508 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF
LARGE CENT PERSONALITIES
Updated December 17, 2024
Though not by any means complete, this assemblage of names comprises various collectors, dealers and
personalities, both past and present, who have demonstrated an interest in early coppers and
especially the year 1794. Please forward any interesting data you may have for inclusion in this listing to:
larry1794@gmail.com
Research collaboration by Mark Borckardt (Heritage Auctions)
(prominent obituaries are highlighted in yellow)
Abbey, Lorenzo H. – (1823-1881) – Abbey was a native of Herkimer County in New York and a longtime resident of New York City where he was occupied in the trade of needles, fishing hooks, and tackle. He was an early custodian of what has become known as the 1799 “Abbey Cent.” Part of his collection was sold by Henry Leeds, of New York City, in September, 1863. Further items, including his 1799 cent [S-189], were sold by W. E. Woodward in October of 1864. Antonelli explained in his numismatic introduction: “Mr. John Martense, a friend of his and a numismatist, having a duplicate uncirculated cent of 1826, presented it to Mr. Abbey, stating that it was worth about $5.00; being somewhat incredulous, he took it to Mr. Sage, who at once offered Mr. Abbey $7.00 for the cent; somewhat astonished by finding fine coins to have such a value, he at once applied himself in diligent search for others, and with some considerable success. The very next day he procured, from a grocer’s till, the rare ‘large head Nova Eboraca.’ The ’99’ cent [Abbey Cent] was bought for $25.00 from Mr. Rogers in Fulton St., who had bought it from a countryman for $2.00.” Abbey died in Jacksonville, Florida.
Adam, Ronald E. – (1940-2002) “Ronnie” was the owner of Ron’s Texaco and Adam Brothers Towing, in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He had a towering sign above his business on the Quaker Highway stating “Old Coins Wanted.” Amazingly, this tactic did bring in some good finds. A dedicated EACer, Ron was co-chairman for both the 1991 and 1997 EAC conventions in Boston. His collection was sold, along with those of John Ward and C. Douglas Smith, by Superior Galleries on September 5, 2004. He was a member of the National Hot Rod Association and a past president of their area chapter.
Adams, John W. (b.1936)– Adams is a native of Boston and is an investment banker in that city. He was educated at Princeton and Harvard where he earned an MBA in 1960. John is a trustee of the Massachusetts Historical Society and a fellow of the American Antiquarian Society. His celebrated collection of 1794 large cents, offered by Bowers & Ruddy fixed price list in 1982, contained 32 Chapman plate coins, 22 pieces depicted in Hays-Frossard and a majority of the 94s plated in both Parmelee and Beckwith. This “Adams Spirit” was a motivating factor in forming the 2004 EAC Provenance Exhibit and Al Boka’s 2004 monolog Provenance Gallery of the Year 1794 United States Large Cents. Adams possesses a superb library from which selections were sold by George Kolbe in 1990. Adams is author of several numismatic works and is best known for his two volume United States Numismatic Literature discussing 19th and 20th century auction catalogs.
Adams, Thomas H. – Adams acquired several lots from the Robert J. Kissner sale of 6/1975. Nothing else is known of him.
Alfonso, Louis J. (b. 1941) A native of New Jersey and a graduate of Rutgers University and Seton Hall Law School. Lou is now a family law attorney in Boca Raton, Florida. He was Township Attorney and member of the Board of Education in Old Bridge, N.J. before moving to Florida. He was the founding director of the Boca Raton Charter School. An avid runner, ham radio operator (K4LA), and amateur astronomer, Lou learned the importance of properly handling coins after purchasing his first, a 1798 Large Cent, in 1964 while serving as a Company Commander in the U.S. Army. The coin was delivered by his jeep driver while on maneuvers in Fort Bragg, N.C. It was accidentally dropped from the jeep and never found. He collects type gold and an expanded date set of large cents focusing on early dates. His 1794s were sold through Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on 9/26/2021.
Allen, Chesley J., – (1909-1983) A coin dealer/gift shop owner from Plainfield, New Jersey, who issued a fixed price list c. 1931 which contained 70 Connecticut coppers, 75 New Jersey Coppers, 106 half cents and 1,177 attributed large cents. In American Numismatic Biographies Pete Smith identifies Chesley’s father, Albert J. Allen of Plainfield, New Jersey, as the owner of a class III 1804 silver dollar, among other important numismatic properties.
Allenburger, Dr. Christian Alexander – (1872-1956) Born in Saratov, Russia Allenburger came to the United States in 1883 to live in Friend, Nebraska. Allenburger was a surgeon who resided in Columbus, Nebraska. He took his medical training at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois where he graduated in 1895. He was one of three Columbus doctors who were honored by the Chamber of Commerce and the Platte County Medical Society in 1951 for having practice in the county for more than 50 years. Allenburger’s collection of large cents was sold by B. Max Mehl on March 23, 1948.
Alto Collection – A collection formed between c.1940 and c.1970 by a collector with a summer home at Mont Alto, in Pennsylvania Dutch country. The collector requested to remain anonymous; his collection was sold by Stack’s in 12/1970.
Anderson, Charles – Anderson, along with his partner, Charles Dupont, operated an antique dealership in Worcester, Massachusetts. They served as agents for the sale of a coin collection through the Stack’s auction company. The collection was sold in two parts; September 1954 and November 1954, billed as the Anderson-Dupont Sale. The large cents were cataloged by Dr. William Sheldon and Walter Breen.
Anderson, Wayne – (1941-1999) Wayne was a serious numismatic student and collector with many interests among which were antique knives, weapons, marbles, and of course Conder Tokens. He was the founder and a president of the Conder Token Collectors Club.
Andrews, Frank DeWette – (1847-1937) Born in Southington, Connecticut, Andrews was a Vineland, New Jersey resident and collector of middle and late date large cents. Andrews authored A Description of 268 Varieties of United States Cents, 1816-1857 (1881) and An Arrangement of United States Copper Cents 1816-1857 (1883). His collection of middle and late date cents was complete for all varieties known at that time. Andrews built a museum to exhibit various collections.
Andrus, George M. – (1871-1933) Andrus was born in New York and became a newspaper printer. Had a very fine collection, including a choice lot of large cents, which was auctioned by United States Coin Co., Inc. in New York on January 20, 1915.
Arconti, Michael – “Micky” Arconti started collecting as a boy, like many others, with the old Whitman folders of circulated cents, nickels and quarters. His interest was put on hold for a quarter century to build a business and around 1991 he discovered EAC and thus began in interest in the large coppers of 1793-1857. His interest was especially keen for error coins. His collection of 155 United States Large Cent Errors was sold by Superior Galleries/McCawley-Grellman on July 27, 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ashby, Sr. John S. – (1924-1984) EAC #468 Ashby was a Chicago native and operated an insurance agency in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was also a collector of large cent error coins. He was a dealer in copper coins and a strong promoter of EAC. Included with his monthly price lists was the encouragement to join EAC. Many customers took his advice. He is given much credit for EAC growth during his period of membership. Ashby served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and Korea.
