Adobe Dollars Info

[Mike McChesney]

OK,

I know about adobe dollars from the early nineteen hundreds (Mexican Currency).

I have also heard of adobe dollars being a by-product of a type of smelting operation. Anybody got anything here?

Best,

Mike

[Joe Ribaudo]

Mike,

It would seem you may have all the information there is concerning "Adobe Dollars".

Other than a story in the July 1974 issue of Treasure World and another in it's sister publication, True Treasure, in February of 1971, I have never heard of "Adobe Dollars". Do you have a better source for your information?

Any official documentation for such currency? Where did you hear about it?

Take care,

Joe

[Mike McChesney]

In Robert E. Lee's 1974 video about the LDM, there is a scene where Ed Piper is showing an "Adobe Dollar" to a kid. Here is a Screen Shot (and it isn't Mexican Currency):



Does this look familiar?



Best,

Mike

[Somehiker]

The object shown in the boy's hand is a fragment of an assayer's crucible.
A measured sample of crushed ore was placed into a small fireclay cup,which was then placed in a small field-constructed blast furnace.The gold would then settle to the bottom of the molten mass.Once cooled,the cup was broken leaving a wafer of gold,and the relative difference between this and the remaining slag indicated the richness of the ore by volume.Small quantities of gold would be trapped in the porous surface of the fragments,mainly the bottom of the cup.So,next time you're looking at pottery fragments,especially near odd rock piles,look closer,you may have found an "adobe dollar".

[Somehiker]

I've uploaded a couple of pics to the members section.--- pg.5

[Mike McChesney]

Hey Somehiker,

Thanks for the pics. They are great.

So, are you saying that adobe dollars are remains of adobe (or stone) crucibles, after used and the sides broken off?

Best,

Mike

[Mike McChesney]

Sorry,

Stupid question. I just read your last quote, and caught the first one after posting.

Thanks much for the info.

Best,

Mike

[Joe Ribaudo]

Somehiker,

Very nice pictures.

I don't believe "adobe dollars" had anything to do with gold, and since no one if offering a source for their definitions, I will submit my own story.

In the mid to late 1800s, a good deal of gold and silver smuggling was taking place from mexico, into the United States. The hotbed for this activity was Tucson.

Adobe dollars were counterfeit American silver dollars. They had been used as a medium of exchange in Tucson for so long that it was difficult for the merchants to stop accepting them, but by the 1880s they no longer wanted to exchange goods worth one dollar, for the counterfeit Mexican made coins.

I believe the main concern, was the inferior silver content in the coin, but I could be wrong there.

That's my two cents worth on the dollar subject.

Joe

[Somehiker]

So,what you are saying,Joe, is that the source of the counterfeit dollars was mexico,hence the "adobe"? Ed Piper must have been mistaken,then,as well as I.Thanks for the info.SH.

[Somehiker]

A comment on this page refers to "adobe dollars"
SH.

http://www.mytend.com/immigration/2732- ... ation.html

[Joe Ribaudo]

SH,

"Ed Piper must have been mistaken,then,as well as I."

"I don't believe "adobe dollars" had anything to do with gold..."

"Don't believe" are the key words in my statement. That does not say that you, or Ed Piper are mistaken. Since I did not offer a source, which would lend some weight to my "story", it's possible that I am mistaken.

If I were interested in the facts surrounding "adobe dollars", I would probably research the Tucson newspapers from around 1885. I am not, but only offered my "story" as another thought on the subject.

Many people think I make this stuff up out of thin air, sometimes I wonder myself.

Joe

[Joe Ribaudo]

SH,

Since they referenced our current subject, you should have asked them what an "adobe dollar" actually is. I will stick with the counterfeit American silver dollar for a little longer.

Joe

[Mike McChesney]

Hey Joe,

Please ref my initial post. I know all about the Mexican Currrency "Adobe Dollars."

I have seen another type of "Adobe Dollars" mentioned in a few places (all very old references, nothing later than about 1974). They were part of the smelting process, that left a chunk of adobe about the size of a silver dollar (hence the name).

Somehiker has explained to my satisfaction just what they are. The adobe dollars in SHs pics match pretty closely what I can see in the Robt. E. Lee movie, that Ed Piper was showing around.

Best,

Mike

[Mike McChesney]

That piece the kid's holding, looks like one of those adobe cups split right in half (top to bottom), and he's holding it sideways.

Best,

Mike

[Somehiker]

Joe
The post that I referred to was just to illustrate that the term "Adobe Dollar" is,in fact still in use today by some to denigrate mexican currency,in this case the peso.Unfortunately,this was the only reference to the term that I could find on the net.As a side note,it appears that most of the bogus US dollar coins actually came from China,whereas mexican counterfeiters concentrated on half dollars.A google search of "fake silver dollars" will yield lots of very boring information on this topic.
Cheers
SH.

[padutchman]

I apologize for being "off-topic" but I noted several references in this thread about the Robert E. Lee move. Does anyone know if copies are still available? I would like to see it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[zentull]

Check on Ebay. I have seen it pop up there.

[padutchman]

Thanks for the tip....I'll check out eBay.

[Mike McChesney]

That's where I got mine. I bought the VHS, and transferred it to DVD.

I have seen DVD Copies there a lot.

I think you just have to search for "Lost Dutchman Movie" or video

Best,

Mike