The May 26, 1870 issue of the San Francisco Bulletin gives an account of the laying of the cornerstone, “this a huge block of granite, in which a cavity had been drilled for the reception of the casket, a copper box 6 inches high, 8 inches wide and 16 inches long,” for the new mint building.

Laying of the cornerstone began with a procession, as “members of the Masonic fraternity assembled at the Temple, on Montgomery street, and marched thence in full regalia to the spot, accompanied by the Second and Twelfth U.S. Artillery Bands. At 1:30 P.M., the procession filed down Mission street and into the inclosure, marching to its place between files of the Knights Templars with drawn swords and commanded by H.T. Graves.”

They were among some 5,000 attendees, as “Long before the hour set for the proceedings to begin, people commenced pouring through the gate and ranging themselves on the elevated seats erected on the northeast corner of the Mint building where the stone was laid…. “When all was ready for the ceremonies…Gen. La Grange, Superintendent of the Branch Mint…announced the invitation to the Grand Lodge to lay the cornerstone, and presented the working implements to the Grand Master.”

Among the items in the casket are minutes from state and city meetings; the latest state register, city directory and San Francisco almanac; maps of San Francisco and California; photos of San Francisco’s principal buildings; a piece of the first iron bar rolled from ores produced on the Pacific coast; samples of red, white and blue silk used for flags of the United States and California; a piece of Continental paper money dated 1776 (“valued at $800”); and one of each denomination of the 1870-dated coins struck at San Francisco.

It’s a treasure waiting to be found.

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“There has been prevalent in this country, for than a year past, a disease, which may be better termed a mania, for collecting coins. It has seized on all classes of the community, on all ages, and on both sexes. For the past three months it has not been so severe, and there is a manifest falling off in the number of cases, but as the cool season approaches, it again revives.”

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This picture is a scene or a publicity shot for the 1929 silent film “The Overland Telegraph.” A portion of the film, and this image, was shot at Glacier National Park, which at the time was home to Two Guns White Calf. Two Guns also believed he was a model for the nickel and that’s probably where John Big Tree got the idea. Anyway, despite what countless numismatic sources say, neither were used by Fraser for the design of the coin.

John is shown here with Dorothy Janis. She only made five films with only one of those being a talkie. She died last year at the age of 100.

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Coinage was from 1979-1981 and again in 1999. In 2000, it was replaced by the first of the gold-colored Sacagawea coins.

I can’t say I was ever a fan of the Anthony dollar, but I’ve always thought any criticism of the depiction couldn’t really be directed at the designer, then Mint chief engraver Frank Gasparro.

He favored a different design harking back to the original Flowing Hair Liberty for the obverse along with a dramatic eagle in flight for the reverse. Legislation, however, called for Anthony to be shown on the coin.

As can be seen from this depiction featuring original pictures of Anthony and the various stages of the coinage design process, his portrayal was accurate.

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Discovered last year, the nugget, which weighs nine pounds, is named after the area in California where it was found. It is considered to be the largest remaining nugget of its kind from the original California Gold Rush region.

I asked Don Kagin of Holabird-Kagin Americana, which is auctioning the nugget in March, if I could snap a shot of him with the rarity. It’s estimated to sell for a cool $250,000-$400,000.

Update: It sold for $460,000.

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The joke here being, as shown in a later panel, that Mutt, who finally gets a 1909 in change at cigar store, tries to sell it to Jeff only to find that Jeff was offering $10 for 1,909 Lincoln pennies and he now wanted the other 1,908.
 

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From the threat of cave-ins to explosions, the list of ways in which a Comstock miner could lose life or limb extracting gold and silver from earth was endless.

Even at shift’s end, when rising aboard a cage to the surface, there was a chance of falling off and dying. Temperatures in the mines rose dramatically the deeper and deeper the mines were worked. Thus, during winter it was especially dangerous for miners returning from such an environment to the surface, where it was much colder. A miner could easily become dizzy and faint.

I like collectibles related to the Comstock and among my favorite are the payment receipts for a miner’s service at $4 a day.

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In 1862, several newspapers reported that the U.S. Mint was coining $2,500 “nickel cents” each day “as every shopkeeper and businessman knows them to be scarce.” The first small cents, introduced into general circulation in 1857, were minted in a copper-nickel composition referred to in the press as “nickel cents.” These encompassed the Flying Eagle and the first of the Indian Head cents.

By the late 1860s, with the war over, the situation had changed dramatically with regard to the cent, as it was now in abundance and considered by many a nuisance. Flying Eagle cents were derisively called ‘buzzard” cents.

In 1867, with nickel being useful for the nickel three-cent piece and the new nickel five-cent piece, the Treasury put out a call for the nickel cents to be exchanged through the Mint for three-cent pieces and/or five-cent pieces. In announcing the request that Americans turn over their nickel cents, several newspapers tagged the story: “Nickel cents called in.”

The June 1, 1867 issue of the New York Herald-Tribune reported that the Treasury secretary had authorized the Mint director with “a view of reducing the quantity of cents in circulation and obtaining a supply of nickel in convenient form, to purchase the nickel cents, paying the nominal value in three and five-cent pieces, which will be commenced on the 10th of June under the following rules:

First: Persons sending or bringing the nickel cents will receive a certificate of the weight thereof, and the amount payable in three or five cent pieces or both, as they may desire, and with the indorsement thereon, such certificates will be paid as soon as the coins are ready.

Second: They must be careful not to send any but the kind mentioned, which are readily known by the color and size, and by the dates 1857 to 1864.

Third: The pieces will be taken, not by count, but by avoirdupois or grocer’s weight. No lot will be received under 10 pounds, and no spoiled, illegible, or doubtful pieces will be taken.

Fourth: The reasonable expense of the transportation of three cent pieces in sums of $30, and the five cent coins in sums of $50 or upward, to any point accessible by railroad or steamboat, will be paid by the Mint.

Fifth: This arrangement will be revoked as soon as it is found the issue of three and five cents is likely to become too large, or that the abatement of cents is sufficient. The sole object of this operation is to confer a public benefit, and none of the cents herein mentioned have any special value.”

The last part was apparently because, with the passage of time, some thought the early pieces had an extra premium as collectibles. Today, though not rare, they are considered highly collectible, but back not everyone appreciated these first small cents.

The story of American coinage is fascinating and sometimes skewed. Check out Fascinating Facts, Mysteries & Myths About U.S. Coins at:

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OK. So George Morgan’s initial “M” appears on the Morgan dollar (1878-1921) in the curls of Liberty’s hair. Some, not knowing the English engraver who designed the new dollar, took the “M” to stand for “Mint.” But how anyone, as reported in the April 4, 1878 issue of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, could have figured he hid a “scowling British lion” … “in the abundant back hair with which [he] has embellished the head of Liberty” is beyond me. The Tribune quipped, ‘What else this malevolent artist may have managed to crowd into the design, who dare conjecture?”

I’m not seeing a lion in Liberty’s hair–scowling or otherwise.

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“Why is a one dollar greenback better than a silver dollar? When you fold it you double it, and when you open it you find it in creases.”

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