tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37981659100481989372024-03-12T16:35:52.705-07:00The Shields MintUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798165910048198937.post-57600620733420068422014-08-13T12:43:00.001-07:002014-08-13T12:43:12.454-07:00Executive Summary HistoryI started the Shields Mint in 1980, I think in March. At first we had a die set that
had an ejector pin that left a round imprint in the center of the
reverse. This with Capital G&A on the obverse. It was made for a fellow named Fred Isaacs who I really enjoyed working with. I don't think any
other obverse had the ejector pin imprint. I could be wrong about
that. So
a bar with the imprint of the ejector pin is very rare. Later, we had a
die set made that did away with the ejector pin imprint as the whole
reverse plate moved up and down. I also made a bar for a fellow named Peter Covert with Minix on
the obverse and a couple hundred for a golf tournament in Hilton Head
called a "Silver Shootout" but I forget the name of the golfer who
contracted for that although I think his first name was Mike. We only made a few hundred at most like that. I think that a total of the Shields
Mint (with my Irish and English family coats of arms on the obverse)
were around 250,000 over a three year period. I offered some artists a
prize for the best design and chose the final design from about six
entries. I closed the Mint on December 9, 1982. The market had gone
flat, people lost interest in silver and gold and I didn't have any
sales.<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798165910048198937.post-19653730309099709722013-05-22T09:46:00.003-07:002013-05-22T09:47:06.858-07:00The main piece of equipment I needed was a rolling mill. This is a pic of me and my Rouselle rolling mill which squashed the silver billets from a thickness of about 1/2 inch to .0625 inches and increased the length from about a foot to about 6 feet. We kept the rollers polished with diamond dust to impart a brilliant finish to the silver.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjak26nCdCVjw9A-6XLrC5fjKP_yVdRlLtbUSjmjtDWwvP6wpOrN1m0MawafOYugT6TSLxCc0BQlwGi0rXX6OGR8lxZsBs2ZCsRYq0oiC0EAFpHI5NJooW-wEKfXKocp6Dh6vtdJCuaTBsv/s1600/ShieldsMintShaper0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjak26nCdCVjw9A-6XLrC5fjKP_yVdRlLtbUSjmjtDWwvP6wpOrN1m0MawafOYugT6TSLxCc0BQlwGi0rXX6OGR8lxZsBs2ZCsRYq0oiC0EAFpHI5NJooW-wEKfXKocp6Dh6vtdJCuaTBsv/s320/ShieldsMintShaper0002.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
In the background is my small punch press that I used to cut the blanks that were made into the finished bar.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3798165910048198937.post-71855093694363628522013-05-19T17:51:00.002-07:002013-05-19T17:51:19.049-07:00HistoryI started the Shields Mint in 1980 when someone who I dealt gold and silver with complained that there was no reliable source of one ounce silver bars. That started me researching and the result, as they say, is history.<br />
This will be the history of the Shields Mint.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3