Atwater, William Cutler – (1861-1940) Atwater, born in Brooklyn, New York, was a descendant of David Atwater who had immigrated from England to Boston in 1635. After his 1884 graduation from Amherst College he began work as a coal merchant in New York. Five years later he established his own coal business in Fall River, Massachusetts. He eventually purchased controlling interest in a coal mine that supplied his own product. In the introduction to the Atwater catalog B. Max Mehl writes: “During the great anthracite strike of 1902 he went to Wales where he made numerous tests of the different coals to determine which would be most satisfactory for use in New England. He then purchased 90,000 tons of Welsh anthracite thereby saving Fall River and other New England cities from a coal famine. Atwater eventually controlled several mining companies with sales exceeding three million tons of coal per year. He branched into oil and timber. Atwater owned estates in Westhampton Beach, Long Island, New York, and in St. Petersburg, Florida where he died on February 22, 1940. Atwater considered the Stickney specimen of the 1804 dollar his prized possession.” A coin collector for over a quarter century Atwater’s penchant for quality was evident throughout his collection. His holdings were auctioned on June 11, 1946 in Fort Worth, Texas by B. Max Mehl.
Aulick, J. Wily – (1831-1882) A native of and resident in Washington, D.C., he was the son of John Henry Aulick (1791-1873) a retired U. S. Navy Commodore. Aulick was born on October 26, 1831 and died on November 19, 1882. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery of Washington, D.C. The 1860 Federal Census listed Aulick’s occupation as “engineer” while that of 1870 showed occupation as “U.S. Navy.” The auctioning of his coins on April 12-13, 1883, is considered to be one of Geo. W. Cogan’s most important sales.
Ault, Albert – (1906-1977) A coin and stamp dealer from Cincinnati, Ohio, Ault was known for his dealing in encased postage stamps.
Baldwin, Albert Henry – (1858-1936) A British collector who traced his interest in coins to 1872 when he is thought to have made his first coin deal as a schoolboy. He spent twenty years teaching at Vicarage Road Boys School in Plumstead. Baldwin left teaching and began a numismatic business in 1901. He, and his son Percy, established a shop in London at 4A Duncannon Street, Charing Cross, where the firm remained until shortly after the first World War. The firm has grown in size and reputation and has been continuously held by the family through the decades.
Barkelew, Charles S. – (1896-1977) Barkelew began collecting coins late in life and joined ANA in the middle 1950s. He authored three articles in The Numismatist in the late 1950s regarding an explanation for the double profile cents, the die state of 1794 S-22 and a final article, in August 1959, discussing a small die break on 1793 S-2. He sold his large cent collection in 1960 but continued to accumulate some. Forty of his large cents were included with the Kagin’s sale of the Philip Van Cleave collection in 1986.
Barker, Ralph R. – (1856-1913) Barker attended public school in Newport, Rhode Island, graduating in 1873. He entered his father’s business dealing in paint and home decorating. In 1877 he became a partner in the firm the name of which was changed to George C. Barker & Son. He became ANA member number 41. A prominent citizen of Newport, Rhode Island, he collected odd Chinese coins, coins of the world, and United States colonial issues. A collection of his was sold by W. Elliot Woodward on June 3-4, 1889 by Bangs & Co. There was an additional sale of Barker’s coins, with seventeen 1794s, by the Chapman brothers on July 7-8, 1904. Additional coins were sold by Henry Chapman in 1913, the year of Barker’s death.
Barra, Ezekiel I. – (c.1825-1913) Barra was born in Spain approximately 1825. He was the author of Something About Coins (1863) that included a description of visiting the San Francisco Mint. An early San Francisco, California collector, Barra’s auction was “Probably the first coin sale on the Pacific Coast.” His collection featured a “complete series of American Cents from the year of the first coinage to the present date…these will be sold in an unbroken lot.” The collection was sold by I. Keller on February 19-20, 1866. In 1893 he published a memoir, A Tale Of Two Oceans, an account of his journey as a “49er from Philadelphia to San Francisco around Cape Horn in 1849-1850”.
Barrett, M. Scott – A New York native and EAC member number 3156. Barrett is an attorney, dividing his time between Chicago and southern Indiana, carrying on a complex litigation practice involving financial services and other practice areas including mass torts and products liability. A lifelong coin collector, he acquired his first large cents, a run from 1845 to 1856, from his mother, Ruth Mendenhall Barrett, M.D., sometime around 1960. In 1933, during the depths of the depression, his mother acquired a bag of some 400 large cents from Salem Bank and Trust Co., Goshen, Indiana. A banker at Salem Bank, knowing of her interest in stamps and coins, had called her father (Barrett’s grandfather) to tell him that they had found a bag of old pennies in the vault, and that the coins could be acquired at face value. Despite the fact four dollars was a good bit of money in 1933, his mother acquired the 400 large cents (all dated between 1845 and 1856), now known in the family as the “Salem Bank Hoard.” In 1962, he traded 10 of the Salem Bank Hoard coins to a schoolmate, Carl Tucker, of Bedford, New York, for an 1893 Eagle. In 1964, he acquired his first early date, an 1803 Sheldon 258, from a mentor, Russ Rawlings, a neighbor in Mt. Kisco, New York, who owned the Ford dealership. Forty-six years later, in early 2010, he completed his collection of early dates when he acquired the elusive 1795 Sheldon 79, thus becoming the 14th collector known to have assembled a complete set of all of the numbered Sheldon varieties for large cents.
Bartlett, B. C. – Bartlett’s fine collection of choice large cents was sold by Thomas Elder on January 25-26, 1918. Other’s coins were included in sale.
Beckwith, Dr. Henry W. – (1869-1958) Fron New Haven, Connecticut. Beckwith formed a remarkable collection of 119 high quality large cents that Samuel H. Chapman sold at auction on April 27, 1923. John W. Adams described the Beckwith collection as “the finest collection of high condition cents of all time.” Walter Breen called him “the first perfectionist.” In 1978, C. Douglas Smith related a story from Dr. Sheldon that Beckwith was 70 years old when his collection was sold, and that he lived another 30 years. Many of his cents went to Henry Hines, and in his later years, Dr. Beckwith asked Hines if he could “just look at some of my old coins.” Beckwith was born at Norwich, Connecticut on May 7, 1869 and died at Nahant, Massachusetts on August 6, 1958. He was a graduate of the Dartmouth College Medical School. Beckwith married Genevieve “Hettie” Jolley on June 2, 1908, and they were divorced between 1920 and 1930, many years after the 1910 birth of a son, Henry Beckwith, Jr. She died in 1950 and her Connecticut death record states that she was never married. His 1958 obituary states that he “was the husband of the late Mrs. Genevieve (Jolley) Beckwith.
Bement, Clarence Sweet – (1843-1923) A Philadelphia resident, Bement devoted much attention and the greatest care, to his collection of minerals which became the foremost in its class in America. Another pursuit was Bement’s quest for rare books which he developed into one of the most prominent private libraries in the country. In later life he became interested in numismatics and formed a magnificent collection which was sold by H. Chapman on May 29, 1916.
Bennett, Dr. Allen – A self-described “reclusive physician” who began assembling a gem collection of 1794 large cents “by the portrait” ca.1985. In 2000 Bennett sold the set, almost intact, to Walter J. Husak. Dr. Bennett has also formed significant collections of contemporary art, oriental rugs, Conder tokens and cowry shells.
