Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/638

 620 MINT the steel ring or collar into which it drops; but the pressure upon the dies causes the piece to expand into the collar and take from it the reeding or fluting of its edge. The coins, after FIG. 8. Coining Press. being carefully inspected by the coiner to elim- inate defective pieces, are counted and put up in bags, and delivered to the superintendent, by whom the coiner is held to the same ac- countability as the melter and refiner. The counting is performed with great accuracy and despatch by a counting board of very ingenious construction. The dies used in all the mints of the United States are made under the su- pervision of the engraver of the Philadelphia mint. The production of original dies cut by the engraver's hand in steel is a work of great labor, and it would be impossible in this man- ner to supply the dies necessary for the coinage of the country. The original dies, being care- fully finished and hardened, are used simply to strike copies in softened steel, which is done by repeated blows under a powerful screw press. As the devices upon the original dies were sunk, these copies will be in relief. To prepare dies for coinage, therefore, this harden- ing and copying process must be repeated. A rigid system of registration and accountability is necessary to keep the old dies from falling into improper hands. In the various opera- tions of the mint, particularly in those of the melter and refiner's department, a large amount of precious metals will be temporarily lost by becoming absorbed in the melting pots and fluxes and mixed with the ashes and d6bris of the furnaces. These materials are carefully gathered up, and the gold and silver extracted by various methods. The chlorination process of Prof. Miller of the Australian mint, for refining and parting the precious metals, has lately been introduced at the Philadelphia mint. Under the coinage act of 1873, pro- vision is made for the purchase of silver bul- lion, and the gain arising from its conversion into coin of a nominal value exceeding the cost thereof is credited to a special fund called the silver profit fund. In adjusting the weights of gold coins the following deviations cannot by law be exceeded in any single piece : in the double eagle and the eagle, one half of a grain ; in the half eagle, the three-dollar piece, the quarter eagle, and the one-dollar piece, one fourth of a grain ; and in weighing a number of pieces together when delivered by the coiner, the deviation from the standard must not ex- ceed yfj of an ounce in $5,000 in double eagles, eagles, half eagles, or quarter eagles, in 1,000 three-dollar pieces, and in 1,000 one-dollar pieces. In the silver coins the following de- viations must not be exceeded : in the dollar, the half dollar, the quarter dollar, and the dime, one and a half grain ; and in weighing large numbers of pieces together when delivered by the coiner, the deviations from the standard must not exceed T 7 of an ounce in 1,000 dol- lars, half dollars, or quarter dollars, and T ^ of an ounce in 1,000 dimes. In the minor coins no greater deviation is allowed than three grains for the five-cent piece and two grains for the three-cent and one-cent pieces. Du- ring the year ending June 30, 1874, the amount of gold deposits at the mints and assay offices of the United States was $68.861,595 ; silver deposits and purchases, $15,122,151. Deduct- ing the redeposits of bars made and issued by one institution and deposited at another, the deposits were : gold, $49,142,511; silver, $11,- 485, 678. The amount in bars transmitted from the New York assay office to the mint at Phil- adelphia for coinage during the fiscal year was : gold, $18,704,101; silver, $2,613,636; total, $21,317,737. The distribution of the gold and silver bullion deposited and purchased, inclu- ding receipts, was as follows : ESTABLISHMENTS. Gold. Silver. Total. Philadelphia mint San Francisco mint. . . Carson mint. 124,886,458 22,066,181 2 213 042 $3,060,829 2,868,608 2.875117 $27,947,382 24,984,789 5 088 159 Denver mint New York assay office C'harlotte assay office Boise City assay office 962,804 18,611,959 8,689 112,466 26.969 6,288,762 1,792 989,773 24,900,721 8,763 114,258 The directors of the mint since its organiza- tion have been as follows : David Rittenhouse of Pennsylvania, July, 1792, to July, 1795 ; Henry De Saussure of South Carolina, July 11 to Oct. 28, 1795; Elias Boudinot of New Jer- sey, October, 1795, to July, 1805 ; Robert Patterson of Pennsylvania, July, 1805, to July, 1824; Samuel Moore of Pennsylvania, July, 1824, to July, 1835 ; Robert M. Patterson of Pennsylvania, July, 1835, to July, 1851 ; George