Photos or records of on-site exposition minting?

Zoins

Back in the late 1800s (and early 1900s?) the US Mint and George Bache Soley would do on-site minting at expositions such as the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition and 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

Are there any photos or contemporary text of the on-site minting exhibits and equipment?

RogerB

Columbian Exposition photos are on-line in several sites when a photo of each exhibit is shown.

The PPIE of 1915 has photos of the Treasury display including the press used to strike 30mm medals.

Zoins

Old Thread Update

Just ran across this photo from the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYPE) in the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division collection. Of course, this doesn't look like the actual press they used to do the striking, but more of a presentation / museum exhibit.

Mint Exhibit with coin-making machinery, Fisheries Building in United States Government Building, Alaska-Yukon-Pacific

thisistheshow

Thank you for the update. Very cool picture

Nysoto

@Zoins thanks for image. It would have been a substantial shipping effort, the tracks over Snoqualmie Pass were finishing in March of 1909, or they could have come up through Tacoma.

RogerB

The Treasury Department records, RG 56, have detailed project files for every exhibition in which Treasury or mint participated. No coins were struck at these events, but on-site production of medals was common. Most medals were priced at 50-cents.