These years cover the eras of Large Cents, Bust coinage, and the Liberty Seated coinage; all collecting interests of mine.
This is my latest web project; bringing more numismatic information to the web. These reports are in the public domain; my copyright applies to the formatting and presentation structure. So, does that mean you can strip out the HTML tags and do as you will with what remains? I cannot say; I am not a lawyer, so I do not give out legal advice.
My library contains the reports for the following years, and I wish to acquire the reports from the years not listed.
| The following reports are for the listed calendar year. | |
| 1796 | A report from mint director Elias Boudinot to President Washington, via Secretary of State Timothy Pickering who relayed it to Congress at the President's direction. The mint learns the minting business through experience. A Melter and Refiner is added to the staff to process the large amounts of deposited bullion of nonstandard fineness. The requirement that depositors be paid in coin struck from that depositor's bullion makes for costly and inefficient procedures. The pieces set aside for the assay commisioners are taken from the amount due the depositors, so the depositors complain. |
| 1802-1814 | These will be added first. |
| 1816 | A short report from mint director R. Patterson to President Madison, who relayed it to Congress. A brick building replaces wooden structures. A steam engine replaces some horse power. |
| 1822-1828 | Next to be added. |
| 1829 | A short report from mint director Samuel Moore to President Jackson, who relayed it to Congress. The increase in the amount of gold received from North Carolina in recent years is deemed remarkable (currently $128,000). The emission of half dimes, starting on the 4th of July, is more than fourfold the the whole amount previously coined. |
| 1831 | A short report from mint director Samuel Moore to President Jackson, who relayed it to Congress. The increase in the domesticate gold production continues, with the first mention of small amounts from Tennessee and Alabama. The almost $4,000,000 in coins produced is more than ever produced in a prior year; with the new facility completed soon, a regular bullion supply, and new mint proceedures, a production target of $6,000,000 in coins this year is reasonable. |
| 1832 | A short report from mint director Samuel Moore to President Jackson, who relayed it to Congress. With the increasing domestic gold production, the U.S. mines produced one-sixth as much gold as was produced by the mines of Europe and America. The decline in coin production is blamed on the epidemics in the eastern U.S. cities. |
| 1837 | A short report from mint director Samuel Moore to President Van Buren, who relayed it to Congress. To answer the need for small coins, more than nine million with a value less than a half dollar were minted; much more than in any previous year. Government deposits at the Mint provide a ready source of coins with which to pay depositors of bullion as soon as the bullion's value is determined; thus a long standing complaint of the Mint's operation is resolved. The mint at Charlotte is finished and has commenced some operations, the mint at Dahlonega is nearly completed, and the mint at New Orleans should commence operations shortly. |
| 1842 | |
| 1849 | A report from mint director R.M. Patterson to President Taylor, who relayed it to Congress. The first gold dollars are minted but not so for the first double-eagles, due to die difficulties. The large amount of California gold does not exceed the amount of gold deposited in 1847. However, mostly foreign gold coins were deposited in 1847 while the native California gold contains an amount of silver higher than the legal coinage standard, requiring additional refining steps. The extra steps produced a large backlog of deposits to be coined, but with additional resources now in place, prompt payment to depositors is foreseen. |
| 1850 | A report from mint director R.M. Patterson to President Fillmore, who relayed it to Congress. The gold from California is reaching the mints in much larger quantities than in previous years. |
| 1853 | A report from mint director James Ross Snowden to President Pierce, who relayed it to Congress. The design for the three dollar gold piece is finalized with production expected shortly. Some equipment for the branch mint at San Francisco is slow in arriving, so production is expected to start next year. The recent recoinage of silver is successful, but another recoinage may become necessary. The large amounts of gold from California should be put to use in the replacement of small denomination notes, which could be achieved through a stamp duty on small notes. |
| 1855 | A report from mint director James Ross Snowden to President Pierce, who relayed it to Congress. Half of the report consists of a descriptive listing of the dies of medals in the collection of the U.S. Mint. This list is a corrected and enlarged version of the listing contained in the Mint Report from 1853. |
| The following reports are for the fiscal year ending June 30 of the listed year. | |
| 1863 | The coinage is reduced for another year, and for the same reasons. A branch mint opens at Denver, Colorado Territory, but processes only bullion to date. Although the small cent is more popular than the discontinued large cent, the inclusion of nickel to give it an intrinsic value closer to one cent provides no benefit and should be removed. |
| 1874 | Not processed. |
| 1877 | Not processed. |
| 1879 | Not processed. |
| 1880 | Not processed. |
| 1883 | Not processed. |
| 1885 | Not processed. |
| 1886 | Not completely processed. The price of silver, in terms of gold, continues to fall. Philadelphia mint runs out of room to store silver dollars. The New York Assay Office introduces new equipment to eliminate the release of noxious fumes that angered its neighbors. The old carpets from the adjusting room in the San Francisco mint are burned and produce 172 ounces of gold, and 44 ounces of silver. Questionaires were sent to the mints of most nations, and their responses form the bulk of this report; a world wide snapshot of contemporary mint and monetary practices. |
| 1887 | Not processed. |
| 1888 | Not processed. |
| 1890 | Not processed. |
| 1891 | Not processed. |
Let me know if you have any of the reports not listed. I am looking to buy reports, especially if they are not in nice condition; but only if the text is readable. Loose bindings, separated bindings, water stains, page tears, and such are okay, provided that the text is present and readable. In the case of the early reports which are quite small, I would like to buy either an original or a clear copy.
I gratefully acknowledge the following sources, for providing me with photocopies of reports I did not have.
| Wayne K. Homren |
| Fred Weinberg |