18 COINSOCTOBER 2019
The New Orleans Mint
I
N SEPTEMBER 2005 Hurricane
Katrina struck New Orleans with
enormous force, damaging a great
part of the city. The levees broke under
the onslaught and water poured in at
an alarming rate, forced by the strong
winds that accompanied the storm. The
fabled mint in that city suffered consid-
erable damage, in particular to the roof,
and it was some time before it could
again be open to the public for tours.
In terms of years, the New Orleans
Mint existed from 1835 through 1909,
but this is far from telling the complete
story. The beginning was mired in pork-
barrel politics while the middle yearsproved to be a case of high drama when
the Civil War erupted in 1861.
Our story begins in the late winter of
1834–1835 when Congress was arguing
the merits of establishing branch mints in
the South. On March 3, 1835, President
Andrew Jackson signed a bill that autho-
rized mints at Dahlonega, Charlotte, and
New Orleans. The first two institutions
were of little practical value to the public
and, even under the best of circum-
stances, only one of them was needed.
The New Orleans branch was another
matter entirely. It is true that the then
mint director, Samuel Moore, used every
artifice at his command to persuadeCongress to scuttle all three mints, but
in truth the New Orleans proposal was
valuable to the country. Large quanti-
ties of precious metals were imported
through this key Southern port and had
this particular mint not been in existence,
much of the gold and silver that came
into that marketplace would not have
carried the stamp of the United States.
In early July 1835 Director Moore
was replaced in office by Dr. Robert M.
Patterson, who inherited the difficult task
of organizing all three branches, which
included choosing officers and providing
the proper buildings and machinery. In
some cases he was able to pick men of
high integrity and ability, but in others the
usual political reality interfered and those
with lesser qualifications were chosen.
Shortly after he became director,
Patterson saw to it that Martin Gordonwas selected as commissioner to super-
intend the building of the New Orleans
branch mint and the installation of the
machinery. By the fall of 1835, contracts
had been let and construction was well
underway on the new structure. So
advanced were the preparations that by
July 1837 three coining presses and
related equipment were shipped by sea
from Philadelphia to New Orleans.
By late 1837 the officers had arrived
at New Orleans and specialized training
of workmen began. As early as February
1838, however, Coiner Rufus Tyler and
Melter & Refiner James Maxwell had
serious problems with some of the work-
men, and had to fire several of them.
With Superintendent David Bradford
temporarily backing them, Tyler and
Maxwell were able to restore discipline
and prepare for actual coinage. The first
deposit of silver was made in March
1838 and now only the dies were needed
to begin coinage.
The first dies sent to New Orleans
by Director Patterson were two pairs of
dime dies shipped on April 9. Although
dated 1838, they were, oddly enough,
from the Seated Liberty type issued
at Philadelphia only in 1837, without
the stars on the obverse. A few days
later Patterson also sent dies for theTh e Good and Bad Omens
By R.W. Julian
TheNewOrleansMintbeganstrikingdimesin1838.
ImagesCourtesyofStack’sBowers
The1838-Ohalfdollaris extremelyrare,lessthan 20 havingbeenstruck.
ImagesCourtesyofStack’sBowers
Th N Ol Mitbega tiki di i 1838
The 1838 O half dollar is extremely rare less than 20 having been st k