Philadelphia Visit, site of the first mint!
AnkurJ
Posts: 11,370 ✭✭✭✭
Will post a detailed report later, but just wanted to share this with those who have not seen it:
All coins kept in bank vaults.
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
0
Comments
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
-Paul
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
Nice trip exploring Philly!
I wish they had more about coins and their history in Philadelphia. SO many classics were made there!
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
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This is just an artists conception painted in or around 1918 and was commissioned by Frank Stewart, there are no known paintings of the Mint from this time period.
There would have been other buildings on all sides of the 1st mint building, as this was located in downtown Philadelphia, the pastural scene is totally ficticious.
Enjoy Philly, I was there for a week last month...
QN
Go to Early United States Coins - to order the New "Early United States Half Dollar Vol. 1 / 1794-1807" book or the 1st new Bust Quarter book!
From David Sklow's current auction:
Newell, Robert & Son. PHOTOGRAPH OF YE OLDE MINT IN PHILADELPHIA, PA. Philadelphia, Pa. Sepia tone 197mm x 246mm {7 13/16 x 9 ¾ inches}. This is a photograph of monumental importance concerning the history of the first United States Mint in Philadelphia. The photograph is an original from the Newell negative, not a copy! The obverse exhibits editors cropping marks and lines at top and bottom. The reverse depicts a host of information. The stamp of R. NEWELL & SONS, COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, STUDIO ON GROUND FLOOR, 255 South 6th Street, Entrance on Manning St., PHILADELPHIA. There is a line drawn through Newell’s name. Below the Newel stamp is the stamp of Culver Pictures, Inc. 150 West 22nd Street, Suite 300, New York, New York, 10011 (212) 645-1672 and below that is the statement: This picture is loaned for one reproduction only. Must not be used for advertising without written permission. Original must be returned within 30 days. Obligatory Credit Line, Culver Pictures. Two numbers appear on the reverse also: 049334 and CH4737. Written in pencil toward the top in a circle is Oct. 1922. Culver Studios misattributed the photo to 1922. This photograph is the image that was used in Frank H. Stewart’s work, History of the First United States Mint and appears on page 14. It is well documented that Mr. Stewart hired Newell’s firm to photograph both interior and exterior of the mint. The image is crisp sepia tone, there is minor chipping at the top left and right, the two lower corners have a small diagonal cut about ¼ inch. There is an original copy of Stewarts book listed in a previous lot. Fine.
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There would have been other buildings on all sides of the 1st mint building, as this was located in downtown Philadelphia, the pastural scene is totally ficticious.
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There is at least one contemporary map which indicates that the adjacent lots were empty. I am still not totally convinced, and am looking into the title histories of the surrounding properties.
If you look at Lamasure's other work, it is clear that he romanticized just about every subject he drew. He could make downtown Hong Kong look like a peaceful forest preserve.
There were definitely many buildings in the area, and other buildings on the Mint lot itself, but the empty lots on either side may be correct.
It's too bad we don't have access to the Philadelphia city tax records for each of the structures and vacant lots. The early maps that I have seen don't seem to be that accurate for each "square" in the city.
Am looking forward to the forthcoming Frank Stewart book.
The site of the Second Mint at Juniper and Chestnut Streets (which is a block from present-day City Hall) is not marked by any plaque that I can recall. I have seen old photos of it, though. The Third Mint is the present-day Community College of Philadelphia and I believe a historical marker is in front of it.
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<< <i>There would have been other buildings on all sides of the 1st mint building, as this was located in downtown Philadelphia, the pastural scene is totally ficticious. >>
If you look at Lamasure's other work, it is clear that he romanticized just about every subject he drew. He could make downtown Hong Kong look like a peaceful forest preserve. >>
<< There would have been other buildings on all sides of the 1st mint building, as this was located in downtown Philadelphia, the pastural scene is totally ficticious. >>
If you look at Lamasure's other work, it is clear that he romanticized just about every subject he drew. He could make downtown Hong Kong look like a peaceful forest preserve. >>
I believe you. The drawing portrays a large, colonial building with tall windows and dormers. The picture shows it is rather squat and early factory-like.
The building was changed in the late 1800s. The Lamasure painting is correct as there were dormers on
the original structure. The painting was partially based on a photograph of 1854, which was reproduced
in the American Journal of Numismatics, November 1868.
Denga
However, it should be noted that the front building facing 7th St. was originally a brick structure. In the 1854 photograph, as well as the later 20th century paintings and photographs, it is painted or has been recovered with mortar to hide the bricks, so the Lamasure painting is not entirely correct for the timeframe upon which the image was based.
As for the openess surrounding the structures, there were other structures at the time which would have been visible, such as the one across the alley to the south where Henry Voigt lived.
edited to add -
The painting displays a distorted dimension of the front building based on the angle taken on the 1854 photograph. In reality, the building was basically square, measuring nearly 29 feet in width, and 32 feet in depth on the first floor.
Obviously, the plaque that is now on the building is not the original Frank Stewart bronze plaque that was put up in 1911, when the remaining original structures were razed.
The early maps that I have seen don't seem to be that accurate for each "square" in the city.
The 1790 Philidelphia Cenus gives a little bit more of the picture,
it did include Voigt, listed as a clockmaker and Eckfeldt as a blacksmith.
I also ran across an 1802 City map which does place a few buildings.
It placed the Mint on Seventh St. between Mulberry (also known as Arch)
and Water St. (also known as Market)
But still nothing really accurate to give us a real look.