1/23/2019 Gmail - coins and so on Eric Newman < coins and so on 1 message Tiesenhausen < Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 11:14 AM To: Eric Newman < Hello Eric, It was great to talk with you today. I could have gone on for hours, but... With no further ado, here's my contact information: Dr. Michael L. Bates Curator Emeritus of Islamic Coins The American Numismatic Society Michael Bates 1334 River Road, Apt. 3 Edgewater, NJ 07020-1424 I'll have to send my Connecticut material as a digital pdf. You can surely find somebody to print it out for you. With very best regards, Mike https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1?ik=504c5c6882&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1351858666875910714&simpl=msg-f%3A13518586668… 1/1 1/23/2019 Gmail - photos, and notes on mining in CT and NJ Eric Newman < photos, and notes on mining in CT and NJ 1 message Tiesenhausen < Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 10:05 AM To: Eric Newman < Dear Eric, Something must have connected between us because I had just prepared my notes on 18th-century mining and minting in Connecticut and New Jersey to send to you. The pdf is attached; whether there will be anything new in it for you, I don't know. Your photos are magnificent. Thanks very much indeed. When I can find time in the Christmas rush to identify each coin precisely, I'll send you the descriptions. These will be very adequate images if I scan them, but I wonder if you can persuade the photographer to send me the digital images. No editing or prep necessary. Meanwhile, my best holiday wishes to you and yours, and for many more years to come! Michael Bates, CT NJ mines and mints.pdf 2150K https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1?ik=504c5c6882&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1355840578528791257&simpl=msg-f%3A13558405785… 1/1 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 125 2.7.30.1 Connecticut copper, 1705 (expand): 2.7.30.1.1 Higley coppers, Simsbury: 2.7.30.1.1.1 Bibliography: 2.7.30.1.1.1.1 E. H. Adams. “Higley’s Coppers–‘Granby Coinage.’ Coined by John Higley, A Connecticut Blacksmith 1737, 1738, 1739,” The Numismatist 21, 8 (August 1908), 231-33. Popularized summary of Crosby, with some liberties. 2.7.30.1.1.1.2 BAILEY, CLEMENT F. Dr. Samuel Higley and his coppers. NUM, Sept76, 11pp, illus. Not seen. 30Royal Mint Report 1870, 53. 31Royal Mint Report 1870, 53. C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 126 2.7.30.1.1.1.3 Clarke, Horace Charles, “East Granby,” in The Memorial History of Hartford (ed. J. Hammond Trumbull; Hartford: Edward L. Osgood, 1886). 2.7.30.1.1.1.3.1: http://history.rays-place.com/ct/east-granby.htm 2.7.30.1.1.1.4 “Charles Crommelin: The Trials and Tribulations of a pioneer in copper mining at Simsbury, Connecticut, in the early 1700's.” 2.7.30.1.1.1.4.1: http://www.angelfire.com/bc3/connections/Charles/CharlesCrommelin.htm 2.7.30.1.1.1.5 Crosby, Sylvester S. The Early Coins of America; and the laws governing their issue. Comprising also descriptions of the Washington pieces, the Anglo-American tokens, many pieces of unknown origin, of the 17th & 18th centuries, and the first patterns of the United States mint. Lawrence, MA, 1873. 2.7.30.1.1.1.5.1: “The History of The Higley Copper Coins,” http://www.coinfacts.com/historical_notes/history_of_the_higley_copper_coins.htm. 2.7.30.1.1.1.6 East Granby, CT, website: 2.7.30.1.1.1.6.1: http://www.eastgranby.com/olde_newgate_prison.htm 2.7.30.1.1.1.6.2: http://www.eastgranby.com/HistoricalSociety/East%20Granby%20Historical%20Society.htm 2.7.30.1.1.1.6.3: http://www.eastgranby.com/HistoricalSociety/old_maps1.htm 2.7.30.1.1.1.7 Daniel Friedus, “The History and Die Varieties of the Higley Coppers,” in The Token: America’s Other Money. Proceedings of the Coinage of the Americas Conference 10 [29/10/1994]. (New York: American Numismatic Society, 1995), pp. 1-17. 2.7.30.1.1.1.7.1: Full notes below. Gives brief history, bringing out some new but peripheral evidence; discusses analyses made for him by Gordus, inconclusive; lists corpus and known dies. Three listed in ANS, but misidentified as to provenance. 1, dies 3.2-B.a, no. 3, 8.18 grams. [UPDATE]. 