bronze coins. lans^inc; from Au<;nslus lo 'Ihi-ciclosius. 

 \\ hich were i;i\"cn to Jeflcison li\ \\ Cinw icli. the 

 8ccrotar\' of the Danish Royal Sucicix df I I(ialdr\- 

 and Gcnealot;\ , was deposited at ihe American 

 Piiilosophical Seieiet\ In the I'nsident. who hehexed 

 "them well worthy its accept. mcc." '■' liriel' entries 

 oi' such a;ifts can be found in stibsec[uenl \'ears in the 

 E/nlv PiiH'iiiluii^s of the American I'hihisophical 

 Society up to 1837, when a committee was assinnttl to 

 arrange the society's coins and medals.''' 



Coins came to be discussed e\en in the L'nit<'(l States 

 C'ong'ress. On March ^), 1S22. ihe Joint ( 'onnnittei- 

 for the Library submitted a report on a eollectioii ol 

 French medals — inckidint; some coined in l''rauce 

 pertainim; to e\ents in the American Re\olution- 

 which a certain Geor2;e \\ illiam Rrxiiin had wanted 

 to present to the Library of Congress. This yroup ol 

 medals ajjparently had been lost at sea with tlie bri'-; 

 Fiictor. The interestino point here is that the report 

 recommends the purchase (jf other meilals which had 

 been struck in France and \shieh relatetl to e\ents in 

 the Revolution.'''' 



In New ^'ork the American Museum of the Tam- 

 many Societ\ purchased coins in 17'),i .md 17')6. 

 By 1811 the museum possessed atiout .idd ancient 

 coins — which, imforttmateh , were stolen a lew years 

 later. 



From these \ears date lite be<-;inninL;s of the mini 

 collection in Philadelphia. .\dam Eckfeldt, chi<f 

 coiner at the mint, "lead as well li\' his own taste as 

 by the expectation that a con,servaior\ would some da\ 

 be established, took pains to preserve master-coins 

 of the difl'erent issues of the mint and to retain some 

 of the fmest specimens, as they appeared in thposit 

 for recoinage."'-" This same Eckfeldt in 182.S de- 

 posited at the Franklin InstitiUe in Fhiladel]3hia 

 forty medals which had been struck at the mint. 



Philadelphia was provins^ to lie a leadini; ( ultural 

 center also in itumismatics. In th.it city, in 1788, 

 James Hall (1773-1861) from Alk'utown, Pa., made 

 an early start as a collector, expaudini; his actisities 

 in later years by corresponding with munisntatists in 

 the old world and by sponsorinu the creation of the 

 first numismatic association in .\merie.i. 



1- Ibid., p. 3'"4. 



1" Ibid., pp. 387, 464, 650, 670, 7n.S; see also Phillips, .V,./m 

 Upmi the Collection of Covn . . . D,fin,ti;I h llie .\iimli:n,ili, iiritl 

 Aritiqiinrinn Society (1885). 



i"» U.S. Congress, ■■Report of tin- Library Coininittcc" 

 (1822). 



1-0 Dr Bois, Bncf Account of the Collection of Coint, p. 6. 



In J.mnary 18.^8. ei'.;ht i ili/ens horn I'liil.idclphi.i 

 "who h.id lorn; felt the w.iiit ol sik li :in asscjci.itinn, 

 organi/i'd a soeiel\ lur the pui pose df piuseenlini; 

 their la\drite study in a more s\stein.uie and satis- 

 lactory m.umer. The m.uiia lor coin colleclim; was 

 then raginsj fiercely, and desires had arisen with \cr\- 

 many persons to become better acfuiainled with the 

 science." ""' This is a statement ffom one i>f the 

 frjundina; members uf the Xumisiuatic and .\nti- 

 ciuarian .Soci<-t\' of I'hiLidrlplii.i. it is surprisint; to 

 note the serious trend wliieli euin eolleetiii'-; look in 

 those early da\s. with peo|)le exliibitinij such emliii- 

 siasm and a tendency to appro.ich numismatics .is a 

 science. The dixcrsilied interests of this i'hiladelphia 

 circle are deinonstraleil cli'arK in the |xipers re, id at 

 the meetintjs b\ its meinliers. such as Henr\' Phillips, 

 Jr., (jn classical and .\inerican iinmisni.ities. or 

 Richard F)avicls. em medieval issues. 



.ShortU .liter the Phil.idelphia soeieiv w as oru.ini/ed. 

 a second association was loriiied in .\pi il IS,3,S in 

 New \'ork b\' a i^rou]) of eollielors under the le.ider- 

 ship of .'Xunustiis Sai;c a well-known coin de.iler. 

 The New \ Dik .\meiit',iii .Xiimismatic Sucieis. w liii h 

 temporarih ehannetl its name in lS(i4 to .\merie.in 

 Numismatic and .\rchaeolo<_;ie.il .Soeiet}'. was repre- 

 sented by an extrentely active ttroup of ]X'ople "promi- 

 nent in civic afl'airs" like Edward Groh, Dr. J. H. 

 Gibfis. and 11. Whitiiiore. 



Joseph N. r. Leviek (1S31 1''(I8), .supported b\- ,i 

 few others, jiromoted the idea of a periodic.il, .iiid 

 in 1866 he initiated the |)ulilic,ition of the AmeiiKin 

 Journal of .Xitmismatus. 'File ])ur|)ose of this jonrn.il 

 was defined In' one of its founders as restinn on the 

 hict that "all this time there li.is been no public. ition 

 attempted which, besides beim; of historic, il \-alue, 

 should act as check u|)on all nelarious ,'iiul improper 

 acts, either in tlie m.mul.ieture, collection, or s.ile ol 

 coins and medals." "-' 



A series of similar ori^.mi/ations spr.m',; up in 

 186(1, the Boston Nninismatic Soeietv ; in 1864, the 

 RhocU- island Xuniismatic .'\ssociation in i'rovidence, 

 followed b\' the X'ermont .Numisinalic Societ\' in 

 MontiK'lier, ami the Western Peiiiisx K'.ini.i Nninis- 

 matic Socielv in I'ittsburnli. The respeeli\'e constitu- 

 tions and li\laws were published as follows: Hostoii. 

 1867; Providence, 1S6.S; .Montpelier. I8''7; and I'itts- 

 burnh, 1883. .Ml of these uroups .ittest to the steadih' 

 increasiiTj; interest in coin eolleclin',; in the eastern 



1-1 I'roceedinss (186''). p. 3. 

 i"- Issue of May, 1 8ti6. p. 1 . 



PAPER 32 



NUMISM.ATICS — AN ANCIENT SC:iENCE 



61 