Benson Collection, The – A series of four sales conducted by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers beginning February 16-20, 2001 with the final sale May 26, 2003. According to the Goldbergs the consigner wished to remain anonymous. While most of his collection was of silver coins he did have some early large cents, all in sale number one, which had been purchased more than 60 years prior.
Bergman, John – (died 2000) John was a collector of half cents early in his collector years, but concentrated on numismatic books after his retirement. His contributions to the Numismatic Bibliomania Society included writing several articles as well as serving as an officer of that organization.
Betts, Benjamin – (1822-1908) A native of New Castle, Delaware. Initially listed as a shipmaster and later a shipping company agent he resided in Brooklyn, New York. Betts Joined the American Numismatic Society in 1868 and in 1870 became its seventh president. He purchased lot no. 625, a “very near uncirculated” chain cent, for $32.50 at the 1869 Mortimer MacKenzie sale. Betts’ collections were auctioned by Edward Cogan in 1871 and by Lyman Low in 1898 and 1907.
Beymer, Jack H. – (b.1933) Jack was born in Fairmount, Minnesota. He was schooled in California, attending Modesto Junior College, Sacramento State College, and University of California at Berkeley. His career as a coin dealer began in 1967 and he operates today out of Santa Rosa, California specializing in early copper though he handles the entire range of U.S. coinage.
Bird, Douglas F. – (1944-2023) A Boston native, Bird grew up in California and lived in Hermosa Beach. He began collecting coins in 1953 at age 9. Bird began to focus on collecting large cents in 1969 and joined EAC in 1973. Bird became a full-time coin dealer specializing in early copper in 1982. He personally collected large cents by date and/or interesting varieties. His collection, of 179 fabulous lots, was sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on February 16, 2020.
Bispham, Samuel A. – (1796-1885) A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native, Bispham was born October 14, 1796, in a house on the north side of Market Street, below Second. In 1798, while a yellow fever outbreak raged in Philadelphia, his father purchased a small farm in Morristown, New Jersey, to where he relocated the family. His father died in 1808, when Samuel was only 12 years old, forcing him to rely on his own resources. He took charge of the farm and would bring the produce to market in Philadelphia. Shortly after his father’s death Samuel went to Philadelphia and, resolved to becoming a merchant, secured employment with grocer William Carman on Market Street above Front Street. In 1810, he went to work in the store of John Huyder, on Market Street below Ninth Street, where he remained until 1815 when he formed a partnership with Jacob Alter at 825 Market Street. Their business was profitable until dissolved c.1831 at which time Bispham began his own business at 629 Market Street which operated until his death in 1885. In 1851 he restructured his business to Samuel Bispham & Sons, Grocers and Commission Merchants, in partnership with his two boys. At the time of his death in 1885, Bispham was one of the longest existing merchants [70 years], not only in Philadelphia, but also in the entire United States. Politically he was affiliated with the Whig party and held strong positions regarding protective tariffs and the doctrine of Henry Clay. He took care to vote for those he thought were the best men for local affairs. He was, for half a century, a director of the Penn National Bank. He was also a director of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, and a director of the Reliance Insurance Company from its inception and one of the oldest members of the Masonic Fraternity. As a young man he took an active part in the development of the public school system. At some point, Mr. Bispham became interested in coins and assembled a significant collection of mainly U.S. issues which included the “discovery coin” for the coveted Starred Reverse (S-48) which had been discovered by H. Chapman on June 1, 1876 while examining a lot of 1794s along with his brother Samuel and Dr. Edward Maris. The sale of his collection, containing 1,024 lots, was conducted by S. H. & H. Chapman on February 11-12, 1880, The S-48 “discovery coin” is pictured at the beginning of this web site and was part of the Al Boka collection.
Bitler, Admiral Worthington S. – (1900-1987) Bitler was an admiral in the U.S. Navy and assembled an extensive, though not complete, collection of early date large cents. He was also an avid collector of exotic sea shells. He sold his complete collection of large cents to Abe Kosoff in 1960. The coins remained with Kosoff over the years with some either auctioned or sold privately. In December, 1970, the remaining 410 large cents were offered by Kosoff in one bulk lot for $18,000 and, apparently, not sold as such. The remnants of the Bitler collection, consisting of 253 coins [not all from Bitler] were later consigned to auction by A-Mark on March 17, 1973.
Blaisdell, Willard C. – (1903-1985) A resident of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Blaisdell (EAC #20) was a colleague of Henry Hines and an active member of the New York Numismatic Club. He began collecting large cents in 1933 and acquired many coins from Henry C. Hines. His large cents were sold privately to Ted Naftzger in 1977 and dispersed through Del Bland. In 1965, he discovered the 1794 NC-8.
Bland, Delmar “Del” N. – (1933-2018) Bland, a resident of Washington state, was arguably the most avid and knowledgeable scholar in the field of large cent provenance. He meticulously maintained large cent provenance data, which were painstakingly and continuously updated in hand written journals, on the many varieties of large cents. Over the years Bland personally owned, or has been an intermediary in the sale of, some of the finest 1794s. He was one of the few persons to ever assemble a complete set of all 58 collectible varieties of 1794 large cents. He collaborated with Walter Breen and Mark Borckardt in the production of the Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents 1793-1814 (2000). He was often selected to be the cataloger of large cent collections.
OBITUARY OF DELMAR “DEL” N. BLAND – PUBLISHED IN THE HERALD (EVERETT) OCT. 20, 2018
Born October 26, 1933 – Died, October 16, 2018 Delmar Norris Bland, or Del, of Stanwood, WA, 84, passed away the afternoon of Tuesday, October 16, 2018 in his home, after a period of heart trouble. Del was an expert numismatist, one of the world’s most consulted authorities on early coins of the United States. He leaves behind his three beloved sons and their families, Stephen Bland, 58, of Sea Girt, New Jersey, and his wife, Lisa Bland, and daughter, Julia; Gary Bland, 56, of Bethesda, Maryland, and his wife, Lynda Grahill, son, Carson, and daughter, Emery; and Larry Bland, 55, of Madison, New Jersey, and his wife, Donna Bland, daughters, Courtney and Kaitlyn, and son, Thomas. Born in Orange, Texas, son of Tracy Bland and Marion (Bland) Neil, Del spent his school-aged years in Everett, Washington, where he settled with his mother as a young boy. He graduated from Everett High, where he was a varsity athlete in three sports. In 1951, After spending some time at the University of Washington and Everett Junior College, he relocated to San Jose, California, where he lived for many years. He received his degree at San Jose State University. A veteran of the Korean War, he served most of his time in the Army in Germany. Del began collecting, buying and selling coins, primarily U.S. large cents from the colonial era, in the 1950s. Coin collecting became his passion and his profession for the rest of this life. He ultimately became one of the country’s foremost experts on early American copper large cents, particularly on the 58 varieties of 1794 large cent. He traveled all over the country for coin shows and received multiple awards from U.S. numismatic associations for his research and expertise on large cents. He is a co-author of Walter Breen’s Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents, providing, according to one numismatic expert, “incomparable pedigree and condition census research” in support of the publication. Del’s love of large cents was matched by his joy of playing basketball, which he did competitively until age 75. He traveled the world with his East Bank Saloon teammates, won championships and MVP awards, usually playing at least three times a week at his favorite gyms near his home, and especially at the Everett YMCA. Del married his beloved Nancy (Angell) Bland in 1978. They met at Hereth’s Thriftway in Snohomish. Del and Nancy loved to hit the casinos in the area, go to garage sales, and spend time visiting friends and relatives. Collecting something or another was one of their favorite hobbies, and they loved their dogs. He also loved Rocky Road ice cream and Dinty Moore beef stew; she loved wine and thrift shops. Nancy passed away in February 2018. A private funeral and burial service will be held on October 20, 2018 in Snohomish, WA, with Bauer Funeral Services of Snohomish, WA. In lieu of flowers, donations in is his remembrance may be made to N.O.A.H. Animal Shelter in Stanwood, WA, or PAWS
Bland, Larry A. – (b. 1963) Bland is a resident of Madison, New Jersey and works for Bank of America Securities in New York City. The son of the legendary copper guru, Del Bland, Larry purchased his first large cent, an S-20b, on February 12, 1998. He specializes in varieties of the year 1794 as near to the top of the condition census as possible. His interest evolved from his father’s knowledge of, and involvement with, the series. Larry sold his collection in September 2022.