2.7.30.1.1.1.8 Getman, Frederick H. “Samuel Higley, an early American metallurgist. Journal of Chem- ical Education 1941, 18, 453. Not seen. 2.7.30.1.1.1.9 Louis Jordan, “Higley Coppers 1737, 1739: Introduction,” on The Coins of Colonial and Early America, A Project of the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment (www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoins). 2.7.30.1.1.1.10 Phelps, Noah A. A history of the copper mines and Newgate Prison, at Granby, Conn. : also, of the captivity of Daniel Hayes, of Granby, by the Indians, in 1707. Hartford: Case, Tiffany & Burnham, 1845. 34 p., 23 cm. 2.7.30.1.1.1.10.1: Noah Amherst Phelps, 1788-1872. 2.7.30.1.1.1.11 Phelps, Richard H. Newgate of Connecticut: a history of the prison, its insurrections, massacres, & c., imprisonment of the Tories, in the revolution, the ancient and recent working of its mines, & c., to which is appended a description of the State Prison, at Wethersfield. 3rd edition; Hartford: Press of E. Geer, 1844. 33 p., 22 cm. 2.7.30.1.1.1.12 Phelps, Richard H. Newgate of Connecticut : its origin and early history : being a full description of the famous and wonderful Simsbury mines and caverns, and the prison built over them ... Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, 1895. 3 p. l., 13-117 p.; front., illus., plates; 23 cm. In CSL. 2.7.30.1.1.1.12.1: [Richard Harvey Phelps]. 2.7.30.1.1.1.12.2: Includes manuscript Verses Made Upon ... (CLICK FOR MORE) 2.7.30.1.1.1.13 Poirier, David A., & Mary G. Harper, Newgate Prison and Copper Mine. 2.7.30.1.1.1.14 Jay Robbins, letter posted at http://www.angelfire.com/bc3/connections/Charles/Hannover.htm in 2004. 2.7.30.1.1.1.15 Willies, Lynn and Sheelagh. “The Newgate Prison and Simsbury Copper Mine, East Granby, Connecticut,” Mining History 14, 2 (Winter 1999). Not read. 2.7.30.1.1.2 Bibliographies: 2.7.30.1.1.2.1 Friedus 1995, 16-17. 2.7.30.1.1.2.1.1: Jordan, “References,” at end of text. 2.7.30.1.1.3 Copper mining in Simsbury: C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 127 2.7.30.1.1.3.1 Map of Simsbury in its entirety. 2.7.30.1.1.3.2 Simsbury was the name of the township when the mines were discovered, but subsequent- ly, the town of Granby was divided off in 1786, and in 1858 the town of East Granby, which still exists, was separated from Granby. The coins under discussion are often called Granby coppers. The mines are about 12 miles north by west of New Haven, and about 5 miles west of the Connecticut river and I-91. The copper ore was found in a basalt ridge, Talcott Range, running north-south through the town, as seen clearly on this map of East Granby about 1850. The mines were on the west side of the ridge. 2.7.30.1.1.3.3 “As early as 1710 iron was manufactured at a mill on Stony Brook, in the extreme northeast part of the town, close by the Suffield line, and this is believed to have been the first manufacture of iron from ore procured in the colony. About 1728 a furnace called the "new works" was set up a mile farther south, on land now owned by Oliver M. Holcomb. The ore was from surface stone gathered in that part of Windsor which still retains the name of Ore Marsh.” Clarke 1886, from web page. 2.7.30.1.1.3.3.1: Samuel Higley set up this latter iron mill, apparently on the site of the German copper smelting operation. See http://www.chezbabcock.com/genealogy/histories/Simsbury.txt, copied to Simsbury, CT.wpd. C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 128 2.7.30.1.1.3.4 Copper was discovered in 1705, when town records record a town meeting discussion in December. Two men were appointed to pursue the report. In 1707, the town organized the first copper mining company in the colonies. Disputes seem to have prevented any signif- icant production. In 1712, a thirty-year lease was signed with a company including Jon- athan Belcher of Boston, later governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and then Governor of New Jersey. Friedus 1995, 2-3. 2.7.30.1.1.3.4.1: For the text of the patent granted by the General Assembly in May, 1709, see CCR Patent... (tif and wpd). 2.7.30.1.1.3.4.2: “The location of the mine was about a hundred rods from the west ledge of the Talcott Mountain, at its highest point in East Granby, which is a point nearly as high as any in the same ridge in the State.” Clarke 1886. 