PHILADELPHIA MINT TOUR PHOTOS: TIFFANY, PETER AND JANVIER

The lobby of the Fourth Philadelphia Mint has mounted on its walls seven glass mosaic panels — two oblong and five round — executed under the direction of Louis B. Tiffany for display at the Third Philadelphia Mint on Spring Garden Street upon its opening in 1901.

The Favrile glass panels, made by designs from William B. Van Ingen, illustrate the ancient Roman methods and processes of coinage and were originally commissioned by the U.S. Mint at a cost of $40,000.

Mezzanine displays include the stuffed American bald eagle, Peter, who lived at the Philadelphia Mint circa 1830 to 1836 and was let out each night to fly around the city of Philadelphia. Peter died when one of his wings was irreparably damaged after being caught in the flywheel of a coinage press on which he had perched.

Peter is said to have been Engraver Christian Gobrecht’s model for the silver dollars from 1836 through 1839.

This is the original Janvier reducing lathe introduced at the Philadelphia Mint in 1907 to cut the master dies from galvano models for the Saint-Gaudens gold coinage.

To read the complete article, see: Philadelphia Mint tours get new appearance (www.coinworld.com/articles/philadelphia-mint-tours-get-new-appearance/)












Wayne Homren, Editor

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