Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-05-24
THE OLD UTAH MINT.
4 COINAGE SYSTEM THAT WAS BORN
OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.

The story OF the Ancienf and Almost
Forgotten DeScrct Gold Honey-Feyv
of the Pieces Are In Existence mt
.hc Present Time.
The ancient coinage Of Utah. the
period when the glittering particles Of
yellow gold from California were mint
ed in little adobe building in Salt
Lake, has been half forgotten. The
written and printed records of that time.
by strange oversight, throw no light
on the subject
Those Utahans whose memory dates
back 10 lS49 remember the establish
ment Of the mint, but the exact dates
are confused. 1t was some time toward
the close Of lS49 that the mint was in
augurated as measure of public CON
venience. Brigham Young was the in
stigator of the coinage system and exer.
cised a personal supervision over the
work
Prior 70 the establishment Of the mint
all gold dust had 20 be weighed when
payments for merchandise or other ar
ticles were made In many cases the
merchant with whom the purchaser
was dealing had no gold scales, and
much trouble resulted. The metal was
too precious 20 admit of guess work in as
certaining the weight required 10 cover
given sum. and the customer would
tee put 10 the trouble OF looking up
scales TO aid him in his payment.
Old timers disagree as TO who made
the dies with which the gold was
stamped into 3. 30, -. $40 and $50
coins. The honor lies between John
Kay and James VI. Barlow KAY was a
mechanic and Barlow jeweler and
dentist. Judge Hammond Of San Juan.
who came 10 Utah in 1913. says that
dies were made sv both men.
He thinks Kay made the first. which
were unsatisfactory and imperfect. and
that Barlow made the later ones.
Thomas Bullock was chief clerk and
active director Of the mint during its
entire operation. The gold which was
used came chiefly from California. much
Of 1t being brought here by members OF
the Mormon battalion on their return
from the Mexican war.
They carried the precious dust and
nuggets in buckskin pouches TO the
mint, where il was weighed and coined
absolutely without alloy. The mint
building was at that time a Considera-
bly, more pretentiOus structure than il
Is today. Ii was two stories high and
contained half dozen rooms.
The Crucibles in which the gold was
melted were in the cellar The primi-
tive machine with which the cooling
metal was stamped into coin stood in a
back room on the first floor. All the
work was done by hand and every piece
of the machinery was made By salt
Lake artisans. OF necessity, no base
metal appeared in the finished product.
Twenty-Five grains Of gold was the
equivalent of dollar
The man who had 67i, grains turned
that amount over 70 Mr.. Bullock. who
sent II ut once 20 MeSsrs Kay and Bar
low. 1t was immediately melted and
turned into a coin of the value Of -. so.
So 1t was with the pieces Of larger de-
nomination, and the mint customer. if
he so desired, could follow his metal
with his eyes from his pouch through
the crucible press and stamp.
No toll was taken out Of the gold.
the coinage being absolutely free. AT
first the -. go pieces were most plenti-
full and popular. Then large number
of 50 coins were made. and these. with
the first named, constituted the bulk of
the mint's work. Not many $40 pieces
were mintcd, and the $50 coins were
still fewer.
The mint ceased operations in 1860
because OF the appearance in sufficient
quantities Of United States gold and
silver coins. Although the space Of time
since the last pouch was emptied into
Thomas BullOck's money mill, " rs it
was called, Is comparatively short, few
OF the coins are known 10 bee III exist
ence today. Because of their purity they
wore rapidly, and as a consequence de
Perforated III value by erosion
Many of them were remelted and
made into necklaces. chains and other
articles of jewelry. Apostle Brigham
Young has watch chain that was
made from two Of the $50 pieces He
had the chain made in Switzerland while
IN that country some years ago +. H.
Pierce has one SEQ coin, and several
others are IN possession of Salt LakerS
When President Brigham \ Young died
III 1877. his executors, in going over
his personal property. found locked
strong box. On forcing the lid mum
ber of the coins of the period described
were found. They covered all the de-
nominations, and were sold at auction.
bringing n premium over their face
value. President Young'S son, Apostle
Brigham Young, at that time secured
SIX OF the 50 denomination, which he
still has. The others were scattered in
such way as TO make it impossible to
trace them.
Two sets of dies were used to1 the So
pieces. The first set. rs has been stated.
proving unsatisfactory, another set was
made. No milling appears on the edges
except i'll the last issues
The lettering and other technical
points on both sets We're imperfect, but
the coins served their day and purpose
well. They passed current at their face
value as readily outside of Utah as
within its borders.
The California slug circulated also
very freely here and was used fer other
purposes besides money. Apostle Brig