Blood, Charles A. – Charter EAC member #48 from 1967, Blood is an active numismatist to the present day.
Bobbe, Jerry A. – (b.1949) A resident of Portland, Oregon, Bobbe, at one time, collected choice proof and uncirculated cents. His collection was sold privately from 1979 to 1981. He has formed probably the “best ever” collection of Conder Tokens and is a veritable authority on the series.
Bodell, Hugh – A self-employed horticulturist and sportsman from Tennessee, Bodell began collecting large cents in 1988. He seeks “attractive mid-grade” coppers and his collection is listed in the half and large cent early, middle and late date surveys.
Boka, Jon A. “Al” – (b.1939) A Trenton, New Jersey native whose family moved to Bordentown, (home of Joseph Wright, alleged creator of the Liberty Cap design) New Jersey at age 15. After 22 years he retired from the U.S.A.F. and began a subsequent tour with the federal government. He was also the creatorr/director of the Las Vegas Marathon from 1982 until it was sold in 2004. As an avid runner for 30 years he compiled over 65,000 miles including 37 marathons; his best time in the marathon was 2:45:14. He began collecting Lincoln cents the age of 9. At about that age his uncle Harry, living in the shadow of the Battle Monument in Trenton (commemorating the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War), showed him a cigar box full of large cents which he had “found in the basement.” Al became fascinated by the large coppers but was not to own one for many years. Boka purchased his first large cent, a very low grade middle date, in a coin shop in Amsterdam, Holland, around 1965 while serving with the U.S.A.F. in France. Al joined EAC in 1973 as member no. 406. In that year he acquired his first “serious” large cent, an 1820 N-13, from a coin shop in Wilmington, Delaware. He then assembled a high-grade date set (The Copperhead Collection), which was sold through Heritage Galleries on 9/8/2011. The sale featured various distinct obverses from 1793 through 1857 minus his 1794s. With a special preference for the year 1794, he went on to complete a set of all fifty-eight collectible varieties in February 2009 with the acquisition of March Wells’ S-56. Al created an exhibit of the collectible varieties of 1794, based not on grade but on provenance, for the 2004 EAC convention in San Diego. He also authored a book, Provenance Gallery of the Year 1794, and created this web site documenting that effort. Al credits John W. Adams, and a passion for history, for his attraction to pedigreed large cents of the year 1794. His collection of all 58 of the collectible Sheldon varieties of 1794 was. at the time, the 8th finest ever assembled. It was sold by Heritage Auctions on September 8, 2016. Al went on to collect coppers of the state from whence he came; New Jersey.
Boka, Jon M. “Mike” – (b.1963) Born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Al Boka (see above) Mike spent much of his younger years in Europe (France, England, Greece & Spain) while his father served in the U.S.A.F. Mike is a 1988 graduate of Virginia Tech’s Architecture School. He plied his trade, architecture, in Paris and Rome before eventually moving to New York City and working five years with the world renowned architect I. M. Pei. In 1993 he started his own firm in Manhattan. His interest in collecting, coming from his father, began in second grade with Lincoln cents and Jefferson nickels and moved into large cents with the gift of a few low grade coins from his father in the mid 1980’s. He began attending NYC Stacks auctions in the late 1980’s bidding for his own collection as well as for his father who resided far away, in Las Vegas. After several years away from collecting, during which time he built his business and raised a family, Mike rekindled his interest in coppers in 2017 by acquiring two of the 1794s from the 2016 sale of his fathers collection
Bolender, Milfred H. – (1894-1977) A veteran of WWI as well as a teacher and school principal from 1919 to 1932. Bolender started collecting in 1906 when his grandfather gave him seventy old coins. He was also a dealer in coins, in Orangeville, Illinois, and conducted nearly 200 auctions. Bolender relocated to Freeport, Illinois and later to San Marino, California. He specialized in early silver dollars and wrote a variety reference on the series. Many collectors still refer to their early dollars by Bolender numbers today.
Bonard, Alfred – (1897-1989) A real estate developer from Chappaqua, New York; Bonard later settled in Boca Raton, Florida. Del Bland visited Bonard in Florida and was taken to a dog race. Del placed a bet to win on the first race and he won. He placed a bet to come in second on the second race and he won. Thereafter, Del lost every race he bet on. Bonard purchased the C. Douglas Smith collection of 1794 cents in 1965 at what was regarded as an inflated price. Later, to satisfy his outstanding debt to Smith, he returned some of the coins (S17a, S42 & S47.) Bonard’s remaining coins were later sold through Henry J. Berube and French’s. Little else is known of Bonard.
Book, Robert D. (1862-1929) Book, a banker, was born June 2, 1862 and a resident of Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He became and ANA member in 1910 and listed his specialty as “American Cents.” There is no known record of him having been a buyer in any auctions. His collection was acquired 5/1930, after his death, by George H. Clapp. From that collection, thirty-three 1794s were eventually donated to the American Numismatic Society.
Borcherdt, Fred H. – (b. 1940) Borcherdt is a resident of Newark, Delaware, and is a retired owner of an auto repair shop as well as a former drag racer; Fred was “best drag racer of 1972” in his Pontiac GTO. In 2010, Fred was inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame in York, Pennsylvania. He has assembled a fantastic large cent collection including early, middle and late dates. His collection is strongest in the Sheldon series. He has a passion for collecting various die states.
Borckardt, Jack – (1925-1999) Borckardt was born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and served in the South Pacific during World War II with the U. S. Coast Guard. He earned degrees from Wooster College (Ohio), Chicago’s McCormick Theological Seminary, and the University of Michigan. He served as a Presbyterian minister from 1953 to 1974, and as a Speech professor at Findlay College from 1965 to 1980. He began a coin business in 1970, and made numismatics a full time profession from 1980 until his death in 1999. In 1987 he cherry-picked the third known 1794 NC-8 cent which found its way to the Dan Holmes collection. He was the father of James (1956-1974) and Mark Borckardt.
