New York Die

A cool thing! This is something that exonumismatists can enjoy, that collectors of currency coins may never see. From the earliest times, dies for circulating coins have been formally destroyed when no longer in use; a basic anticounterfeiting measure. The only surviving dies for a circulating US coin I've heard of are the ones found by Horatio Rust and used to make the "New Haven restrike Fugio cents, but even if he did find them being used as paperweights in a hardware store, the consensus may now be that they were not original, but fantasy-piece dies made privately in the 1850s. Don't know much about dies though; if I'm wrong, and there are more of them out there, sure would like to see them on the forum!

Bale & Smith were Early American Hard Times engravers. This die is their work.

The firm originated as Richard Trested's -- an English immigrant who came to NYC at about 1820. After his death less than a decade later, his widow sold the firm to Bale, who was Trested's apprentice.

The firm lasted until the late 19th century under a progression of partners.

Here is an article that discusses the timeline of the firm, beginning with Trested. I wrote it about 2 years ago.

http://www.novanumismatics.com/engr...king-legacy/

Your die is is incredibly historical. You are quite fortunate to possess it.

Cheetah

And here's a page from the Journal of the Proceedings of the Formation of the Order of the Sons of Temperance, reporting the opening of the Flushing Division in the minutes of the meeting on April 24, 1843.

http://books.google.com/books?id=jU...&output=html

measured this tonight, it is 45mm across 9mm deep and looks to be made of brass, would a die be made of anything other than a hard steel?

Very Cool!