In the first section, near the western window, is the assorting machine, the invention of a Frenchman, Baron Seguier, and which is now in use in the Mint at Paris.
The planchets for coinage are liable to be a little too heavy or too light; it is therefore necessary, at least in the case of gold, to assort them by weighing. This machine is designed to enable one person to do the work of many. “The planchets are thrown into the hopper at the rear, and, being arranged by the action of the wheel, slide down balances. By machinery beneath they are carried one by one to the nearest platforms to be weighed. If too heavy, the tall needle of the beam leans to the right and lifts a pallet-wire, which connects with an apparatus under the table by which the planchet is pushed off and slides into one of the brass pans in front. If the piece be light, the needle is drawn over to the left, and touches the other pallet, which makes a passage to another brass pan. If the piece be of true weight, or near enough, the needle stands perpendicular between the pallets, and the piece finds its way into the third brass pan.”
On the opposite wall is a fine cast of Cromwell, a duplicate of one taken shortly after his death. It was placed here by Mr. W. E. Du Bois, who received it from H. W. Field, Esq., late Assayer of the Royal Mint, London, who is a descendant of the great Protector. Below the cast of Cromwell is a case showing progressive “alloys of gold.” The plates comprise gold alloyed with copper, gold alloyed with silver, and gold fine.
In the eastern section are the Standard Test Scales, used to test the weights sent to all the mints and assay offices in the United States, and are so delicate as to weigh the twenty-thousandth part of an ounce. These scales were manufactured by employees of the Mint, and have been in use more than a quarter of a century. The beam is hollow, and filled with Spanish cedar to guard against the effect of dampness; the bearings are edges of knife-blades, which impinge on a surface of agate plate. These scales are tested by the Annual Assay Committee, which meets on the second Tuesday in February of every year.
Curiosities and Minerals.
The most interesting objects of this curious display are three golden images from graves in the Island of Chiriqui, off Central America. They were dug up in 1858, and sent to the Mint as bullion, to be melted. They are of pure gold, but the workmanship is very crude. The images are in the forms of a reptile, a bird, and a man with symbols of power in his hands, not unlike those designating Jupiter. There are also, in the first section, two large cases with choice selections of mineral specimens, carefully classified and labeled. These are from well selected results of years of patient collecting, and are deserving of more study than can be devoted to them by casual visitors. They are chiefly from different parts of the United States, and are an “index book” to the vast mineral wealth of the nation.
Near the exit door of the Cabinet, in a large glass case, is a magnificent American eagle, which is worthy of the visitor’s attention. It is superbly mounted, with grand breadth of wing and wondrous piercing eyes. The portrait of this “pet” can be recognized on Reverse of the “Pattern” Silver Dollars of 1836, 1838, and 1839, and on the Obverse of the first nickel cent pieces coined in 1856.
“Peter,”
the name which the noble bird recognized, was an inhabitant of the Mint six years. He would fly about the city, but no one interfered with the going or coming of the “Mint bird,” and he never failed to return from his daily exercise before the time for closing the building. In an evil hour he unfortunately perched upon a large fly wheel, and getting caught in the machinery, received a fatal injury to his wing, and this ended rather an unusual career for an eagle.