Archival research - November

[RogerB]

Several members have requested information from the US Mint archives. some of this remains incomplete due to the Covid-19 situation and access changes made by NARA.

I have been able to schedule two appointments later this month and hope to complete all outstanding information requests by the first part of November. Those involved should contact me via email or PM for updates.

[Longstrider]

Thank you!

[RogerB]

I was able to get in most of two days digitizing documents at NARA, and have only E-229 Boxes 128 and 129, plus 1/2 of box 127 remaining to complete. I will send some to NNP later this week and the balance as soon as I can get over there again.

[keilg1]

Agree with @Longstrider - thanks for your efforts! A tremendous help for those of us wanting to learn and geographically distant.

[morganman]

Super Thanks shout out Roger; I am a total history buff nut LOL-
I believe the history is as compelling as the coin collecting itself
I love visiting Museums and come away blown away by all i learn.

This is why i continue to post about my personal collecting stories,
as folks tell me its very interesting and it blows me away, as much
history was by chance and some was planned.

So i dont want to steal Rogers post, but will start a new post now
here on main board about my life history collecting Morgans, as it
is amazing IMHO

[keilg1]

So i dont want to steal Rogers post, but will start a new post now
here on main board about my life history collecting Morgans, as it
is amazing IMHO

Please DO so. Those of us who love to learn the stories behind the stories would love this.

[demetri]

I agree morganman, I love history too and would love get more information on how the mints created these beautiful coins and the Vams we all love

[Longstrider]

@morganman Very cool. I love to read the big guys history.

[RogerB]

The Entry 229 files for 1900 were uploaded to NNP this morning. The only remaining boxes are the last half of #127 and 128-129. All others before and after have been digitized with all the documents relating to the mints and movement of silver and gold between them. I omitted large amounts of small assay office material as having no impact on coinage. The pages amount to about 200 per file box including the Cashier's Daily Reports for all three mints.

(The daily reports are where collectors can find delivery date for all coins during the calendar year, and also the inventory of regular and souvenir coins.)

[RogerB]

RE: "...would love get more information on how the mints created these beautiful coins and the Vams we all love."

This is especially tough because the information was not kept. Workers and managers used little pocket notebooks to keep track of routine operations. There evidently were no printed training guides or operating manuals on equipment or clear written procedures. Everything was verbal and passed down almost like divine oath from mint heaven.

[RogerB]

Additional information is posted on the NGC message board at:
https://boards.ngccoin.com/topic/429309 ... rch-items/

[RogerB]

I will complete E-229 boxes 127-129 at NARA on Tuesday and Wednesday, plus several more volumes of E-235.

[PacificWR]

I will complete E-229 boxes 127-129 at NARA on Tuesday and Wednesday, plus several more volumes of E-235.

Thanks Roger.

[RogerB]

The following boxes and volumes were digitized late last week and should appear on NNP during the latter part of this week. Boxes (letters received) cover the last months of 1900. (Box 128 includes a complete Annual Settlement for the New York Assay Office for June 30, 1900. This was not digitized due to length and its very limited numismatic utility.) Cashier's Daily Statements cover all mints and the NYAO for each work day and show coins delivered to the Cashier from the Coiner, etc. Some statements are missing, but might be in other locations such as Entry-330.

Volumes (letters sent by HQ) cover late Dec 1886 to June 30, 1888.

E-229 Box 127.pdf
E-229 Box 127 Cashier Daily.pdf
E-229 Box 128.pdf
E-229 Box 128 Cashier Daily.pdf
E-229 Box 129.pdf
E-229 Box 129 Cashier daily.pdf

RG104 E-235 Vol 45 Part 1.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 45 Part 2.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 46 Part 1.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 46 Part 2.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 47 Part 1.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 47 Part 2.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 48 Part 1.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 48 Part 2.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 49 Part 1.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 49 Part 2.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 50 Part 1.pdf
RG104 E-235 Vol 50 Part 2.pdf

[RogerB]

The materials listed above have been posted to NNP.

Friday (tomorrow) I plan to scan E-235 (Letters sent) vols 51-54.
When these are complete volumes 1 through 60 will be available on NNP for research. These go along with Entry 229 (Letters received) and Entry 6 (internal letters between Coiner and Superintendent at Philadelphia), both of which are partially digitized. Using these three sources, one can build most of a complete sender-recipient correspondence cycle. Currently available documents can take collectors through design and production of Morgan dollars to about 1885.

[keilg1]

The materials listed above have been posted to NNP.

Friday (tomorrow) I plan to scan E-235 (Letters sent) vols 51-54.
When these are complete volumes 1 through 60 will be available on NNP for research. These go along with Entry 229 (Letters received) and Entry 6 (internal letters between Coiner and Superintendent at Philadelphia), both of which are partially digitized. Using these three sources, one can build most of a complete sender-recipient correspondence cycle. Currently available documents can take collectors through design and production of Morgan dollars to about 1885.

Holy mud. Are you at least caffeinating, er, hydrating as you do all this work!? What a tour de force.

Thanks for all the hard work. I'd gladly buy you a coffee (or two) to keep you going...

[RogerB]

Thanks for the offer! I like to maximize useful time at the archives, so I have a high protein breakfast before leaving home, and then work straight through at NARA with only quick 'necessity' breaks (usually while the computer is exporting files).

The day is 9am to 4pm, but accomplishment varies with the wait for documents to be pulled, or inability to get all the files I would like. (For example, files have to be ordered in numeric sequence. Tomorrow I'd like to work on Vol 51-54, and 61-70. But, because there's a gap, I can only get 51-54 on this visit. That's about 2,200 pages. With the new A2 imager I can finish those by about noon.

Once home, I check the images, fix any defects, add ID numbers, enhance images if necessary, convert to PDF and add cover sheets. Then, I'll use the PDFs to extract individual documents for my research use. (It's impossible to know what is in any volume or box; all they have are date ranges - you just have to look.)

[RogerB]

Entry 235 (Letters sent) volumes 51-54 have been uploaded to NNP. These take the series up to about the end of 1889.
Entry 229 (Letters received) for all of 1900 are complete and on NNP.