2.7.30.1.1.3.5 Development of Copper Hill began, with housing for miners and a stamping mill for crushing ore. Belcher returned from England with 12 miners and a refiner. He set up the refinery in Boston (whither the ore was transported via the Connecticut River). By 1717, Belcher had bought out his father-in- law. In about 1720, his refinery was closed for insufficient volume. Thereafter the ore was sent to Bristol, England. Belcher complained of his losses, and claimed to have invested £15,000 over thirty years [Friedus estimates $1,000,000+ in current dollars]. Mining ceased when the 30-year leases expired, since profit seemed unlikely. Friedus 1995, 3. 2.7.30.1.1.3.6 Another partner, Rev. Woodbridge, sold his share to Jaheel Brenton of Rhode Island, Charles Crommeline, and Elias Boudinot, both the latter merchants of New York City. These other lessees organized a refinery in Simsbury, with a refiner, John Hoofman, hired from Philadelphia and skilled workers from Germany. Friedus 1995, 3. C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 129 2.7.30.1.1.3.7 : CCR Patent for Simsbury Copper mines: C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 130 2.7.30.1.1.3.8 Higley’s mine was separate from the above. Samuel Higley, born 1687, son of a wealthy merchant who had moved to Simsbury in 1684. Well educated [Yale graduate: Jordan], apparently studied medicine. Received property from his father and built a house there in 1719. In 1728 the General Court granted him exclusive right to produce steel in the colony for 10 years. Nothing is known of the outcome, but his skill probably enabled him to produce dies and other tools to make coins. Friedus 1995, 4. 2.7.30.1.1.3.8.1: “May, 1728 Samuel Higley, of Simsbury and Joseph Dewey, of Hebron Connecticut granted the exclusive right of practicing the business or trade of steel-making for twenty years, provided the petitioners improved the art to any good and reasonable perfection within two years.” Unsourced note from web, original source unknown. 2.7.30.1.1.3.8.2: See note above, on iron mill in Simsbury. 2.7.30.1.1.3.8.3: “The most extensive workings, aside from those on Copper Hill, were known as Higley's mine, situated a little more than a mile southward, on land now owned by Hilton Griffin, and nearly west of the old vineyard gap in the mountain, where upon the map of ancient Simsbury Mr. Higley's house is seen to have been located. Mr. Edmund Quiucy, of Boston, had a company of miners working here at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War; soon afterward the works were abandoned. About 1787 Samuel Higley, here referred to, manufactured a rude copper coin which to some extent circulated as a representative of value in the vicinity, and has since been known as the Higley Copper. Tile coins are said to have passed current for - " two and sixpence;" presumably in paper, because their intrinsic value was only a penny. They were not all of one device; but one now in the Connecticut Historical Society, at Hartford, is here represented by engravings, showing both sides. Such a coin has now a cabinet value of perhaps a hundred dollars. The interest in the mines was very much abated after 1737. Of the ore dug, a considerable part was shipped to Europe; some of it arrived safely, and was smelted. One cargo was reported lost in the English Channel, and one captured by the French. About 1721 smelting and refining works were built and secretly operated (to what extent is unknown) at a place in West Simsbury called Hanover by the Germans, who were then conducting the business. The locality has since retained the name. ” Clarke 1886. 2.7.30.1.1.3.9 Hannover: three Germans brought to Simsbury, set up a smelting and refining plant on Grist Mill Road, near the Grist Mill. See Hannover, CT.wpd. 2.7.30.1.1.3.10 In 1723, Samuel Higley with many others, including his brothers, was granted land by a decision of the Town Meeting, in his case 90 acres, a medium grant. http://www.simsburyhistory.org/land-records.html 2.7.30.1.1.3.11 In 1728 Higley bought 143 acres about 1.5 miles south of Copper Hill. Copper was mined on that land. In 1732, Higley served as consultant to Belcher on the quality of ore from Simsbury, although the results were disputed. In 1733, a letter from Belcher (to his attorney in Hartford) states “I observe Higley is very slow, and dilatory in his business–having made out only one ton of ore to this day, and there are but three months more before the winter will be upon him, so he may perhaps make out in a whole year 2 or 3 tons of ore–which is a poor story–I am indeed sick of all this affair...” Friedus 1995, 4. [Does the context suggest that at this time Higley was working for or with Belcher, or is Higley mentioned only as a comparison with Belcher’s equally poor results?]