1892 COLUMBUS LANDING gilt 12.7mm (1/2") ~ struck at the Fair by George B. Soley

Description

A nice medal.  If it should remind you of a US Type I gold dollar, there are reasons for that.  This medal was struck on the same coin press as those gold dollars struck at Philadelphia, with the same blanking dies and collars.  This was the US Mint's first steam-powered coin press, bought in 1834 from France and first striking coins in 1836.  Declared a "historical relic" in 1875, the press was purchased by sometimes mint worker and Philadelphia die sinker George B. Soley, along with the blanking dies and collars for the Type I gold dollars, which had not been used for twenty years.  Soley worked the "Fair Circuit" for the next thirty years with this coin press, striking medals before the admiring crowds and selling them medals they had seen struck.  The Franklin Institute acquired the coin press in 1927 from the widow Soley, and it was motorized and used to strike medals as recently as 2000.  Today the coin press sits in a glass case at the headquarters of the American Numismatic Association in Colorado.
Please see my other items for more exonumia, coins, and collectibles.
The U.S. Mint removed it from service in 1875 when George B. Soley purchased it as an "historic" relic. (Soley was a die sinker and maintained a shop on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia.) For the next thirty years, he exhibited it for his own and the public's benefit, following the "fair circuit" throughout the nation.
In 1876, Soley displayed the press at the Centennial Exposition and used it to strike the Centennial's medals. In 1883 it appeared at the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Southern Exposition in Louisville. In 1893, Soley exhibited the coining press at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, then in Buffalo for the Pan American Exposition in 190l, and St. Louis' Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. At these events, he struck small 13mm medalets usually with an official logo on one side and the "Lords Prayer" on the other, which he sold for a quarter.
The Franklin Institute acquired the coining press in 1927 from Mrs. George B. Soley. It was then reconditioned and motorized. The press moved to the site of the new Science Museum in 1933-34, in order to strike aluminum tokens for visitors. A bust of Benjamin Franklin appeared on the souvenir coin, with the facade of The Franklin Institute on its reverse.
The American Numismatic Association (ANA) is very interested in this machine. This coining press is one of the truly historic gems of the numismatic world. On March 23rd, 2000, The Franklin Institute celebrated the 164th anniversary of the first strikings on this press. The press was moved from the first floor of the Museum to the rotunda, where commemorative coins were struck to celebrate the event. In August of 2000, the press appeared at a special exhibit at the ANA Convention, held here in Philadelphia. The Institute then lent the coining press to ANA for exhibit at their museum in Colorado Springs, CO.
The Franklin Institute's collections include the first "powered" coining press to be used at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Thonnelier invented the press in France in 1833. It was operated by steam, while earlier presses were operated by hand. Philadelphians Merrick, Agnew, and Tyler imported the press in 1836. When it arrived in Philadelphia, Franklin Peale of the U.S. Mint made improvements to this model. The coining press was first operated on March 22, 1836.  The press could produce about 100 coins per minute, while previously using screw presses five men could produce about 25 coins per minute.
The main thrust of the news article -- and this was my research interest -- was the item in the first paragraph. While still on the staff of the Philadelphia Mint Engraving Department, George B. Soley had purchased the first steam press -- as surplus! -- from the Mint in 1875. (This press was later donated to the Franklin Institute in 1927 by Soley's widow, and even later, in 2000, to the American Numismatic Association, and is now ensconced in a plastic box outside ANA Headquarters in Colorado Springs.)
Soley refurbished the press so it was able to run manually and he carted it to Philadelphia parades and fairs. For the American Centennial Exposition in 1876 he struck medals in two sizes: silver-dollar size medals from eight dies with frequent muleing (these were HK 48 to HK 72c) and gold-dollar size mostly with the Lord's Prayer and the Liberty Bell.
For the latter he had purchased obsolete tooling from the Mint, like 12.7mm collars and blanking dies formerly used for the U.S. gold dollar of 1849-54. He did all his striking on his own time in his own residence, from dies we assumed he engraved himself. Philadelphia Mint officials were aware of what he was doing and perhaps encouraged him. The Mint itself was selling Soley's homemade medals.
But it was these little medalets with an obverse portrait of Washington and the Lord's Prayer on the reverse (Baker 651) that Secret Service agent MacMannus halted the sale of, along with Evans' book, at the Mint in December 1894. (Rulau tells us Soley sold these medalets for 25 cents at the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893.)