Year: 1873

The necessity for Government office


for the assaying of precious metals is not


generally understood, and there are few


whose curiosity would lead them to in


quire why it is maintained. Yet the ne


cessity is not only great, but the work


done is very important. All the bullion


in the country is supposed to pass through
the hands of the Government officials,


hence bankers aud others who, whether


for shipment or for other purposes, re


quire gold or silver in bulk, 20 to the


United States Assay Office and there pur-


chase it. But the question arises, where


does the Government get il all from p


Does it come from the California and Ore


gon gold fields +? BY no means When


banker wants to ship. say $40, 900 in


gold to foreign country, he finds that
such sum 10 coin is not only very bulky,


but far less safe than when in solid bar.


He there fore takes it to the Assay Office
aud has it melted down Old fashioned OF
damaged jewlery, gold or silver plate.
&c, that is unstable in such state,


finds ready market when in bar. Such
articles are constantly taken to the Assay
Office, when they soon lose their original
appearance. Another reason for reduc.
ing gold coin, especially such as has been
long in use, and jewclry to bar gold, is
that it generally brings a higher price in
the market in that FORM


A visit to the United States Assay Of
flee, which is in quiet, uupretending
building in Wall street, next to the Trea-
sury Office, is at any time interesting =
All the processes of melting the precious
metals aud separating them from their al
Toys are always fully explained to the visi-
tor by the attendants at the Office The
first apartment entered is the deposit.
room, where depositors leave their gold
or silver to be melted, receiving therefore
a receipt according to its weight. Sam
Piles of it are then carried into the melt.
ing room and melted down, there assum-
ing a strangely different appearance from
what it originally bore. Jewelry, even of
the finest kind, comes out of the crucible
looking very much like brass or copper.
ln this state it is carried into the assay
ing room, where the quality of the gold
is tested by weight. For this purpose
small portion of the metal is rolled out
into thin plate, from which piece is
cut of aud placed in scale of such ac-
curacy as to weigh to the two thousandth
part of a grain. The exact weight of the
piece of metal is thus determined, and it
is then melted in a small cup made OF
bone dust, first having been boiled in acid
The cxtraneous matter is absorbed by the
cup, the pure gold remaining at the bot.
tom. This is then precipitated in an
annealins-cup and all the pure gold that
was contained in the piece previously
weighed is obtained Again recourse is
had to the scale. the pure gold is weigh
ed and the precise degree of fneness of
the original is determined and marked 10
thousandths. The depositor is then paid
the exact value Of the metal he deposited,
either in coin or bar. Thus a quantity
of gold plate is brought in, say five
pounds weight. it is received and NUN
bered A portion is melted and assayed;
that is returned to the receiving officer
by the assayer with ticket giving the
number of the sample and the degree Of
fneness, which is, say four hundred and
seventy thousandths. A very simple cal
culation enables the clerk to give the ex
act value of all the gold contained in the
FIVE pounds of plate, which is paid for ac
cordIngly. In this department Of the Of
fee the greatest exactitude and accuracy
10 work and in instruments are required.
To insure that, two assays of each sample
are made by two different assayers /; if the
result in each case corresponds the assay
is considered correct; If not, fresh samples
are obtained and assayed. The scales
used are balanced to degree of nicely
scarcely credible. The bearer is of hard
steel, and has an edge as fine as that OF a
razor, which rests on an agate support
So accurate are these scales that piece
of hair about one and half inches long
was placed in the scale before the writer
and its weight accurately determined to
be nearly FIVE two thousandths part of a
grain.


When the fueDess and consequent
value Of a deposit has been determined
and the metal paid for. it of course be-
comes the property of the Government,
and is then thrown into common bulk for
preliminary melting. For this purpose
the gold is divided in lots of $50 pounds
each, called "melts," having previously
been mixed with silver 10 the proportion
of two parts silver to one Of gold the
reason for which is that the acids will
not act on the gold unless the silver be
iu greater quantity. 10 this state the
metal is placed in large cast iron pots and
melted ; while it is still 10 liquid form,
the metal is thrown into cold water and
granulated, naturally assuming varied and
fantastic shapes.


1t is now ready for the separating room,
and reaching hich the visitor nearly suf
focated by the sulphuric fumes escaping
from the acid used in separating the me
tails. 10 one corner Of this apartment are
four large iron pots, covered, and on the
opposite side is a row of small furnaces,