20 COINS OCTOBER 2019
buying silver coins (now worth more
than face value) with gold and shipping
them to Europe. The shortage of silver
coins did not affect New Orleans as badly
as the rest of the country but there were
still some problems.
Congress tried a stopgap measure in
1851 with a debased silver three-cent
piece (the “trime”), which was struck, at
New Orleans solely in that opening year.
Only 720,000 pieces were made, but
theywerewidelysavedassouvenirsand
canbeobtainedbycollectorstodayfora
reasonableprice.
Inearly 1853 Congress finallytack-
led the coin shortage by reducing the
weightsofthesilverminorcoins,though
notthefineness.Thisprovedthekeyto
solving theproblem andbythemiddle
of 1853 both the New Orleans and
Philadelphia mints were busy turning
outlargeamountsofsuchcoins;muchof
theLouisianaproductionwassenttothe
East, however, asthe shortage had not
beenallthatbadlocally.
The creation of the San Francisco
Mintin 1854 meantthatCaliforniagold,
which once came to New Orleans in
large quantities, suddenly found itself
beingsenttoSanFranciscoinstead.Gold
coinageatNewOrleansshoweda strong
decline,withoccasionalannualmintages
aslowasonlya fewthousandpieces.The
doubleeaglewashardhit,the 1856 issue
fallingtounder3,000pieces.
Silvermintages,especiallyofthehalf
dollar,remained strongat NewOrleans
the rest of the 1850s and, unexpect-edly, there were even several hundred
thousand silver dollars struck in 1859
and 1860. The latter denomination was
special in that the law of 1853 restricted
the rights of silver depositors; minor
silver was at the whim of the govern-
ment but individuals had the right to
bring their bullion in for dollars. Why
so many pieces were suddenly coined is
one of the minor mysteries of American
numismatics.
Theheavy NewOrleans silver coin-
ages of 1860 were among the dying
gaspsofa mintsoonto experience seri-
ouspoliticaltroubles.In December 1860
theLouisianalegislature voted to secede
from the Union; the Mint was infor-
mally seized by State authorities that
same month but Mint officers main-
tainedthepolitefiction that it was still
undercontroloftheUnited States until
Jan.26,1861.
Duringthe firstfew weeks of 1861
the“official”U.S.coinage consisted of
halfdollarsanddouble eagles. Under this
scenario,therewere5,000 double eagles
and330,000 half dollars, and no other
denominations being struck. There has
beenconsiderableinkspilled by numis-matistsindetermining which coins were
struckunderU.S.“authority” and which
camelater.It is a moot point, as none of
the 1861 coinage was actually minted
undertrueFederalcontrol even if appear-
anceswereotherwise.
OnJan. 26 thepretense was dropped
and Louisiana publicly seized control
of the Mint and its stock of bullion.The New Orleans Mint as it appeared in 1861.
1848 NewOrleans old).
ImagesCourtesyofStack’sBowers
The New OrleansMintstruckthethree-cent
piece just once, in 1851.
Images Courtesy of Stack’s Bowers
1856 New Orleansdoubleeagle($20gold).
Images Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
In 1860 the NewOrleansMintstruckits
last dime before closing in 1861.Images Courtesy of Stack’s Bowers
l $1 0 ld)