Borckardt, Mark – (b.1957) A St. Paul, Minnesota native and the son of Jack Borckardt. Mark spent most of his formative years in Findlay, Ohio and graduated from Findlay College. Involved in numismatics from and early age, Borckardt made coins a full-time profession in 1980. Since 1989 he has worked as a numismatic cataloger; first for Bowers and Merena and later for Heritage Galleries. Mark was responsible for the 2008 Walter Husak sales catalog, considered by many to be one of the greatest early large cent references ever produced. Mark edited Walter Breen’s Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents 1793-1814 (2000) in collaboration with Del Bland. Mark also created the Heritage Auctions catalog for the Al Boka 1794 collection in 2016; this work is considered by many to be a masterpiece. He is also an accomplished bowler with several sanctioned 300 games to his credit.
Borcky, John K. – Pittsburgh in the 1920s and 1930s was a beehive of large cent activity. Borcky, along with the Clapps, Gies, Book, and Kraft, made major contributions to the hobby. Borcky’s collection, which ranked along side those of George Clapp and Henry Hines, was rich in die varieties and die states. It was auctioned by Thomas Elder in June 1935.
Bowers, Q. David – (b.1938) Bowers is perhaps the best-known and most noteworthy numismatist of the last 50+ years. Beginning in 1953, Dave’s contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted to the present day. He was named by Coinage magazine as one of the “Numismatists of the Century.” Dave’s dedication to the hobby and his lifelong interest in rare coins, along with his pursuit of scholarly knowledge, have made him one of the most honored numismatists of all time. Dave is the only person to have served as president of both the Professional Numismatists Guild (1977-1979) and the American Numismatic Association (1983-1985). From the ANA, Dave has received its two most distinguished awards – Numismatist of the Year and the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award. Dave is the most prolific numismatic author of our generation, having produced 50 works, mostly written in the field of rare coins, including the ANA Centennial History, History of United States Coinage (for the Johns Hopkins University), Adventures with Rare Coins, the two-volume Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States, and A California Gold Rush History. More recently, he also serves as Numismatic Director of Whitman Publishing LLC, where he has produced another group of books including the very popular Red Book series. More of Dave’s books have won “Book of the Year” honors from the Numismatic Literary Guild than have those of any other author. From the Professional Numismatists Guild, he has received the Friedberg Award a record seven times! During his career, he has catalogued and sold at public auction many of the finest collections ever assembled. They include the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, the only complete United States coin collection ever brought together, the Harry W. Bass Jr. Collection, the Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb Collection, the John Work Garrett Collection sold by order of The Johns Hopkins University, the Childs Collection, the highlight of which was the finest known 1804 silver dollar, the second most valuable coin ever auctioned, as well as others. Dave has a special place in his heart for coppers and writes frequent articles on them in Coin World.
Boyd, Frederick C. C. – (1886-1958) Boyd was born in NYC and over many years was employed in a variety of fields, beginning as an apprentice printer at age 13. He spent time as a traveling salesman and an advertising manager before taking a managerial position with the Union [New Jersey] News Company. Boyd was a vice president with Union News when he retired in 1946. He kept busy as a part-time coin dealer and methodically assembled one of the highest quality collections ever assembled, much of it sold by Numismatic Gallery over a series of six sales billed as “The World’s Greatest Collection” in 1945 and 1946.
Boyz (Boys) of ’94 – As long as there have been collectors of large cents, beginning in the 1850s, many have been drawn to the year 1794: Maris, Hays, Gilbert, Steigerwalt, Proskey, Hines, Clapp, Sheldon, Newcomb, Downing, Palmer, Naftzger, Schuman, Adams, Loring, Ewing, Morley, etc. Perhaps Samuel H. Chapman explained it best with his statement that “sooner or later, the serious collector will gravitate to copper and, once there, would probably succumb to 1794”. It all came together in the magnum opus of Dr. William H. Sheldon: Early American Cents (1948). 1794 large cents arguably were, and remain, the cornerstone of copperdom. On March 15, 1973, Darwin Palmer wrote to Herb Silberman, Bob Schuman, Robbie Brown, Del Bland, Gordon Wrubel, Willard Blaisdell, Dane Nielsen, Ned Bush, John Adams, Denis Loring, Jules Reiver and John Wright, seeking to form a correspondence group focused on 1794s. However, John Adams opposed it thinking that such a group could cause a rise in prices by emphasizing the particular interest levels that 1794s can enjoy. Nevertheless, Darwin did correspond with several people and the small group lasted a short time … about 2 or 3 years. The “Boys of 94” or “Boyz of 94” name first appeared during the 2001 EAC convention when Bim Gander, Dan Trollan, Jon Warshawsky, and Chuck Heck discovered that the S-59 “Happening” coins they had brought featured different die states. They went “coin crazy” and decided to form a group. Bruce Reinoehl took photographs of the coins and provided photo sets to give to those who were interested. It was decided that anyone could be a “Boy of ’94”. There were no requirements other than a love of 1794’s and participation. Bruce Reinoehl, John Wright, Steve Ellsworth, Mark Borckardt, and many more were interested. The first official recognition of the term “Boys of 94” name came in the May 15, 2001 issue of Penny Wise [page 204] which summarized the die states of the S-59 found at the “Happening”. Over the next few years, informal meetings were held at the EAC conventions. In 2010, COL. Steve Ellsworth held a large “Boys of 94” gathering at his home on the Wednesday preceding the convention at Annapolis. The gathering included a Civil War battlefield tour, golfing, coins, food, scotch, etc. Because of Steve, the “Boyz” have held a Wednesday “get-together” at EAC conventions every year since. When Dave Bowers was EAC guest speaker, he asked about the “Boys” vs. “Boyz” spelling. After much discussion it was agreed that either term was acceptable.
Braig III, Eugene C. – (1943-2012) A native of Palo Alto, California and later North Ridgeville, Ohio., he obtained an MBA from Baldwin Wallace College and worked in financial administration for General Motors Corporation. “Gene” was an early EAC member and half cent aficionado. He started collecting before driving. Amongst other things, he collected butterflies, baseball cards, comic books, plastic take-apart key chain puzzles and coins. He traded cherry bombs for his first half cent, an ugly 1829 but sold most of his coins when he “discovered girls, cars, and beer”. He rekindled his coin interest just before graduating from college and attended his first EAC meeting in Detroit, in the mid-1970s, as a guest. There he met Jim McGuigan and purchased his first half cent, a 1797 1 over 1. His collection peaked at 94 of the 99 recognized half cent varieties before beginning to disperse his collection privately in 2001.
Brand, Virgil M. – (1862-1926) Brand was born in Blue Island, Illinois. His family moved to Chicago where his father established the Michael Brand & Company Brewery. Virgil graduated from Bryant and Stratton College in Chicago. Initially he was appointed the brewery’s secretary treasurer and later became the first president of the United States Brewing Company. He amassed a fortune in the brewing industry. He was a hoarder of rare coins and amassed a collection in excess of 300,000 pieces. His large cent collection was formed under the direction of his cousin, Carl Wurtzbach. After his death in 1926 his coins were divided and sub-divided, over several decades, among family members and, by 1982, very few remained although this small “remnant” comprised over 20,000 coins valued at over $10 million. Bowers and Merena conducted a final “Virgil Brand Sale” in 1985.
