Not all of Peale's innovations were successful.
 He caused the Mint to purchase a large lathe for turning heavy metal rolls, which cost the government at least $2,000 and that Peale conceded had never worked and likely never would.
He bought from his nephew, George Sellers, a set of molds for casting ingots and accompanying equipment, which proved unusable as they were not adapted to the Mint's machinery.
 A drawbench made by Peale at the cost of at least $1,500 proved dangerous as the piston would drive with tremendous force against the end of its cylinder, causing a concussion and endangering those nearby.
 "Peale's machine gun" was put aside by Mint staff as useless soon after its introduction.
An 1853 attempt by Peale to convert the Philadelphia Mint's wood-burning annealing furnaces to use anthracite coal destroyed the furnaces, cost the government several thousand dollars, and led to Peale being ordered to undertake no more such projects.
One invention that worked well was the "noisy sofa"—sitting on it set off a trumpet blast.
 Constructed at the cost of about $200 in government funds, it graced in turn the offices of Peale and Patterson.

These activities were financed through a provision of the Mint Act of 1837 that Patterson interpreted to allow the Mint to decline to give credit for small amounts of silver in gold deposits.
 This practice was twice approved by the then-Secretary of the Treasury, in 1837 and 1849.
Small deposits of bullion were rounded down to be divisible by $5, with the surplus kept and used at the discretion of Mint officials.
This, and similar practices whereby officials financed activities without an appropriation from Congress, were brought to an end after Peale proposed a $20,800 renovation of part of the Philadelphia Mint building in 1850, and ran over budget by $12,000.
 To pay this, Patterson used the profits, or seignorage, projected to be made from the new three-cent pieces.
 When Congress heard of this, it passed the Act of February 21, 1853, requiring the Mint Director to regularly pay the seignorage into the Treasury.

One flaw in Peale's medal business was his need to acquire gold and silver bullion within the Mint.
 This was paid for once the medal sold, and there was no problem while the Melter and Refiner of the Philadelphia Mint was Peale's friend Jonas R. McClintock.
 But in 1846, McClintock resigned and was replaced by Richard Sears McCulloh.
 At first, McCulloh gave Peale whatever gold and silver he needed without question, but came to object to doing so.
 Peale and McCulloh made a deal whereby the struck medal would remain in McCulloh's custody until Peale had replaced the bullion, but Peale objected that the procedure was "inconvenient".
 Beginning in August 1849, McCulloh refused further requests from Peale for bullion, and Peale instead gained it from the Mint's Treasurer.

Peale did his best to make McCulloh's position difficult, such as refusing to accept bullion for coins except from McCulloh personally.
 In 1850, McCulloh resigned.
 In November of that year, the former official published an article in the New York Evening Express alleging that those employed at the Mint had transformed "it into a workshop for their gain".
 President Millard Fillmore sent the article to Secretary of the Treasury Corwin for an explanation; Corwin forwarded it to Patterson, who confirmed that Peale was running a private medal business on the premises, but stated that there was no interference with the performance of Peale's duties as Chief Coiner.
 Taxay noted that this was only true because the retired Adam Eckfeldt was still performing the duties of that office without salary, and this ceased in February 1852 when Eckfeldt died after a brief illness.
 The death of his predecessor caused Peale to write "a frantic letter" to the new Mint Director (Patterson had retired), George N. Eckert, stating that he urgently needed an assistant.

McCulloh's campaign had continued; on August 1, 1851, he wrote directly to President Fillmore, accusing Peale of "lavish and unnecessary expenditure of pub
Not all of Peale's innovations were successful.  He caused the Mint to purchase a large lathe for turning heavy metal rolls, which cost the government at least $2,000 and that Peale conceded had never worked and likely never would. He bought from his nephew, George Sellers, a set of molds for casting ingots and accompanying equipment, which proved unusable as they were not adapted to the Mint's machinery.  A drawbench made by Peale at the cost of at least $1,500 proved dangerous as the piston would drive with tremendous force against the end of its cylinder, causing a concussion and endangering those nearby.  "Peale's machine gun" was put aside by Mint staff as useless soon after its introduction. An 1853 attempt by Peale to convert the Philadelphia Mint's wood-burning annealing furnaces to use anthracite coal destroyed the furnaces, cost the government several thousand dollars, and led to Peale being ordered to undertake no more such projects. One invention that worked well was the "noisy sofa"—sitting on it set off a trumpet blast.  Constructed at the cost of about $200 in government funds, it graced in turn the offices of Peale and Patterson.
These activities were financed through a provision of the Mint Act of 1837 that Patterson interpreted to allow the Mint to decline to give credit for small amounts of silver in gold deposits.  This practice was twice approved by the then-Secretary of the Treasury, in 1837 and 1849. Small deposits of bullion were rounded down to be divisible by $5, with the surplus kept and used at the discretion of Mint officials. This, and similar practices whereby officials financed activities without an appropriation from Congress, were brought to an end after Peale proposed a $20,800 renovation of part of the Philadelphia Mint building in 1850, and ran over budget by $12,000.  To pay this, Patterson used the profits, or seignorage, projected to be made from the new three-cent pieces.  When Congress heard of this, it passed the Act of February 21, 1853, requiring the Mint Director to regularly pay the seignorage into the Treasury.
One flaw in Peale's medal business was his need to acquire gold and silver bullion within the Mint.  This was paid for once the medal sold, and there was no problem while the Melter and Refiner of the Philadelphia Mint was Peale's friend Jonas R. McClintock.  But in 1846, McClintock resigned and was replaced by Richard Sears McCulloh.  At first, McCulloh gave Peale whatever gold and silver he needed without question, but came to object to doing so.  Peale and McCulloh made a deal whereby the struck medal would remain in McCulloh's custody until Peale had replaced the bullion, but Peale objected that the procedure was "inconvenient".  Beginning in August 1849, McCulloh refused further requests from Peale for bullion, and Peale instead gained it from the Mint's Treasurer.
Peale did his best to make McCulloh's position difficult, such as refusing to accept bullion for coins except from McCulloh personally.  In 1850, McCulloh resigned.  In November of that year, the former official published an article in the New York Evening Express alleging that those employed at the Mint had transformed "it into a workshop for their gain".  President Millard Fillmore sent the article to Secretary of the Treasury Corwin for an explanation; Corwin forwarded it to Patterson, who confirmed that Peale was running a private medal business on the premises, but stated that there was no interference with the performance of Peale's duties as Chief Coiner.  Taxay noted that this was only true because the retired Adam Eckfeldt was still performing the duties of that office without salary, and this ceased in February 1852 when Eckfeldt died after a brief illness.  The death of his predecessor caused Peale to write "a frantic letter" to the new Mint Director (Patterson had retired), George N. Eckert, stating that he urgently needed an assistant.
McCulloh's campaign had continued; on August 1, 1851, he wrote directly to President Fillmore, accusing Peale of "lavish and unnecessary expenditure of pub
Franklin Peale