only scallered acceptance, due in part to the lack 

 of teachers in this field. Occasionally, professors of 

 history or the history of art, such as F. Crcutzer in 

 Heidelberg, J. Overbeck in Leipzig, and especially 

 Thcodor Mommscn at the University of Berlin, 

 would use coins extensively in their courses. Today 

 Germany continues to lead in this academic tradition. 

 Tiie L'nixersities of Rerlin, Hambiug, Munich, 

 Heidelberg, Gottingen, .\ funster, and Braunschweig 

 ofTer courses in numismatics. 



In most of the other European countries, including 

 eastern Europe and Russia, it is taught at least at 

 the major universities, often as an adjunct of arche- 

 ology and history, or at the national liljraries, along 

 with diplomatics and epigraphy.'"- The history of 



coins has l)een taught since 1795 at the Bibliolheque 

 Nationale in Paris, which has had among its professors 

 such men as Millin, Raoul Rochette, and the famous 

 Frangois Lcnonnant. Portugal introduced the study 

 of numismatics in 1801 at the University of Coimbra, 

 and the Bibliotcca Pul)lica in Lisbon, from 1844 to 

 l')ll, offered niuuismalics as a compulsory course for 

 librarians and archivists. The outstanding historian 

 and epigraphist Jose Leite de Vasconcellos taught 

 there iVom 1888 to 1911. In .Spain, the Escuela 

 Superior de Diplomatica in Madrid, since the late 

 19th century, and the Universities of Madrid and 

 Barcelona, since the early 20th century, have offered 

 cour.ses in numismatics. Their example has been 

 followed by twelve other Spanish uni\-crsitics. 



NUMISMATICS IN THE UNITED STATES 



We can assume that preoccupation with coins in 

 the .American colonics did not differ greatly from that 

 in Europe. Certainly the attention given to classical 

 education in the 18ih century would have 

 stimulated an interest in antiquities. Despite scant 

 documentation for the beginning of numismatics in 

 this country, scattered information from the second 

 half of the century helps us to construct a reasonalily 

 accurate picture of an ancient science in a young 

 nation. 



A certain Swiss gentleman, Pierre Eugene Du 

 Simiticre (1736-1784), who settled in New York and 

 later moved to New Jersey, deposited his collection 

 of about 135 coins with a tradesman as collateral 

 security.'"' It is probable that John Smith, who 

 accepted it, must have heard of or seen similar col- 

 lections; otherwise, one doubts the g(Jod Quaker 

 merchant would have considered obsolete coins as a 

 trustworthy investment. 



Another early piece of information is supplied by 

 the diary of the Rev. William Bentley of Salem, 

 Mass., who in 1787 presented to Judge Winthrop of 

 Cambridge some Swedish coins and medals. The 

 diary suggests that Rev. Bentley was one of the early 

 coin enthusiasts in this country; under the year 1791 

 we find the following entry: "I entertained myself 



'•- Babelon, "Los origincs ct I'histuirc de rcnscigncmcnt de 

 la numismatiquc" (1908); Batalha Reis, "O ensino da 

 niimisin^tira cm Portugal" (1946); Bi'rckiiardt, "Die 

 Numismatik an der L'niversitat Basel" (1958). 



'"' Gii.UNOiiAM, ".An Eiiiliteonth Century Coin Collertor" 

 (1934). 



with his fWinthrop's] curious cabinet of coins and 

 medals. It was large and not with any antiques 

 but it had a great variety of small pieces and may be 

 deemed the best we have in this part of the country."'"'' 

 The same minister obtained some Chinese coins from 

 a sea captain named West and coins of other nation- 

 alities from a Captain Elkins and a Captain Hodges. 



It is evident that collecting among intellectuals was 

 not limited to a few isolated cases. By midcentury 

 the "collector-donor" tyf)e, the person interested in 

 disseminating knowledge of coins, already had ap- 

 peared. In 1765 a tutor at Harvard, William Moly- 

 neus, donated 250 French coins to the college. ''^^ 



In 1752 the Library Company in Philadelphia 

 received a donation of coins, and later the .American 

 Philosophical Society in the same city became the 

 recipient of various collections. An entry in the 

 Early Proceedings of the society states, under the date 

 May 15, 1801, that "Mr. Vaughan presented 32 

 copper coins or medallions from the Soho mint 

 [England] invented by Mr. Boulton with a list and 

 card descriljing the principles." ■^'"' More interesting 

 arc the entries of May 3, 1805, and July 18, 1806, men- 

 tioning donations by President Thomas Jefferson. 

 The earlier entry reports that a group of 150 Roman 



'"' The diary is discussed in an unsigned article, "Oldest 

 Coin Collection Recorded in the U.S." (1907). 



'" Storer, "The Harvard Collection of Coins and Medals" 

 (1922); see also the same title of an unsigned article in The 

 Numismalisl (1922). 



i"P. 312. 



60 



BULLETI.N 229: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OK HISIORV .AND TECHNOLOGY 



