Carson City Mint

While no known ingots survive from the Carson City Mint, this might be the next best thing! A punch bearing the mint name used for bullion.

NV – Carson City,Carson City Mint Bullion Punch

This unique and wonderful piece was spotted by Carson City Mint Press Operator, Ken Hopple and brought to us from a Reno collection. It is a remarkable discovery and a testament to the thousands of people who collect rusty artifacts in the West over the last half century. This oval bullion punch measures about 1.5″ X 1″ wide.

What’s left of the stem extends about an inch from the back of the bullion punch. The stem of the punch would have extended approximately 6-9″ from the back of the bullion punch so that it could be hand held while extending a blow from a single jack. The piece was “decommissioned” (destroyed) by breaking or destroying the handle, such that there is no way that this punch could be used again. Further, there is evidence of a minor form of cancellation via a small diagonal punch through the letters “t” and “a” of “States”.

Otherwise the punch is in remarkable condition. The corrosion to the letters and the exterior of the punch is roughly typical and the same that we have witnessed from Carson City Mint dies that were discarded in the dump and dug up in the 1960s. The style of punch is exactly the same as seen on some other U.S. Mint items. The tooling, letters and overall construction are absolutely 19th Century. To date no original Carson City Mint bullion bars have been located. In fact, very few 19th Century U.S. Mint ingots exist today, rendering this piece priceless.

[07/2011] https://www.icollector.com/NV-Carson-City-Carson-City-Mint-Bullion-Punch_i10680094 ($11,750)