. 2.7.30.1.1.3.12 No Belcher letters are known from May 1735 to August 1739, covering the period of issue of the Higley coppers (1737-39). There is no documentary evidence for a Higley connection with the coins. There is only (A) family lore, and (B) his known [rather, presumed] competence as a steelmaker. His will, 1734, mentions his mine, but nothing about coining [too early for that]. He is believed to have died in 1737, and it is alleged that his brother John, Jr., continued the minting. Friedus 1995, 4-5. 2.7.30.1.1.3.13 Crosby simply states that John Higley Jr. struck the coins. Mitchelson 742-43 gives a biography of John Higley Jr., a blacksmith, and takes it for granted that he issued all the coins. Samuel Higley is not mentioned. C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 131 2.7.30.1.1.3.14 John Higley has been erroneously identified as the son of Samuel, but note the following: http://www.bementfamily.com/report1b.htm: 9. Abigail4 Bement (John3, John2, John1 Beaumont, ThomasA, WilliamB) was born 13 May 1700 in Simsbury, Hartford Co., CT, and died 5 Aug 1746 in Simsbury, Hartford Co., CT. She married Samuel Higley 19 Sep 1719 in Westfield, Hampden Co., MA. Children of Abigail Bement and Samuel Higley are: 30 i. Jonathan5 Higley, born 21 Jun 1721 in Simsbury, Hartford Co., CT; died 8 Jul 1781 in Simsbury, Hartford Co., CT. He married Mary Thompson. Notes for Jonathan Higley: JONATHAN HIGLEY (5-30) married Mary Thompson, the only daughter of the Reverend Edward Thompson, minister of the Simsbury Church. Jonathan drowned in the Farmington River. 2.7.30.1.1.3.15 An old goldsmith informed Crosby that, when he was an apprentice, his master had excused his own failure to complete a gold necklace by his inability to find a Higley copper for the alloy. From this story, Crosby concluded that Higleys were still around but very rare 70 years before his time, i.e., in 1803. This is the sole basis for the story passed along in the next paragraph, 2.7.30.1.1.3.16. Crosby 1873. 2.7.30.1.1.3.16 It is said that the Higleys are rare because they were pure copper and thus melted down by goldsmiths for alloying, but the Friedus/Gordus analyses show that the Higleys are no more pure than other early 18th-century coppers (all over 95%, mostly 98-99%). However, the analyses could not detect tin [which therefore was possibly in lower percentage in Higley’s coins; i.e., Gordus’ analyses do not give the whole coin percentage, only the percentage of copper among the elements analyzable]. Friedus 1995, 5-6. 2.7.30.1.1.3.17 On 16 October 1739 John Read of Boston memorialized the Connecticut General Court to grant authority for a legal Connecticut copper coinage of half- pence and farthings. Adams 1908, 233. See Jordan ... 2.7.30.1.2 Connecticut State coppers: 2.7.30.1.2.1 Bibliography: 2.7.30.1.2.1.1 Louis Jordan, “Connecticut Coppers 1785-1788: Introduction,” on The Coins of Colonial and Early America, A Project of the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment (www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoins). 2.7.30.1.2.1.1.1: Jordan does not mention any connection of these coins with mines. Indeed, the partnership had to suspend production at one point for lack of metal. 2.7.30.1.2.1.1.2: See New Jersey mining and minting for connections by marriage between copper miner/minters from NJ and CT. 2.7.30.2 New Jersey copper (expand): 1.1.1.1.1 New Jersey State coppers: 1.1.1.1.1.1 Bibliography: 1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Douglas, Damon G. The Copper Coinage of the State of New Jersey: Annotated Manuscript of Damon G. Doug- las. Ed. Gary A. Trudgen; New York: American Connecticut Higley token Numismatic Society, 2003. ANS 1919.60.158 1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1: Manuscript left unfinished at his death in 1974. Work on it was dropped earlier, but Foreword does not indicate that date. 1.1.1.1.1.1.2 Friedus 1995: See Mining and minting in Connecticut. C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010 Bates: Money Before Machinery Mines 132 1.1.1.1.1.1.3 Michael Hodder, “New Jersey Reverse J, A Biennial Die,” American Journal of Numismatics, 2nd series, 1 (1989), 195-237. A biennial die is a reverse die that is found combined with two different obverse dates. Includes various information on NJ minting, and bibliography. 