An 1868 coining press and other period U.S. Mint equipment are going into a major expansion of numismatic exhibits at the New Orleans Mint.

The National Historic Landmark is the nation's oldest unreconstructed Mint in its original location, one of three Branch Mints authorized in 1835. The U.S. government turned it over to the state in 1966. Today it is one of five properties operated by the Louisiana State Museum in the French Quarter of the city.

Expenses for transporting artifacts from storage at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints are being paid by the Louisiana Museum Foundation. Painting and some other work for the new displays have already begun and officials plan grand opening ceremonies for sometime in October.

There has been a small Mint display in the old engine room since the museum opened in the early 1980s. Now Mint exhibits will be expanded into the hallway and foyer, using the whole central area of the first floor.

Coinage took place in the Greek Revival structure from 1838 to 1861 and again from 1879 to 1909. The incoming equipment comes from both periods. The artifacts will be on extended, renewable loan from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints, said Greg Lambousy, acting director of collections and a seven-year veteran at the museum.

These are pieces being added from Philadelphia:

Coining press, Morgan and Orr (1868); used to strike circulating and Proof coins at the San Francisco Mint until 1974; 4 by 8.5 by 7 feet; 6 tons.

Automatic weighing machine (1906); 10 automatic balances used to weigh gold coinage blanks to ensure proper weight; 5 inches by 2.5 feet by 4 feet; 150 pounds.

Coin box, New Orleans Mint; used to carry coins during coining operations at the New Orleans Mint; 8.5 by 7 inches; 1 pound.

Assay balance, Becker and Sons, New York; 19-inch beam balance in wood and glass case, used to weigh bullion and coinage materials in the U.S. Mint Assay Department; 19 by 12 by19 inches; 10 pounds.

These are pieces being added from Denver:

Assay scale, Neweigh, Heusser; for weighing of small samples in assay operations, Denver Mint.

Bullion balance, Henry Troemmer No. 6; for large capacity weighing of bullion (750 troy ounces), Denver Mint; 5 by 40.5 by 2 feet; 300 pounds.

Calculator, Millionaire, Hans W. Egli, 1895 patent; W. H. MORSCHHAUSER, SOLE AGENT, 1 MADISON AVE., NEW YORK CITY on plate badly worn; office equipment, Denver Mint; 27 by 7 by 11 inches; 30 pounds.

Crucibles (three); for melting operations; impressed on inside of crucibles: "80, *3226, 80, *3226, 08, *3226"; 16 by 12 inches; 8 pounds each.

Coin cans (six); used to transfer coins during coining operations; all cans but one have printed on them C41C; 3 by 6.5 inches; 1 pound each.

Reviewing table, circa 1900; for reviewing coins on both sides; 17 by 34 inches by 8 feet l inch; 150 pounds.

Wood coffers (four); used for shipping coins, Denver Mint; one addressed to Banco de Mexico; 19 by 13 by 9 inches.

"We're also in negotiation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to get a scale once used here, a 5,000-ounce scale," Lambousy said.

In the foyer area, the 5,000-ounce scale would go to the right, with weights. A portrait of John Leonard Riddell, melter and refiner at the New Orleans Mint from 1839 to 1848, will dominate the left. Together with the portrait will be a mold maker that Riddell invented for silver ingots and diagrams and photographs related to it. Riddell's innovation in silver ingot production made New Orleans more efficient in that department than any other U.S. mint, Lambousy said.

Proceeding through the hallway, the visitor will view actual equipment and panel presentations on other minting operations.

A section will "stage" a small melting room, with crucibles and instruments, along with a photo panel and explanations.

Commercial spaces are located to the left and right from the first-floor entrance. A wing is set aside for science and technology storage, and the jazz curator's office and a fabrication shop are on the first floor.

The museum intends to reflect the human side of history at the Mint as much as the mechanics, Lambousy indicated.

"We have some original railing that we're getting ready to reinstall that's been off since remodeling that was finished in 1978. It was in really bad shape, parts of it just sitting around the building," Lambousy said.

A short center section will be devoted to old Fort St. Charles, the site on which the Mint was built, he said.

Some Mint officers, including Riddell and Joseph M. Kennedy (second superintendent, 1839 to 1850), lived right on the premises for years, he noted, and space will be given to their day-to-day doings. The museum has transparencies of Kennedy, his wife and their daughter Rose, who had her "coming out" society party at the Mint, Lambousy said. Archaeological finds on the grounds, mostly from mid-1970s excavations by the Louisiana Division of Archaeology, include bones left from meals, he said.

Riddell, at one time a chemistry professor at the Medical College of Louisiana, has a prominent place in local history. In American numismatics, his name is probably most often associated with being an original owner of one of only four Confederate States half dollar patterns made at the New Orleans Mint. He had been dismissed from his Mint position in 1848 by Treasury Secretary Robert J. Walker, who apparently spurned Riddell's requests for a reason for the action.

After leaving the Mint, Riddell invented the binocular microscope and played with other innovative ideas, even designing space ships. President James Buchanan appointed him postmaster of New Orleans before the Civil War. He continued in the post after Louisiana seceded from the Union, and he commissioned provisional local postage stamps and scrip. He died in 1865, claiming he had been a Union loyalist all the time.

Mary Ellen Withrow, U.S. treasurer from 1994 to 2001, was instrumental in helping with loan of artifacts, Lambousy said. Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore and her staff "have been a great help, especially with loans of documents, including a very detailed ledger book covering all manner of events and operational statistics at the New Orleans Mint," he said. The Mint staffs in Denver and Philadelphia were also very helpful, he said.

Lawrence J. Lee, American Numismatic Association curator, and Jane Colvard, ANA librarian-archivist, have been "a great help in locating documents relating to the New Orleans Mint," he said.

The Louisiana State Museum will have coins, as well as Mint equipment.

Judi Thomson is co-owner of the Coin Vault, which leases first-floor space that once was the assay room. The store specializes in New Orleans Mint coins. About two years ago, the business helped buy a Confederate half dollar restrike for the museum, and the coin was displayed with a Coin World article on the subject, she said. The store has donated other coins and plans to donate more, she said.

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