http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20081209/NEWS/812090355/1003/newsfro
nt

December 9, 2008

Display of original Indian Head nickel mold highlights former Woodbridge
clay industry

By ALYSSA GIACHINO
Staff Report

An original mold for the 1913 Indian Head nickel, formed from locally mined
clay, is on display in Town Hall this month.

The mold was created by sculptor James Earle Fraser, who was hired by the
U.S. Treasury in 1911 to design a new nickel which became known as the
Indian Head or Buffalo nickel.

"As you well know, Woodbridge has a wealth of history," said Dolores
Gioffre, chair of the township Historic Preservation Commission. "Having
this exhibit here is just one more thing that puts Woodbridge on the map."

The commission and the Township Council last week officially opened the
display which includes other artifacts from the town's clay industry.

The coin mold is on loan from Gordon Henderson, 89, of Montville, who said
his father acquired it around 1929 from a daughter of the sculptor, who
lived down the street in Rutherford.

"When the Great Depression came — bad times, and for some reason I hung on
to certain things," Henderson said. "This piece was one."

He came down to present the mold to the commission, telling local history
buffs, "I could've sold it to coin collectors, but I wouldn't do that
because I knew it belonged here; it's Woodbridge terra cotta."

The unveiling of the nickel was an opportunity for Woodbridge residents to
reflect on the importance of the clay industry in the last century.

Anthony Poos, 81, a life-long township resident, contributed a clay brick
to the display and reminisced about visiting his oldest brother at the
Mutton Hollow Fire Brick Company.

"I was home during the summer when I was off from school," he said. "I used
to take lunch to him."

He remembers the clay mixing pit, the kilns and the glass rods the workers
would strategically place inside the kiln.

"When that would melt down, then they'd know the bricks were done," he
said.

The display includes 120-year-old door knobs, tiles and photos of the clay
pits now covered by the Woodbridge Center mall. But the centerpiece of the
exhibit is the mold showing the profile of a Native American chief.

According to the U.S. Mint, the head on the nickel's obverse side was a
composite Fraser created based on three Native American leaders: Iron Tail,
an Ogala Sioux; Two Moons, a Northern Cheyenne; and Big Tree, a Seneca.

The buffalo on the reverse side is said to be a likeness of Black Diamond,
an American Bison that was living at New York's Bronx Zoo.

The Indian Head nickel was minted for 25 years, and 1.2 billion were
produced between 1913 and 1938, according to the U.S. Mint.

The display will be open to the public during regular town hall hours
through the end of the month.