Friedrick Johannes Hugo von Engelken
Biography
Born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Married Lonisiana Breckenridge Hart Gibson February 2, 1906. Married Kate Lee Walton in 1952. Employed in engineering with the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. Former fruit grower and farmer from East Palatka.
Appointed Director of the Mint and served September 20, 1916, to February 20, 1917. It was discovered that the concave surfaces of the new "Mercury" dimes collected dirt.
von Engelken invented a washing machine to clean silver coins and count them at the same time. He left the Mint in 1917 to become president of the Federal Land Bank at Columbia, South Carolina. von Engelken appears on a mint medal (USM 311) as one of the series for Directors of the Mint. Dies were by George T. Morgan.
bio: Failor; WWWA-6
Source credit: Pete Smith, American Numismatic Biographies
Bio Snapshot
Date of Birth: 1881 - Apr - 26Place of Birth: Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Date of Death: 1963 - Feb - 12