Alchemy at the Philadelphia Mint? Is that where gold coins really came from?
RogerB
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Alchemists Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan (aka: Geber), Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (aka: Paracelsus), and the venerated Isaac Newton sought to transmute lead and other base metals into gold and sometimes silver. The quest did not end with the Age of Enlightenment.
In 1897 we find the U.S Mint enlisted to test patent claims of successful transmutation by Edward C. Brice of Chicago. Here’s an excerpt from the introductory request for help by the Interior Department.
After detailed testing occasionally frustrated by “pure metal” that was laced with impurities, the Mint declared Brice’s quest a failure, and went back to assaying gold and silver coins.
To learn more about Mr. Brice, a Google search will reveal many newspaper articles and fantastic claims. Evidently Mr. Brice did not know that all he really needed was a fire-breathing flying dragon to melt the metal….. ?
Comments
DId the Mint file this one in the "crank letters" file?
Amazing the Mint let this guy past the front door. Must have been a slow day...I bet the boys had a few yucks in the local tavern after work.
I would really like to have been there to witness that event.... I wonder what form of legerdemain he intended to employ? Did he really believe he could fool the experts? Cheers, RickO
After I transcribe and consolidate all the alchemy documents, it should make an interesting and funny story. The Interior Dept. called on Mint HQ to test Brice's "gold making" patent claim, after Brice requested Mint expertise. The tests were not trivial and involved considerable time and expense to complete. Regrettably, Brice didn't get his patent, and the Mint had to resort to traditional mining sources for gold and silver. [Board member "denga" sent me some pages about an alleged 1799 alchemy experiment at the Mint. I agree with him that is all sounded fishy -- very old 'fishy.']
(The entire incident is unknown to modern numismatics although there were several contemporary newspaper and journal article's about Brice's claims. The original documents were discovered while searching and scanning document boxes at NARA a few weeks ago. BTW - while there this morning, I came across a cryptic letter referring to some "secret" coinage experiments Barber did for the Sec of Treasury. These included coined samples....! Hoping more will turn up when I return on Saturday.)
Strangely, the mint seemed to take all letters seriously -- even the one from a fellow who proposed opening graves, taking out gold teeth, and adding them to the national stockpile. The official reply was appreciative of the suggestion but entirely negative for the letter writer.