In 1848 the great discovery of gold in California was made known. This brought a tremendous pressure on every department of the Mint, and not the least on the assayers. The gold coinage was, in three years, raised from a little over three million dollars to more than sixty-two millions. The assays were often counted by hundreds in a day. But whatever the pressure in the office, accuracy ruled, and the correctness of the assays was never impeached.
In 1853 a change was effected in the law for providing subordinate silver coins. This brought about, for some years succeeding, an unprecedented coinage of that metal, and still further increased the labors of the assay department.
He instituted the Cabinet of coins which now adorns the Mint. This was commenced in 1838. A small annual appropriation was procured from Congress for this purpose, and the work of collection committed entirely to Mr. Du Bois. He brought to it all the enthusiasm which animates most numismatists, sobered, however, by good judgment. His expenditures were always judicious. Some of the best of the specimens were culled from the Mint deposits for the bullion value, merely, of the pieces. After the collection had taken good shape, and been well classified, he wrote and published, in 1846, a description of it, under the title “Pledges of History,” etc. The title thus selected intimated his opinion as to the real value of such collections. He thought that a coin should be prized for its historical teaching, or artistic merit, and discouraged the rage to possess a piece simply because of its rarity. Mr. Du Bois acted as curator of the Cabinet until his death.
Another important labor undertaken by Mr. Du Bois (in connection with Mr. Eckfeldt) was the preparation and publication, in 1842, of a “Manual of the Gold and Silver Coins of all nations, struck within the past century.” This was a work of very great labor, and, from its expense, of some risk also to the authors. It is admirably arranged, the information clear, and it embraced every subject of interest at that date as to coins, bullion, counterfeits, etc. Subsequently, in 1850 and 1851, supplements were published covering later topics, made prominent in consequence of the California gold discoveries.
The writings of Mr. Du Bois were numerous, and continued up to the year of his death. His papers on numismatics were frequent and always attractive, his last appearance in print being in April of this year, in an article on the “Coinage of the Popes.” To the “American Philosophical Society,” of which he was elected a member in 1844, he made various communications on behalf of Mr. Eckfeldt and himself, mostly on topics suggested by experiences in the assay department. Among the most curious was one on “The Natural Dissemination of Gold,” by which we were astonished to learn that this precious metal is found in appreciable quantity in the clays underlying our city.
In 1869 he wrote for the “Bankers’ Magazine,” “Propositions for a Revised System of Weights, and a Restoration of Silver Currency.” The development of his views on these subjects is a model of clear exposition, and the conclusions reached were such as might be expected from a mind aiming to attain practical results rather than to impose visionary theories.
From the beginning he was highly esteemed at the Mint. It was his ambition to acquire a knowledge of every branch of the service, and with his capacity and opportunities this end was attained. He early became the trusted friend and counsellor of his colleagues, and was able to serve them in many ways, perhaps most of all with his ready pen. As time passed, and forty-eight years of experience was given to him, he was recognized by all as the Nestor of the Mint service. And here I pause to draw a lesson, from the example of Mr. Du Bois’s life, as to the value of a properly organized civil service. In the department with which he was connected, political tests were never obtruded, and permanence of tenure followed on merit. On no other basis could his services have been claimed or retained. They would have been transferred to a private sphere, probably to his pecuniary gain, certainly to the public loss. He was very accessible, and ever ready to lend aid from the stores of his knowledge, but in particular did he delight to instruct and bring forward his younger friends.
Mr. Du Bois was able to fulfill his official duties until within a few months of his death. He was fully conscious of his approaching end, preserving his intelligence to the last, and the faith which had comforted him in this life supported him at its close.
The following minute was adopted at a meeting of the officers and employees after his decease:
“The remarkably close conformity of the United States coins to the standard assigned them by law, has been recognized by the highest Mint authorities of the world to be unsurpassed, if quite equalled, in its uniform exactness. The founding of such a reputation and its continuance during the last half-century, are largely due to the joint labors of the late Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E. Du Bois.”