Back in the day-security at the US Mint.

I wonder what security was like in the early days of the US Mint. How hard was it to smuggle silver and gold out if you were an employee?

 

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I imagine that it was pretty lax security. If you assume that until 1900 people could simply show up and walk into the white house. Also I have read articles where Asayers "saved" special coins for high end collectors.

This is a recent article about a cop who stole 2.4 million in coins and was caught.

"Error Coins Stolen by Mint Cop Worth $2.4 Million"

http://www.thirdage.com/news/error-coins-stolen-by-mint-cop-worth-2-4-million_09-09-2011

 

We only hear about the unsuccessful attempts - the ones that got away with it we'll never hear about.

 

That may be mostly true, but where there's a will there's a way. I'll never believe that there haven't been any breeches of security in the past, even if very minor. No security system is 100% foolproof, especially if the ones in charge of security are also involved.

 

In the screw press days it may have been hard to
steal gold dust with a thumb and four nubs. :devil:

 

The thing is, some of what we would consider a theft now was totally off the radar back then.

For example, deliberately producing an error or a one-off coin (as long as you paid face value for it, or substituted an equal amount of bullion) would have been seen as completely harmless before collecting became big money.

 

I think it was easier to swap a gold coin for a trial and other things, as well as buy errors. THese simply weren't a big deal. However, they have always had tight security on bullion, and the leaders had to post bonds with Congress to ensure no bullion was stolen.

So, basically, a century or more ago you possibly could swap a silver coin for a silver trial piece, or swap out some cents for some error cents, but I don't see it very likely gold or silver bullion left the mint. They simply concentrated on what was likely, and stealing PM has always been a fear, collector coins are something relatively new.

 

Hmmm!

Multiple recently documented circulated collection of unrecorded 1933 $20 Gold Double Eagles, and other unexplained "rare" coins existence? Counterfeits? Poor accounting practices? Lax security?

 

I thought they never made it to the cashier where the public had access to them. The $10's did for a short while, but the US always have contended the $20's never made it where the public had access, only governmental employees.

 

I understand that is WAS done, but I thought by this time, due to all of the scandals regarding trials leaving the mint to dealers, that it was against the law for mint employees to exchange coins. Today, if a mint employee wants a copy of a coin, he must go to the gift shop like anyone else and buy it, they are not allowed to exchange a similar coin inside the mint. Same with all other government workers who work around mint products. I thought this policy was in place before 1933.

That has been the government's contention all along with the 33's anyway. They know a lot more 33 eagles left after they were withdrawn from sale, but since the public DID have a brief period to obtain these, there is no physical way for the government to prove any example was NOT obtained legally.

 

A Learning Experience!!

My understanding of the facts concerning this type/dated coin is as yours, with the government contending that there was only one coin produced/released with acceptable provenance. I believe that the coins ownership was never properly established through a legal trial process.

Barry H. Berke, attorney for the individual who retained possession of the reported 10 additional 1933 $20 Gold Double Eagle specimens states: "the Mint considers the 1933 double eagles to be stolen government property" I'm to understand that future intention is establishment of governments legal rights to confiscate without proper legislation. That should be interesting!! LOL

I'm open to enlightenment. :thumb:

 

actually they did make it to the cashiers window. Roger Burdette found documents in the National Archives that show where after the first batch of 33 double eagles were struck 62 1932 double eagles from the Cashiers office that were considered defective were exchanged for 1933 double eagles. So they did have them at the Cashiers window.

Pretty much correct for the rank and file employees but the officers would often "bend" the rules for themselves. This is why possibly all the 1964 SMS coins supposedly came from Mint Director Adams estate. Why Chief engraver Sinnock's collection had all kinds of twentieth century patterns and matte proof commemorative half dollars that were never made. Why Director Linderman had an 1804 Class III dollar (The only one that can't be traced back to William Idler and Capt Haseltine). Director Snowden used to restrike rare coins and patterns to trade for Washington pieces not in the Mint collection. Rank had it's privileges, or at least they thought so.

Could precious metals be smuggled out of the mint? Yes I know of a few cases. There was one Philadelphia mint employee who over a period of time smuggled out a considerable amount of gold by hiding the bars inside his wooden leg. Then there was an employee at the San Francisco mint whose job it was to be the rat catcher. He would catch and kill rats inside the mint, cut them open and fill them with double eagles then sew them back up. He would then dispose of the corpses by throwing them over the mint wall. Then when he went home he would collect the bodies (after all who is going to run off with a bunch of dead rats.) I don't know if he stole it or if it was just from bad practices but when the first assayer Albion Cox died, when they settled up his accounts they discovered multi thousands of dollars of gold and silver missing. (Cox had been involved with the New Jersey State coinage and had had to flee to England to avoid being put into debtors prison here. Somehow though this was the man we had to have for our assayer so we got him to come back to America, I don't know how they made the debtors prison problem go away, then he couldn't post the bond to allow him to work with gold and silver so another Mint officer had to post it. Then when he died they discover his books are significantly off. Oddly enough the other officer never had to forfeit the bond and they eventually just administratively "fixed" the books.)

It wasn't gold or silver but in 1922 at the Denver mint a daring daylight robbery took place and a large sum of paper currency being stored at the mint was stolen as it was in the process of being moved from Mint storage to another location. In the gunfight that took place at least one mint guard was killed and one of the robbers was hit. His body was found still in the car when the car was found several days later.

 

Thank you for a well written, informative post.

 

Let's put it this way, it shouldn't have been too hard for that time. If mint employees want to start shenanigans like swapping out 1857 Flying Eagle Dies with $20 Liberty gold dies to make their funny clashes and get away with it. Then theivery of some coins shouldn't have been too hard.

 

I read that back in the day, early 1800's that used dies were just scrapped out and not canceled, it is supposed that those dies were the source of many contemporary counterfeit capped bust halves. Source; Contemporary Counterfeit Capped Bust Halves, by Keith Davignon.

 

Thanks for the information Condor101 !