Breen, Walter – (1930-1993) Breen was probably the most active numismatic researcher during the second half of the 20th century. He was born in San Antonio, Texas and was abandoned, adopted, later beaten and left for dead, all before he was 18 years old. Breen met Wayte Raymond in 1950 who gave him his first numismatic position of researching the National Archives. Breen received a degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1952 and a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1966. He wrote numerous articles and books including his Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins and the “must have” tome for large cent students and collectors, Walter Breen’s Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents 1793-1814 (2000). Due to a criminal conviction, Breen died in prison in 1993.
Brown, Julius L. – (1848-1910) An Atlanta, Georgia native and a lawyer, Brown’s collection was sold by order of his executor, Hon. Joseph M. Brown, Governor of Georgia, through S. H. Chapman on May 30-31, 1911. It featured his collection of large cents, some of which were depicted on plate VII of the auction catalog.
Brown, M. A. – His great collection, which included many fine large cents, was sold on April 16-17, 1897 by S. H. & H. Chapman. The sale included the discovery S-53, an EF 1799 along with a MS 1823. The photographic plates for this auction were seized by the US Treasury Department as a violation of counterfeiting regulations in effect at that time. Later, a set of Brown plates was unearthed, thus permitting the re-establishment of pedigree links with the coins acquired by him.
Brown, R. E. – Brown’s large and fine collection of U.S. large cents was sold by Thomas Elder on March 20-23, 1918. The sale also included the coins of other collectors.
Brown, Ralph A. – (1909-2004) Brown was a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana and worked for the US Postal Service. He was a friend of C. Doug Smith and purchased several coins from him. In 1971, when he was at, or close to, retirement age he sold his large cent collection to Darwin B. Palmer, Jr. His holdings included a group of early dates and, after the deal was concluded, he showed Palmer a superb 1817 N4 [at least tied for finest known]. Brown, with Palmer having nearly depleted his available funds, let him have it for $80.
Brown, Jr., Robinson S. – (1917-2005) Brown spent nearly five decades with the Brown-Forman Distiller Corp. (Jack Daniels Whisky). He retired from the position of Chairman of the Board in 1982. “Robbie” began his interest in large cents in 1964 when he purchased sixteen different varieties from a dealer in New Orleans. He then acquired copies of Penny Whimsy and Newcomb’s United States Copper Cents 1816-1857 and decided to collect all of the varieties and different die states between the years 1793 and 1857. He is the only person to have completed the Sheldon numbered series TWICE. His first collection was sold by Superior Galleries on September 30-October 1, 1986. His second collection was sold by Superior on January 27, 1996 (early and middle dates) and June 2, 2002 (late dates).
Burress, Rodney C. – (1943-2014) “Rod” was a native and long-time resident of Cincinnati, Ohio and an early (1967) EAC member no. 109. He held an MBA degree and was both a large cent collector and distributor of coin supplies. He began operating as a dealer in 1987. Rod wrote Attribution Guides Matron Head Varieties of U. S. Large Cents 1816-1835 for Penny Wise in 1979. He also served as Vice President of EAC 1981-1990 as well as EAC Membership Chairman 1981-2014.
Burton, John E. – (1847-1930) Born in New Hartford, New York, Burton collected books and paintings as well as coins. During the Lincoln campaign for presidency in 1859 he traveled by train to Utica, New York where the 12 year old first saw the soon-to-be President after climbing a telephone pole to catch a glimpse. That encounter developed a lifelong passion for Lincoln and collecting Lincolniana. His coin collection included a large amount of 1794 large cents, including the discovery S-33, and was sold October 26-28, 1881 by W. Elliot Woodward. One of the two catalog plates for his sale depicts large cents.
Bush, Dr. Edward R. “Ned” – (1936-2009) A physician from Anderson, Indiana and one-time avid 1794 collector. It is said that he only looked at the obverses of his 1794s and never the reverses. After dispensing of his coins c. 1981, Ned became a collector of World Series memorabilia and had series programs dating back to the 1920s. Many of his coins were dispersed through William R. T. Smith.
Bushnell, Charles I. – (*1812-1882) *Some sources state he was born in 1826. Bushnell was a lawyer in New York City one of the most prominent personalities on the numismatic scene. Bushnell was known as an antiquarian and had an extensive interest in colonial coins, tokens, and other fields. After his death the collection was offered intact, by his son, for $10,000. It was eventually purchased by Lorin G. Parmelee for about $8,000 and, after extracting desired pieces, was auctioned by S. H. & H. Chapman on June 20-24, 1882. This sale, with its superb cataloging, provided the foundation for the future success of the Chapman brothers.
Cadden, Mark D. – (b.1953) A native of Brooklyn, New York and a retired chiropractor, Mark now operates a consulting business. Cadden began serious collecting in 1992. With help from friend, Rick Snow, he put together the “Chiro” collection of high-grade Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents. This collection was sold at auction by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers in their pre-Long Beach sale of 2/11/2007. Mark began collecting Large Cents, by date, in 2001. Later, he shifted to collecting Red Book varieties eventually gravitating to collecting only 1793 and 1794 cents. With the acquisition of the Boka-Trollan S-37 Mark joined the ranks of the few who have assembled all 58 collectible varieties of 1794.
Carberry, James W. – (1932-2015) A retired veterinarian from Iowa City, IA. “Doc” was dealer of coins and exonumia and had a coin store for many years. He set up at many regional shows including CSNS. In 1966 he issued a catalog of 50 1793 Large Cents from the Collection of Donald W. Jensen.
Carlton, George C. – Carlton formed a fine collection of more than 300 large cents which were auctioned by Thomas Elder on December 6-8, 1917.
Carter, Jr., Amon G. – Carter’s “Family Collection” included his copper collection. He had pedigreed coins from, among others, the collections of Dunham, Neil, Green, Atwater, Olson, Roe, Farouk, Roach, Granberg, Newcomer, and Haseltine. The collection was sold by Stack’s in New York on January 18-21, 1984.
Caufman, Esq., Emil – (1841-1911) Kaufman was born in Bavaria, Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1853. He was a resident of Philadelphia and a liquor merchant. Caufman’s collection, containing some copper cents and half cents, was sold at auction by Edward Cogan in New York on May 3-4, 1871. One of the catalog plates depicts choice early cents and half cents.
Chalkley, Dr. Thomas S. – (1914-2001) A native of Covington, Kentucky, Chalkley began collecting in 1920 at age 6. Though he collected other series of coins and other items of interest it is large cents which were his first love. His collection of early, middle and late date large cents was sold by Superior Galleries on January 28, 1990.
Chamberlain, William B. – (1865-1942) From Danville, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain was descended from a family with roots in America dating back to before the year 1645. His collection, including 83 large cents, was sold by Harmer Rooke Numismatists, Ltd. on August 5, 1987.
Chambers, Dr. C. R. – (b. 1931) A collector of early coppers who joined EAC in 1972. For years he operated the Chambers Medical Clinic in Union City, Indiana. His affinity for the earliest American large cents places his pedigree on a number of Condition Census coins.