1.1.1.1.1.2 Schuyler mine: 1.1.1.1.1.2.1 Friedus 1995, 3: by 1731 the Schuyler mine in New Jersey had produced 1,400 tons of ore, shipped to Bristol, England, for refining. 1.1.1.1.1.2.2 http://kearnyalumni.com/history/kearny.pdf: ARENT HENRY SCHUYLER. “The progenitor of the Schuyler family in America was Philip Pietersie Von Schuyler, who emigrated from Amsterdam, Holland, in 1650, and settled in Albany, N.Y., having married Margritta Von Slechtenhorst. To this marriage were born ten children, among whom was Arent, a native of Albany, where his birth occurred June 25, 1662. He was the pioneer of the family in New Jersey, having settled at Pompton in 1697, and removed to New Barbadoes, in the same State, in 1710. Here he purchased a tract of land, upon which the Schuyler copper-mines were discovered.” 1.1.1.1.1.3 State coppers, 1786: 1.1.1.1.1.3.1 Robert Ogden, Jr., married Sarah Platt of Huntington, Long Island, in 1772. After her death, he married her sister Hannah 12/3/1786. Hannah’s sister married to Samuel Broome, partner of her brother Jeremiah Platt. The firm of Broome & Platt moved in 1785 from NYC to New Haven. The successful petition for Connecticut copper coinage was filed 18/10/1785. James Jarvis, son-in-law of Broome and friend of Robert Ogden, Jr., acquired 5/16th interest in the coinage company, and Broome and Platt were active in its affairs. Douglas 2003, 6-7. 1.1.1.1.1.3.1.1: James Jarvis was the winner of the contract to mint coppers for the Continental Congress, Douglas 2003, 13. 1.1.1.1.1.3.2 Robert Ogden, Sr., owner of a copper mine in Sussex County. Douglas 2003, 6. 1.1.1.1.1.3.3 January 1786: Matthias Ogden, son of the above, memorialized the Continental Congress [sitting in New York] seeking the contract for the contemplated Federal copper coinage. Douglas 2003, 6, 50-51. 1.1.1.1.1.3.3.1: Probably a result of Robert Ogden, Jr.’s connections with the company for Connecticut coppers. He had traveled to Huntington, L.I., and then to New Haven in 1785. Douglas 2003, 6-7. 1.1.1.1.1.3.3.2: James Jarvis also made a proposal, which was the one accepted. See above. 1.1.1.1.1.3.4 20/3/1786: Ogden introduced a bill in the NJ Legislative Council to establish copper coinage in the state. Douglas 2003, 6; 31-33. 1.1.1.1.1.3.5 Two rival petitions submitted May 1786 to the NJ General Assembly for copper coinage. Douglas 2003, 9-10, 33-34. 1.1.1.1.1.3.5.1: Walter Mould, Thomas Goadsby, Albion Cox, 3 Englishmen from NYC, the winning proposal (approved 1/6/1786). Offered 10%. Won with the support of Daniel Marsh and Abraham Clark. Text in Crosby, 275-79. Douglas 2003, 9. Cox had been involved in private minting in England. Douglas 10: Mould also had coining and counterfeiting experience in England, and on 19/8/1785, proposed to the Continental Congress to operate a mint. Douglas 10: Matthias Ogden subsequently assisted and participated in the affairs of these contractors. Douglas 13: Mould and Jarvis were business associates even before Mould left Britain. 1.1.1.1.1.3.5.2: William Leddel, who alleged his ownership of suitable factories and of a quantity of native mined copper as guarantees of speedy delivery, and offered to the state a royalty of one copper out of every nine, 11%. Douglas 2003, 9. Text in Crosby, 277. 1.1.1.1.1.3.5.3: A later proposal by Jasper Smith & Co., see David Gladfelter, “A Forgotten New Jersey Colonial Coinage Proposal,” The Colonial Newsletter 31, 3 (9/1991), 1275-79. 1.1.1.1.1.3.6 Rahway Mint operations: Mould, Goadsby, and Cox fell out. The Rahway minting operation finally fell into the hands of Matthias Ogden, still in collaboration with Goadsby, and operations lasted until 1789. Douglas 35-65; Douglas 65 for summary chronology. C:\WPDOCS\MONEY\Money.wpd 19 December 2010