by Fred N. Holabird with permission from Monaco Rare Coins

Introduction

Conrad Wiegand was a boisterous man who was born in Philadelphia, worked for the US Mint, and came to the California Gold Rush in the early 1850’s. He went to work for the US Branch Mint in San Francisco at or near its inception in 1854.

Wiegand was small in stature, but big in ideas, and even stronger still in his opinions. He was a devoutly religious person who saw such injustice in the world that he undertook the publishing of his own newspaper—two of them, in fact. His other passion was the metals question, particularly his political stance generally held by most miners that money should be in the form of circulating hard specie—gold and silver coinage and ingots. Wiegand’s outspoken nature repeatedly got him into trouble, especially during his life on the Comstock. He was severely physically assaulted and beaten twice, which endeared him to the likes of Sam Clemens. As he advanced in age, his mental troubles worsened. Ultimately, his life ended in a hangman’s noose at the age of fifty in Virginia City.

A number of his precious metal ingots exist today as testimony of his work as a mainstream western assayer. These include nearly every phase of gold, silver and copper bullion in which Wiegand worked, as well as examples of items used to promote monetary specie.

Background

Conrad Wiegand shared with friends in Virginia City that he was born in Philadelphia in March, 1830. His father was John Wiegand, a one-time banker and later surgical instrument manufacturer. His brothers included a pharmacist (Thomas) and an inventor (George). The family lived in Philadelphia. Conrad, however, soon disappeared from the written historical record of Philadelphia and all American census data.

In an interview later in life, Wiegand said that he “entered the assay department of the Philadelphia Mint on $1 a day for wages.” Wiegand apparently trained for several years at the Philadelphia Mint, and mention was made that he worked in New York as well, probably for a private assaying firm.

Wiegand Appointed Assayer, Branch Mint, San Francisco, 1854

In 1854 he was appointed by President Pierce to the Branch Mint at San Francisco as Assayer. By his own admission, he returned to the east coast shortly after to run the New York New Boys Club, then left that job to study for the ministry. Unsuccessful with the Boys Club, he worked for a stint at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. President Abraham Lincoln subsequently appointed him as assayer to the Branch Mint in San Francisco once again. Working again in San Francisco, he soon published an opinionated pamphlet promoting the use of gold and silver as circulating specie.

As one of the original presidential appointees of President Pierce for the US Branch Mint at San Francisco when it opened in 1854, Wiegand held special status. Information on this early period is scant. By 1855 he held the position with the Branch Mint as Assayer, though this may be near the time that he returned to New York for a short while. While working there, his naturally boisterous and vociferous nature came to the forefront almost immediately, particularly when the Vigilance Committee was formed and action later taken. Wiegand gave a public speech, reported October 12, 1856 on the moral aspects of the Casey matter. He also published at least one article under the pseudonym William Carroll. (more…)

By Greg Reynolds

I. Who is Mr. Kris Oyster?

For around thirty-five years, Mr. Kris Oyster has been a coin dealer and he is currently well known on the nationwide show circuit. As the managing director of numismatics for DGSE, Oyster rose to fame when DGSE acquired Superior Galleries in 2007, as Superior has been a fixture in the coin business for many decades. Now, for the first time, he has agreed to be interviewed for a nationwide audience.

Greg Reynolds: Are you Managing Director of Numismatics for both DGSE and Superior Galleries? What does this job entail?

Kris Oyster: Yes, for both, and, as managing director, I am responsible for all aspects of the numismatic division of DGSE Companies nationwide .

GR: How long has DGSE been in business?

KO: DGSE has been a big name in rare coins since the firm was [organized] in 1977. I have been a coin dealer since the mid 1970’s. I became involved with DGSE in 1997. DGSE is a publicly traded company.

GR: Is DGSE well known to people in Texas?

KO: Dallas Gold and Silver is a household name in the Southwest. DGSE began in a local mall and has expanded into a hundred million dollar business. We are a major wholesaler and retailers of fine jewelry and diamonds as well as sports memorabilia,bullion products, rare coins and currency. Our revenue in 2008 was in excess of $105 million dollars. Rare coins and currency accounted for $17 million dollars of these sales in 2008. We are at almost all major coin shows as well as most regional venues. We have showrooms in Dallas and Euless, Texas, also near Charleston, South Carolina, and of course our Superior Galleries and Superior Gold and Diamond operations in Woodland Hills [in Los Angeles County]. My office is at the headquarters in Dallas. Gary Shepherd is our coin man in Euless and Brian Cohn handles our Charleston area operation.

GR: Do you serve collectors at all locations?

Yes, we even have a large cent expert on staff, Mike McKee. When I met Mike, he was 12 years old. He come into the DGSE headquarters store with his dad to buy [better-date] Lincoln pennies for his collection. We even buy and sell ancient coins. Ronnie Deschane is our on-hand consultant for ancients. Our coin expert in Euless, Gary Shepard, specializes in circulated U.S. coins that thousands of collectors want to buy, like Indian cents, Shield nickels, Barber coins, Morgan dollars, Liberty Seated series, and Extremely Fine to MS-63 19th century gold coins. We do a large business in not so expensive collector coins. We sell a big mix of collector coins, from colonial times to 2009 Proof sets. When I say that all collectors are welcome, I really mean it.

GR: What are your specialties?

KO: U.S. gold coins, U.S. paper money, and Morgan dollars. (more…)

Heidi Wastweet of Seattle, Washington was appointed to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) to fill the seat reserved for a specialist in medallic sculpture.

Ms. Wastweet is a leading American Medallist and sculptor who specializes in bas-relief bronzes.

In conjunction with a wide variety of private mints she has produced over 1000 coins, medals, tokens and rare coin replicas since 1987. She was chief engraver for Sunshine Mint for 11 years and lead designer/sculptor for Global Mint for 5 years.

In 2001 she opened her own studio (www.wastweetstudio.com) and relocated from Idaho to Seattle Washington in 2002. She served as treasurer for the American Medallic Sculpture Association from 2003-2009 and is current president and founder of Seattle Sculpture Guild as well as a member of FIDEM.

She has been featured in Coin World and Coinage magazine and exhibits her non-commission work regularly including the National Sculpture Society in New York and the Norwegian Heritage Museum in Washington.

Medal and coin credits include a 7 coin set issued by the Sultanate of Darfur, the Dean’s Award for Seattle University School of Law, Alumnus Award for Stephen F. Austin University, Mayo Clinic visiting physicians medal, Stanford University Alumni medal and Island records Willie Nelson portrait. In addition to medalic art she has also created a number of public art pieces including a recent commission for the University of Washington’s Medal of Honor Monument in Seattle and eight bronze relief panels for 12 foot high church doors for St. Paul’s in Pensacola, Florida.