states. To them mis,'hi l)e added the Numismatic and 

 Antiquarian Society of .Nhmlreal, established in 1863 

 in Canada. 



Inten.se activity in collectina; and studying the 

 most diversified categories of coins from all over the 

 world now set in. .Still very strong was the interest 

 in early coinages, with special preference given to the 

 Roman. At the same lime, however, there could be 

 observed a growing preoccu[)atioii with the national 

 coinage. The reports of the meetings of the numis- 

 matic associations accurately reflect this general trend. 

 We learn, for example, that in the Boston circle, one of 

 the most traditional and representative groups on the 

 East Coast. William Sumner Appleton (1840-1903), 

 po.s.sesscd a remarkable collection which was well- 

 defined both in the classical and in the .-\nierican field. 

 This collection today is housed in the .Massachusetts 

 Historical Society. Jeremiah Colburn (181.S-1891), 

 editor of the American Journal of Numismatics after 1871, 

 F. G. Scavy of Boston, and Robert C. Davis of Phila- 

 delphia, all had authoritatisc collections of .American 

 coins. 



A distorted piclurt- of ninnisniatics in the United 

 States would be given if the implication emerged that 

 interest was limited only to the eastern coast. Con- 

 temporary accounts in the 1860s from Fort Wayne, 

 Inch, concerning a miscellaneous collection of 2,000 

 pieces; from Bellevue, Ohio, where a collector was 

 robbed of his "copperheads"; from Omaha, Neb., 

 where Byron Reed a.ssembled an outstanding collec- 

 tion of ancient, inodern, and .'\merican coins; and a 

 report of J. Henry .Applegate on the situation in col- 

 lectors' circles in California — indicate the extent of 

 numismatic interest in the central and western states, 

 which until recently was not channeled into well- 

 organized efforts as in the East. 



Throughout the country, at the same time, scores of 

 handbooks and publications on a \ariety of other 

 numismatic subjects were started, reflecting research 

 of the midcentury which often centered around the 

 paper currencies of colonial times. Such efforts prolj- 

 ably were motivated, in part, by a desire to evaluate 

 the unfortunate financial ex[)eriences of the preceding 

 century. 



Among other publications of the [leriod should be 

 mentioned William M. Gouge's S/iorl History oj Paper 

 Money arul Banking in the United States (1833), William 

 Sumner's History of American Currency (1874), and 

 especialK Joseph B. Felt's Historical Account of Massa- 

 chusetts Currency (1839), which was develojied from two 



lectures given before the Ma.ssachusetts Historical 

 .Society. In a few decades, Henry Phillips published 

 his excellent Historical Sketches of the Paper Currency of 

 the American Colonics (186.S-1866 ). which is still an 

 indispensable reference. 



Around the middle of the ccntur\', research 

 on coins was largely dominated by people connected 

 with the national mint: Jacob R. Eckfeldt (1803- 

 1872) '*'^ and William E. Du Bois (1810-1881), '»" 

 a.ssayers. and later in the sixties, James Ross Snowden 

 (1809-1878), director of the Mint in Philadelphia. 

 The Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations 

 Struck Within the Past Century, pulilished in Philadelphia 

 in 1842 by Eckfeldt and Du Bois, is, in spite of omis- 

 sions, an outstanding handbook. Although not pur- 

 suing high scholarly standards, this book, which 

 contains detailed descriptions of the coinage of every 

 country with useful accompanying tables on the 

 metallic fineness of coins resulting from their own 

 assays, was an invaluable aid for collectors. 



In 1846 Du Bois published A Brief Account of the 

 Collection of Coins Belonging to the Mint of the United 

 States, in which he gives, in addition to a conspectus 

 of the various groups of coins represented, a short 

 history of the national collection. Later, in 1860, 

 James R. Snowden published a more detailed report 

 under tlie title Description of Ancient and Modern Coins 

 in the Cabinet Collection of the Mint of the United States}^'"' 

 The collection of the Mint was established ofiicially 

 in June 1 838 although, as we have seen already, its 

 early beginnings can be traced to the 1790s. Du 

 Bois' book mentions the provenance of certain pieces: 

 a few ancient coins were given by Jacques G. Schwarz, 

 U.S. Consul in Vienna; some Byzantine and Greek 

 pieces were donated by John P. Brown, dragoman for 

 the U.S. Emba.ssy in Constantinojile; and a number 

 of Greek and Bactrian coins came from the East India 

 Company. 



In 184,S, John L. Riddell, melter and refiner at the 

 U.S. Branch Mint in New Orleans, [)ublished in that 

 city A Monograph of the Silver Dollar, Good and Bad, a 

 book which reflects the [)reoccupations of the period 

 with actual monetar\- problems. 



"K! See Du Boi.s, "A Brief Sketch of Jacob R. Eckfeldt" (1872). 



'** Sec obituary of William E. Du Bois in American Journal of 

 Numismatics (1881). 



"S For other catalogs of the Philadelphia Mint collection sec 

 Johnston, A Visit to the Cabinet (1876); Smith, Visitor's Guide 

 (1885); McClure, An Index to llie Coins (1891; 1895); U.S. 

 Bureau of the Mint, Ciiitle lo tlie Coltection (1913), Catalogue oj 

 Coins (1912; 191.3; 1914) and Catalogue (1928). 



62 



BULLETIN 229: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY .XND TECHNOLOGY 