Chapman Brothers, The – Samuel Hudson Chapman (1857-1931) and Henry Chapman (1859-1935). Henry began working for John Haseltine, a Philadelphia coin dealer, in 1875 at age 16. In 1878, he and his brother Samuel formed a partnership which revolutionized the coin business with their innovative methods of preparing deluxe, large-size format, auction catalogs which included descriptions of all coin lots plus miscellaneous information and, in some instances, quality photographic plates. The foundation of their success was born with the Bushnell sale of 1882 and together they went on to handle many of the most important collections of the day. Though they dissolved their partnership in 1906 each continued in business, individually, until the early 1920s. They sold their own collections, including choice large cents, on October 9, 1879 with a second sale occurring on May 14-15, 1885.
Chatham, Raymond H. – (1910-1983) An early EAC member (#47) Chatham sold his collection to Abe Kosoff in 1958. At the EAC convention in 1978, he left his container (a carrying case for Kodak Carousel projector) with thousands of dollars in coins under the table of a restaurant for about a half an hour. The case was returned to him by Del Bland and Darwin Palmer. Chatham handled the private sale of Dorothy Paschal’s collection. He discovered the 1797 NC-6 in 1965. John Ashby sold Chatham’s remaining coins in 1981.
Child, Dudley R. – (b. 1867) A Boston, Massachusetts resident who was a “principal” buyer at the sale of the George W. Merritt collection conducted by Ed. Frossard on January 3, 1879. His collection was sold by Lyman H. Low on February 25, 1908.
Chipman, Michael A. – Chipman developed the computerized tax program, “Turbo Tax”, in the 1980s. He is also part-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team. Michael is essentially a “Red Book” collector but gained entry to this web site by virtue of acquiring the MS-60 S-64, a Strawberry Leaf cent and the famed S-79 at the Adam Mervis sale of January 10, 2014.
Chubbuck, Samuel W. – (b.1800) A telegraph instrument manufacturer from Utica, New York. His first collection sale was conducted by John W. Haseltine on February 25-28, 1873. The catalog features one plate with large cents 1793-1833. Only fifty plated catalogs were issued and they are considered a rarity.
Claire, Craig – Claire’s fine assemblage of large cents was auctioned, along with his entire collection, by Thomas Elder on July 9-10, 1920. Other’s coins were included in the sale. 2 ½ photographic plates were dedicated to his cents in the Elder sale catalog.
Clapp, Charles E. – (1860-?) The younger brother of George H. Clapp. Charles was a stockbroker and an active numismatist and important buyer at auctions. In 1923 he acquired the major portion of Col. James W. Ellsworth’s copper cents by private treaty. Soon after, Charles experienced severe financial problems and, in December 1924, sold his collection to his brother George.
Clapp, George Hubbard – (1858-1949) Clapp was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania and was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh; he was its oldest living alumnus at the time of his death. He began collecting coins at an early age. On June 4, 1878, he founded the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society. Later in life he became founder and president of the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA). Clapp authored The United States Cents of the Years 1798-1799. Clapp also co-authored, with Howard Newcomb, The Cents of the Years 1795-1796-1797-1800. Clapp formed a formidable collection of large cents and, on December 7, 1936 wrote the following to Edward Newell who was president of the American Numismatic Society at that time: “I have a large and very complete collection of the large cents of the United States which I wish to give to the American Numismatic Society at the present time but wish to retain it in my possession for the purpose of further study and, if possible to add some of the missing varieties and improve some that I already have. My purpose in doing this is that, so far as I know, there is no complete collection of the varieties of the large cents extant and by putting a so nearly complete collection in the A.N.S., owners of any of the missing varieties may be prompted to give or sell what they have to the Society so as to make yours a complete reference collection….I propose to give you a deed of gift which you can accept with the stipulation that the collection is to remain in my custody for further study until such time as I am ready to turn it over to the Society, in case of my death the collection would automatically go to you.” This donation comprised many of the finest known early date cent varieties were formally transferred to the A.N.S. on December 19, 1946.
OBITUARY OF GEORGE H. CLAPP – New York Times – April 1, 1949
GEORGE H. CLAPP, 90, AN ALCOA FOUNDER
Prominent Figure in Aluminum Industry Dies – Long Head of U. of Pittsburgh Board
PITTSBURGH, March 31 – George Hubbard Clapp, a founder of the Aluminum Company of America and the oldest alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh, died here today in Sewickley Valley Hospital which he entered yesterday for treatment of an abdominal ailment.
Born ninety years ago in old Allegheny, Pa., now Pittsburgh’s North Side, Mr. Clapp was 16 when he entered Western University, now the University of Pittsburgh. He was graduated with highest honors in 1877 and went to work in the machine shop of the Penn Cotton Mill.
Subsequently he was employed in the Black Diamond Steel Works, where he met Capt. Alfred L. Hunt. Mr. Clapp and Captain Hunt formed an engineering firm and later, with Charles M. Hall formed the Pittsburgh Reduction Company which grew into the Aluminum Company of America.
Mr. Clapp was successively treasurer, secretary, vice president and director of Alcoa, retaining his directorship until his death. He also was a director of the Farmers’ Deposit National Bank, Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory and Reliance Life Insurance Company and a trustee of Carnegie Institute of Technology.
For Many years Mr. Clapp had served as president of the board of trustees of the University of Pittsburgh. In 1908 he headed the movement which transferred the university from the northside to Oakland. The new $4,000,000 science building planned by the university will be named in his honor.
He was a fellow of the American Geographical Society, member of the National Geographic Society, the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania and the Malacological Society of London. Mr. Clapp was greatly interested in malacology and had contributed more than 120,000 mollusks to the collection of Carnegie Museum here.
At the bedside when he died were his only surviving relatives, two daughters, Mrs. William Galbraith and Mrs. W. W. Collin Jr., both of near-by Sewickley.
Clark, Robert C. – Clark works in the financial services industry and has collected and owned numerous Condition Census large cents. Among the coins bearing his pedigree is the Marsh specimen of the 1794 Starred Reverse cent, S-48. His collection of 104 high-quality large cents was sold by Bowers and Merena at the 2000 ANA Convention.
Clark, William B. – (b. 1842) President of an insurance company and a resident of Hartford, Connecticut, Clark’s collection was sold by W. Elliot Woodward on April 2-3, 1885. The sole plate in the catalog depicted the obverses of eighteen large cents, 1793-1838.
Clarke, Charles Lorenzo – (1853-1941) A native of Maine, Clarke was a mechanical engineer and one of Thomas Edison’s top scientists. He graduated from Bowdoin College [Brunswick, Maine] in 1875. Clarke began work with Edison at Menlo Park, New Jersey, on February 1, 1880 as a lab assistant. Little is known of his collecting except that he kept meticulous details, on the coin envelopes of his large cents, which have survived the rigors of time.
Clarke, Dr. E. Yale – (1914-1979) A physician from Glen Falls, New York. The Clarke collection, containing 96 large cents, was sold by Stack’s on October 25, 1975.
Clarke, T. James – (1875-1952) Clarke was a box and paper goods manufacturer from Jamestown, NY and the 20th president of the ANA . An avid collector of coins, paper money, stamps and antique watches. Purchased most of the Dr. French collection. Clarke was a primary source of the small cent boxes that were used by many contemporary collectors. Roy E. Naftzger, Jr. purchased his collection later selling the duplicates through an Abe Kosoff auction on April 21, 1956. There were 493 (not all were his) outstanding large cents in the sale.
