1881.] J-^'-* [Patterson. 



eutliusiasm which animates most numismatists, sobered, however, by good 

 judgment. His expenditures were always judicious. Some of the best 

 of the specimens were culled from the Mint deposits for the bullion value 

 merely of the pieces. After the collection had taken good shape, and been 

 well classified, he wrote and published in 1846, a description of it, under 

 the title "Pledges of History," &c. The title thus selected intimated his 

 opinion as to the real value of such collections. He thought that a coin 

 should be prized for its historical teaching, or artistic merit, and dis- 

 couraged the rage to possess a piece simply because of its rarity. Mr. 

 DuBois acted as Curator of the Cabinet until his death. It falls short of 

 many other collections in numbers, but is so well selected and arranged 

 that it holds high rank in the estimation of good judges. The study of 

 numismatology thus begun in his youth he continued to the last, and was 

 ranked as among the chief masters of the science in our country. He 

 added to it a special study of counterfeits, in the detection of which he be- 

 came an expert, and was able to give much valuable information to the 

 public. 



Another important labor undertaken by Mr. DuBois (in connection with 

 Mr. Eckfeldt) was the preparation and publication, in 1842, of a " Manual 

 of the Gold and Silver Coins of all nations, struck within the past cen- 

 tury." This was a work of very great labor, and, from its expense, of some 

 risk also, to the authors. It is admirably arranged, the information clear, 

 and it embraced every subject of interest at that date as to coins, bullion, 

 counterfeits, &c. Subsequently, in 1850 and 1851, supplements were pub- 

 lished covering later topics, made prominent in consequence of the Cali- 

 fornia gold discoveries. 



Ajiart from the above more ambitious works, the occasional writings of 

 Mr. DuBois were numerous, and continued up to the year of his death. 

 His papers on Numismatics were frequent and always attractive, his last 

 appearance in print being in April of this j^ear, in an article on "The 

 Coinage of the Popes." To the "American Philosophical Society" of 

 which he was elected a member in 1844, he made various communications, 

 on behalf of Mr. Eckfeldt and himself, mostly on topics suggested by 

 experiences in the Assay Deparftnent. Among the most curious was one 

 on "Tlie Natural Dissemination of Gold," by which we were astonished 

 to learn that this precious metal is found in appreciable quantity in the 

 clays underlying our city. 



In 1869, he wrote, for the Banker's Magazine, "Propositions for a Re- 

 vised System of Weights, and a Restoration of the Silver Currency." The 

 development of his views on these subjects is a model of clear exposition, 

 and the conclusions reached were such as might be expected from a mind 

 aiming to attain jiractical results rather than to impose visionary theories. 

 The time may yet come Avhen these views, in whole or in part, Avill be 

 embodied in legislation. 



I refer, with some hesitation, to other writings of Mr. DuBois, since they 

 were privately printed, and carefully reserved from the public eye. These 



