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1797 Manuscript on Vellum, Signed by George Washington, Appointing the First Official Melter and Refiner to the U.S. Mint....
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Description
1797 George Washington-Signed Appointment on Vellum of Joseph Cloud
First Melter and Refiner of the Mint
1797 Manuscript on Vellum, Signed by George Washington,
Appointing the First Official Melter and Refiner to the U.S.
Mint. One page. January 2, 1797. Philadelphia. Signed by
President George Washington, countersigned by Secretary of State
Timothy Pickering.. Paper covered wax seal is intact. The usual
folds and wrinkling are evident. A small newspaper obituary
clipping is tipped in for Joseph Cloud.Although a mint was first established by a resolution of the Congress of Confederation in 1782, the current U.S. Mint was founded by Congress under the Coinage Act of 1792. The Act created the United States dollar as the country's standard unit of money, declared the mint to be situated at the seat of government of the United States (then in Philadelphia) and provided for five officers: a Director, an Assayer, a Chief Coiner, an Engraver, and a Treasurer. Not included however, was a provision for the position of melter and refiner, i.e., an officer to take charge of the process of reducing the bullion and melting it into bars for the rolling mills.
Beginning in November 1794, David Ott served in that role in an unofficial capacity, but it was not until the following year that a report of a congressional committee recommended that the original act be amended to include a position to take charge of the bullion after it had been assayed. Ott was temporarily appointed to that job pro tem, serving from March 1795 to November 1796, though was never officially commissioned as the Melter and Refiner. In November 1796, Elias Boudinot, the second Director of the Mint, issued a report calling for a presidential appointment to the "important and necessary" position, writing: "The want of experimental knowledge in the business at the first establishment of the mint, prevented any tolerable precise estimate of the expenses necessarily attending the process; but soon after the commencement of the business, it was found impracticable to proceed with propriety, unless an addition was made to the establishment, by the appointment of a Melter and refiner."
On December 28, following Boudinot's recommendation, Timothy Pickering suggested to Washington that the position be filled by Joseph Cloud (1770-1845), with the present commission signed by Washington on January 2, 1797, making him the first official Melter and Refiner of the U.S. Mint. A member of the American Philosophical Society and the author of several papers on the nature and refinement of metals, Cloud served as the melter and refiner until January 1836, when poor eyesight necessitated his retirement.
Auction Info
2024 January 10 - 14 FUN US Coins Signature® Auction #1371 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
January, 2024
10th-14th
Wednesday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 56
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