Town celebrates antique coin Mold

The original clay Mold used to mint the first 1913 Indian Head Buffalo nickel designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser has found its way back home after approximately 80 years.

The thick, clay nickel made of terra cotta was unveiled in front of township officials and members of the Historical Association of Woodbridge Township and the township Historical Preservation Commission earlier this month.

The exhibit at town hall also includes

artifacts of the storied Woodbridge brick and clay industry,

including Salamander Works, the Federal Terra Cotta Co., and the M.D. Valentine Brick Co., that flourished for nearly a century.

According to the U.S. Mint, the Indian Head Buffalo nickel was minted from 1913 to 1938. The American Indian depiction in the nickel design is believed to be based on three different Indian chiefs. The reverse design of the coin features the American bison.

The exhibit included a terra cotta bomb from World War I, Nancy China pottery, a terra cotta plaque removed from the Route 9 bridge that passed over Route 1 north displaying the word "Jersey," and doorknobs that are 120-plus years old.

The owner of the historic nickel, Gordon Henderson, let the township borrow the piece to allow township residents and visitors to observe a piece of history.

"It's still my piece," Gordon Henderson reminded township officials at the unveiling.

Henderson, a third-generation stained-glass artist, said he could have sold the piece along the way, but had realized the importance of the terra cotta industry in Woodbridge.

The township, which is the fifth largest in the state, is known for its clay history.

"The Woodbridge Community Center was built on clay pits," said Mayor John E. McCormac.

In "The Making of America Series - Woodbridge, New Jersey's Oldest Township," by Robert J. McEwen, who died in September 2007, and Virginia Bergen Troeger, a whole chapter is dedicated to the clay industry.

"If there is one word to describe nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Woodbridge, that word would have to be 'clay,' " wrote McEwen.

The book quotes John M. Kreger, a ceramic consultant: "Clay was the business of our township … never again will Woodbridge be blessed with a single industry that employed such a large percentage of its population as did clay."

Before McEwen passed away, he was working on a fourth book about the clay industry.

Henderson, who will turn 90 years old in January, said he remembers seeing the original 1913 Indian Head Buffalo nickel, which he has held onto all these years, when he was a young boy.

"It was always around the house on the shelves," said Henderson, who grew up in Rutherford. "My father had acquired it around 1929 and I have kept it in storage all these years."

Henderson said he became a collector like his father.

"I displayed my work and the coin at the [Jane Voorhees] Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University in New Brunswick," he said.

Anna M. Aschkenes, executive director of the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission, made a call to township officials informing them of the nickel.

Dr. Dolores Gioffre, president of the township Historical Preservation Commission, said that when she heard about the nickel, she was thrilled.

Jeff Huber, president of the township Historical Association, also expressed his

elation about the nickel.

"It's wonderful that we get back the [Indian Head Buffalo] nickel that was originally made here," he said.

Anthony Poos, 81, who has lived in Woodbridge all his life, contributed a clay brick to the exhibit.

"I remember bringing lunch to my older brother at the [Mutton Hollow Fire Brick] factory that was behind the parking lot of the Hess building," he said.

Longtime Fords resident Andrew Nagy, 73, remembers his days as an apprentice architectural draftsman at the now-defunct Federal Seaboard Terra Cotta Corp. in Perth Amboy.

"I had just graduated from Woodbridge High School in 1952 at the age of 16," he said. "The work [done at the corporation] was outstanding … the fa?ade of the old Woodbridge National Bank on Main Street was made of terra cotta."

The coin Mold, unveiled Dec. 2, will be on display until the end of December.