1908 SAN FRANCISCO MINT - MANUSCRIPT NOTEBOOK of E.R. LEACH Head MELTER & REFINER for U.S. MINT in S.F.

Edwin Ralph Leach

Published by San Francisco, 1908

MELTING and REFINING MANUSCRIPT NOTEBOOK of EDWIN RALPH LEACH, while he was the Director of Melting and Refining at the San Francisco Mint, c.1908-1909. Forty-two (42) pages of the notebook contain handwritten details about the process of melting and refining metals at the various U.S. Mints and affiliated smelting companies, including the San Francisco Mint, the Philadelphia Mint, Balbach Smelting & Refining Company (Newark, N.J.), U.S. Metals Refining Company, et al. His handwritten notes provide details on the melting and refining of various metals, including copper, silver, platinum and gold. Manuscript drawings are here and there among the text. Written on the front free-endpaper is: "PROPERTY OF / E. R. LEACH / U.S. MINT / SAN FRANCISCO". Notebook, cloth covered stiff cardboard covers, marbled page edges, sewn bound, "U.S. Treasury Department Stock No. 1716" printed in black on the front cover, 5x7.75 inches, lined pages, 42 pages have writing in pencil, the rest are blank. GOOD condition: The front cover is slightly bowed and has a bend to its bottom front corner, otherwise tight, bright and clean. The pencil manuscript writing is dark and fully legible. A unique look at melting and refining in the U.S. Mint in the days when metals were important for the stability of the dollar. About EDWIN RALPH LEACH (from Wikipedia and elsewhere on the Internet): ******Edwin Ralph Leach, b.1878 d.1971, son of Frank Aleamon Leach, studied mining at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1908, while his father was Director of the U.S. Mint, Edwin R. Leach was named Melter and Refiner of the San Francisco Mint, in place of Charles M. Gosham, who resigned. He was the head Melter and Refiner for a number of years. During the Great Depression, E.R. Leach managed a copper mine in Trinity County, and later was a Director of the Buttes Gas and Oil Company . E.R. Leach also studied entomology, especially beetles. He had a particular interest in scarab beetles. He was an honorary member of the Pacific Coast Entomological Society. In 1920 he became a member of the California Academy of Sciences and a fellow in 1946. He bequeathed his extensive insect collection of 40,000 to 50,000 specimens to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.****** About FRANK A. LEACH, father of E.R. Leach (from Wikipedia): ******Frank Aleamon Leach, b.1846 d.1929, was an American newspaperman who became Director of the United States Mint. In 1897 Leach retired from journalism to become Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint; then in 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt named Leach Director of the entire United States Mint. Frank Leach held that office from September 1907 until August 1909. In the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the heroic efforts by Frank A. Leach and his men preserved the old San Francisco Mint building and the bullion that then backed the nation's currency. Frank Leach had one son, Edwin R. Leach, who became the head smelter and refiner of the San Francisco Mint during Frank's tenure.******. Seller Inventory # 004264

Bibliographic Details

Title: 1908 SAN FRANCISCO MINT - MANUSCRIPT ...
Publisher: San Francisco
Publication Date: 1908
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition