1870 SAN FRANCISCO MINT CORNERSTONE COINS Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 16, April 18, 2004, Article 14
1870 SAN FRANCISCO MINT CORNERSTONE COINS
Richard G. Kelly & Nancy Y. Oliver write: "It is always great
to have feedback concerning articles submitted to numismatic
forums, and we appreciate the time Mr. Luedeking took to do
just that in the recent E-Sylum concerning our article on the
cornerstone coinage of the Second San Francisco Mint. We
feel it necessary to respond to his comments on the existence
of the 1870-S quarter dollar mentioned in the warrant. We
would like to say that we believe very strongly that the quarter
placed in that cornerstone is indeed dated 1870. The reasons
for this include the following evidence:First, the newspaper details, describing the contents of the
cornerstone, were originally sent from the Superintendent of
Construction, William P.C. Stebbins, to the newspaper offices
specifically to be placed into each newspaper. We have a
copy of a letter, sent to the Supervising Architect, A.B. Mullett,
from Superintendent Stebbins, letting Mullett know exactly what
was to be put into the newspapers concerning the cornerstone
contents. In addition, during the cornerstone ceremonies, this
information from Supt. Stebbins was repeated in detail by
Masonic tradition. In the letter, Supt. Stebbins specifically
states that "I have sent several of the daily newspapers, giving
the full account of the ceremonies in detail, to which I desire
to call your attention." What was stated in the newspapers
concerning the cornerstone coinage (sent from Supt. Stebbins)
was, "One of each denomination of the several coins of the
United States of America, all struck off at the San Francisco
Branch Mint in the year 1870."Secondly, there is documented evidence, as stated in our
article in Coin World, that quarter dollar dies dated 1870
were available to be used to make a quarter for the
cornerstone, so why use any other year's quarter dollar die?
Besides, by May of 1870, the previous years dies would have
already been defaced.Thirdly, any cornerstone or time capsule would traditionally
contain artifacts of the year of placement if at all possible,
and in the case of coins, the exact year of same.Lastly, why would the San Francisco Mint go to the trouble
to make sure that a $3 gold piece, with the 1870 date on the
reverse, was properly stamped with the mintmark "S" (the
die had arrived in San Francisco without one).In conclusion, of course we do not have absolute 100%
proof of the date of the coinage in the cornerstone without
seeing it for ourselves, but government documents give us
plenty of reason to believe that all coinage within that
cornerstone is dated 1870. The federal government has
always been very meticulous in justifying it's expenses and
detailing its expenses and that is exactly what was done in
1870 in San Francisco. We agree with Mr. Luedeking that
the "exhumation of the bronze (copper) casket and its
delightful contents" would be the only way to have absolute
proof of the dates on the coinage, but until that time comes,
all known records very strongly suggest they are all dated
1870. "- 2004-04-18
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