Hodder,Mossman &Ringo/via Don V. 上市 Deposited
- From jlorenzo@ob.ilww.com Mon Aug 19 11:46:47 2002
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Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 18:46:43 -0000
To: colonial-coins@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Hodder,Mossman &Ringo/via Don V.
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From: "njcopperjohn" <jlorenzo@ob.ilww.com>
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Received this letter from this gentleman from Stanford University who=20
is requesting how contemporary counterfeit Reales could have been=20
made in the middle of the 19th century in China. Phil - I know you=20
are retired and this is your cup of tea.
He is looking for information also from Ringo, since Ringo may have=20
some original dies from this era. Either way he may be of some help.=20
I want to pass on this one due to lack of time. Besides I know you=20
have some good stockpiled info on this kind of thing. Mike your=20
diverse knowledge of course will also be beneficial. His E-Mail is:
tnlayton@email.sjsu.edu
He picked up Ringo and Lorenzo from the 1995 NY-COAC article on C2R's.
Dear John Lorenzo,
Thanks for getting back to me so promptly.
I'm writing the third volume of a series on the China trade for=20
Stanford
University Press. This volume is a biography of George Dixwell [1815-
85]
who was an American merchant in Macao.
In 1857/58 Dixwell attempted to counterfeit "Old Heads" [his term]
because the Chinese would accept them at 30% premium over their silver
value. I enclose two quotes, below, from his letters, demonstrating=20
that
he achieved a finished product [although the project failed -- perhaps
because word got out to the Chinese].
1) For the book in progress I would like to write an extended real-
time
vignette describing Dixwell's manufacture of these coins -- so I need=20
to
be pretty specific about appropriate technology. I suspect he was=20
melting
down chopped dollars to produce the right kind of silver for=20
planchets. I
need some guidance as to what kind of equipment and manufacturing
procedure Dixwell would have needed to best duplicate real Carolus=20
IIII
coins? And how he could have acquired high quality dies for the=20
project.
2) I noted [from the Web "1998 Coinage of the Americas Conference"]=20
that
Michael Ringo has found a pair of counterfeit dies for 8 reales=20
coins. I
would like to contact Ringo for more information. How might I reach=20
him?
3) What does Dixwell mean in letter #2, by "a little cooking." Might=20
this
refer to an attempt to tone the surface of the coins so they would=20
appear
to be 50 years old? How might he achieve this aging process?
4) Are there other specialists with whom I should consult? Is there a
literature on counterfeit "Old Heads" -- something I could read and=20
cite?
Thanks for any help, advice, answers or guidance!
Best wishes,
Tom Layton
********************
Letter #1)
"I am occupied in getting ready for operations: arranging machines:
coquetting with the authorities &c =AD delays which are vexing but
unavoidable. I hope & trust that I shall get it so settled that I may=20
go
ahead here for the place is very convenient in many respects.
Please do not write me any thing upon the subject except in notes of
which you yourself keep the copies. So long as the clerks can be=20
ignorant
of the enterprize it is much better that they should be kept so. I=20
have a
letter from Secher Torre &Co which, on the whole, does not look badly=20
for
future treasure business."
Letter #2)
".... So you got no specimens by the Mail Steamer as I intended; &=20
though
there are 1000-2000 nearly ready =8B indeed quite ready except=20
shroffing &
packing & a little cooking..."
********************* - 2002-08-19
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