, he displayed the first coin to the assembled crowd, then exchanged it for a check—Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict (later the Remington Typewriter Company and makers of the official typewriter of the fair), was purchasing the first coin struck for $10,000 as a publicity stunt.[21] That coin was donated to the newly established Columbian Museum (today the Field Museum).[22][23] >>
I have to say it's pretty cool to have OGP kegs. Are any of the Mint kegs still around? Was it common to distribute coins in kegs and if not, where any other coins distributed using kegs?
<< <i>On December 15, the Mint shipped five kegs of the new coins, each holding 10,000 pieces, to Chicago. Each keg held five bags with a thousand coins each, though in one keg, one bag was intentionally short four coins, as also in that keg was a cigar box containing four envelopes, with coins number 1, 400, 1492, and 1892 from the first day of production. The kegs were taken to the Chicago Sub-Treasury, and on December 19 at 1:00 pm conveyed to Room 404 of the Rand McNally Building, the exposition's headquarters. There, Harlow N. Higinbotham, president of the Exposition Company, took mallet and chisel in hand and opened the keg, removing the cigar box. Placing three of the envelopes in his pocket, he displayed the first coin to the assembled crowd, then exchanged it for a check—Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict (later the Remington Typewriter Company and makers of the official typewriter of the fair), was purchasing the first coin struck for $10,000 as a publicity stunt.[21] That coin was donated to the newly established Columbian Museum (today the Field Museum).[22][23] >>
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I haven't ready any specific references regarding how silver coins were shipped, although they were probably shipped in kegs as well. (I have read references to silver coins being stored in kegs and one could infer that the coins were stored in their shipping containers.) I believe that copper cents, in the early 19th century, were shipped in kegs.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
How much would a keg of gold coins weigh?
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