Cost of shipping bullion and coins - Western Mints

[RogerB]

The expenses of shipping bullion and coins were major factors in the output of San Francisco and Carson Mints. Here is a letter from mint director Linderman complaining about Adams Express Co.'s proposed rate, and an excerpt showing the same company's charge for getting bullion from Helena, Montana Assay Office to Philadelphia Mint. I've left these in manuscript since they are easy to read.

[DHalladay]

I love the fluid, almost floral quality of the handwriting!

[raynat3]

Great to see these correspondence, thanks for sharing Roger.

Dennis it is beautiful and sad to know many schools do not teach this anymore. What I find amazing is that they were still using dip or quill pens at this time and still produced such appearance of perfection.

[RogerB]

These "fair copy" letters were written by a clerk who copied from the final original letter before it was sent. They were recorded in large 500-page journals.

Applicants for a clerk's position in Government offices had to pass a penmanship test in addition to various accounting, filing, shorthand and grammar. (I found a set of questions and answers from the 1890 under Civil Service rules - basic expectations for a High School graduate.) By the date on these letters, 1878, clerks were using steel pen nibs with iridium or osmium plated points.

It should be noted that there were US Mint clerks, and then there were US Mint "Clerks" who were really 'executives in training.' Mint Director H. R. Linderman was a practicing physician who accepted a position as "Director's Clerk" in the 1850s after deciding he no longer wanted to practice medicine in western Pennsylvania. Other "Clerks" became mint directors, superintendents, or senior Treasury officers.

[Longstrider]

What a beautiful piece of US History. The penmanship and grammar are such a pleasure to read. Thank you!