"Remeber the 'silver corner' of the Hunt brothers ? Silver went to $50...then the commodity exchanges, with US government 'help' (this is a guess on my part) changed the rules, effectively ending the silver corner."
coinbooks.org
ATOMIC NUMISMATICS
[The following article by is Warner Talso reprinted
with permission from the MPC Gram (Series 004 -
Number 928, Monday June 2, 2003), edited by
Fred Schwan. Use the following link if you'd like to
subscribe to this interesting email newsletter
papermoneyworld.net
-Editor]
Here is an interesting connection between numismatics
and the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project (code name
for the atomic weapon development project) was famous
for its insatiable appetite for materials and the lengths to
which the project went to get the job done. There was a
need for a conductor for the coils of magnets. In the
summer of 1942 the preliminary plans for the electromagnetic
plant had called for five thousand tons of copper. However,
copper was in short supply due to other war related needs
and strikes in the industry.
Silver was suggested as a substitute, because it has the
highest electric conductivity of any other natural substance.
"On August 3, 1942, Colonel Nichols visited Undersecretary
of the Treasury Daniel W. Bell with a request for a large
amount of silver. When Bell asked how much he needed,
Nichols replied 'six thousand tons', to which the secretary
replied rather indignantly, 'Young man, you may think of silver
in tons, but the Treasury will always think of silver in troy
ounces.'" Eventually, 14,700 tons of silver (much in the form
of silver dollars), worth 400 million dollars at the time, was
loaned to the Project. A total of 940 magnets were fabricated
using this silver. The magnets were estimated to be one hundred
times larger than any magnets previously constructed. They
were so powerful that they pulled on the nails of workers shoes,
making walking difficult. They caused tools to fly out the hands
of workers. Special nonferrous tools and equipment had to be
fabricated.
"When it came time to return the silver to the Treasury after the
war, every ounce was scavenged. In the final accounting, of
the 14,700 tons borrowed, only a minuscule fraction of 1
percent was missing."
The majority of this information and the quotes are taken from
the book "Racing for the Bomb" by Robert S. Norris,
Steerforth Press, South Royalton, Vermont, 2002
[Warner adds: "Please give the credit for the book as follows:
An excerpt from Racing for the Bomb, by Robert S. Norris,
published by Steerforth Press of South Royalton, Vermont.
Copyright © 2002 by Robert S. Norris" This is the publisher's
preferred format.]
Were silver traders of the day making good money in silver? |