Clay, M.D., Dr. Charles – A native of Manchester, England, Clay’s collection was sold at auction by W. Elliott Woodward & W. H. Strobridge on December 5-7, 1871. In the collection were “a few choice early cents.”
Cleneay, Esq., Thomas – (?-d. 1887) Cleneay, of Cincinnati, formed one of the earliest and most important cabinets in the United States. He started collecting in the 1840’s and continued for the next four decades. He was an “ardent lover of the science of Numismatics” and a highly-esteemed citizen. His superlative collection, including 140 large cents, was sold by S. H. & H. Chapman on December 9-13, 1890. The sale catalog included an early attempt at colorization of the plates by applying gold toning to those with gold coins; copper-like toning to those with copper; and silver-like toning to those plates depicting silver coins.
Clover, Phillip W. -(b. 1934) Phil, a retired US Navy veteran, first became interested in coins at age seven while sorting through half dollars at his father’s gas station. By sixth grade he had assembled a near-complete set of Indian and Lincoln cents through 1945. A young neighbor’s date set of large cents set him a path towards the large coppers but they would have to wait due to financial constraints. While sailing with the Navy, Phil collected world coins, focusing on those of the Philippines. While stationed in San Diego, California, Phil became a customer of Harlan White who had opened the “Old Coin Shop” in 1960. At about that time he began selling items from his other collecting passion; seashells. One of his best seashell customers was Rear Admiral Worthington S. Bitler. Bitler gave Phil his large cent collecting records. Phil went on to assemble a near-complete set of Sheldon varieties lacking only the S-15, S-37 and S-79. His collection was sold by Heritage Galleries on September 6, 2012.
Clymer, Jr., Frederick H. – (1916-2002) A native of Rockwood, Tennessee, and later a resident of Connecticut, Clymer was a descendant of Philadelphian George Clymer (1739-1813), a Quaker merchant and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Fred was a 1939 mechanical engineering graduate of Lehigh University and co-founder of the Arthur G. Russell Corporation, manufacturers of factory automation equipment. Following in his father’s footsteps, he collected between the late 1920s and late 1970s and was a serious large cent specialist of early, middle and late dates. He had a passion for 1794s and owned all but the S-37. Many of his coins were dispersed by Fred Borcherdt and Tom Morley in the 1980s.
Cogan, Edward D. – (1803-1884) Born in England, Cogan emigrated to the U.S. in 1853. He initially sold books and paintings before opening a shop in 1856 at 48 North Tenth Street in Philadelphia where he sold coins and medals. Cogan is considered to be “the father of U. S. coin collecting.” His 1858 sale of a large cent date set he had assembled for a colleague, and the subsequent publication of the sale results, in 1863, contributed to the furthering of the coin collecting hobby in the United States.
Cogan, George – Son of Edward Cogan, George assumed control of his father’s business in 1879. His was a short-lived, rather lackluster tenure conducting on ten sales between 1881 and 1885.
Cohen, Bertram M. – (1931-2014) A Boston, Massachusetts resident and the consummate collector. Amongst other things Cohen was a world renown collector of marbles. He also had an extensive collection of presidential memorabilia as well as collectable toys.
Cohen, Col. Mendes I. (1796-1879) – Mendes Israel Cohen was a member of a prominent Jewish family of Baltimore, Maryland that lobbied for some of the earliest rights for Jews, including the right to hold state office. When the War of 1812 broke out he joined a volunteer company that helped defend Baltimore harbor at the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. This was the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the words that would later become the Star-Spangled Banner. In 1829 he retired from the family business a wealthy man and traveled the world. He is said to have been the first American to visit the Nile Valley. Cohen built a superlative collection, including choice large cents, which was sold by Edward Cogan on October 25-29, 1875.
Cohen Jr., Roger S. – (1927-1990) Known primarily as a collector of half cents, Cohen also had an important collection of 713 large cent lots which were sold by Superior Galleries as part of their “Century Collection Sale” of February 2-4, 1992.
Colburn, Jeremiah – (1815-1891) Colburn was a Boston numismatist. He was appointed by President Pierce as an appraiser for the United States Customs Service (1852-1860). He was a founding member of the Boston Numismatic Society (1860). Colburn’s coins were purchased by W. Elliot Woodward and subsequently sold at auction. The first sale took place on April 28-May 1, 1862; the second followed on October 24, 1863. Several other’s coins were included in the first sale. Each sale contained U. S. large cents.
Collier, M.D., Dr. Richard – (1932-2014) Collier was a general surgeon in Lansing, Michigan and a one-time mentor of avid copper collector Dr. Bruce Reinoehl. A collector of high grade coins he reportedly did not like early copper though he had some pieces.
Collier, Thomas S. – (1842-1893) A resident of New London, Connecticut. He served in the navy during the Civil War. Collier was a writer and contributed articles to several periodicals including The Atlantic, The Century Magazine, and Scribner’s. He wrote the large cent related poem, On The Star-Circled Cent of 1794. Collier’s collection was sold at auction by the Chapman brothers on May 3-4, 1894.
Collins, Benjamin H. – (1845-1928) An employee of the Treasury Department, serving as chief of the tobacco division. Earlier, he served in the Civil War as a scout for General Phillip Sheridan. Collins was also a Washington, D.C. dealer specializing in large cents. He gleaned the finest specimens for his personal collection which was coveted and eventually purchased by B. Max Mehl. Collins was an early proponent of coin investment who once stated that “Good coins increase regularly in value. It is just as profitable as town lots or diamonds.”
Collins, Jack – (1939-1996) From Southgate, California, Jack was a cataloger and researcher. He purchased part of B. Max Mehl estate in 1960. Collins consigned 346 large cents to Bowers and Ruddy’s Fairfield Collection sale October 6-8, 1977. Cataloged many sales including those of Robinson S. Brown, Jr. (1986) and Philip Van Cleave (1986). He also collected and sold Washington medals.
Colvin, Allan D. – (1883-1950) A native of Troy, New York and son of Henry C. Colvin (see below). Allan was graduated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1906 and had served as a life trustee of the Institute from 1931. Upon his death, Mrs. Colvin donated the collection to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Later, Charles French, of Troy, New York was authorized to sell parts of the collection at auction over a 10 year period. Colvin’s large cent collection was the most significant group of early coppers to be handled by Charles French in his 80th sale, held in conjunction with the October 1962 Middle Atlantic Numismatic Association [MANA] Convention. Among the lots in his collection were 42 varieties of 1794 cents.
Colvin, Henry C. – (1858-1936) A native of Northern Ireland who immigrated to the United States in 1873. Colvin was a resident of Troy, New York, and had served as the president of two Troy banks: Troy Savings and National State (which later merged with the Manufacturers National). When he died, his collection was given to his son, Allan D. Colvin (see above), who was also a collector.
Conour, John F. – “Jack” is a ceramic engineer by vocation who began collecting early copper in the early 1990’s, initially putting together a date and mint set of all US copper coinage from 1793 to present. He then went to overdate Large Cents, repunched Late Dates, and die states of 1816 before taking over publication of “The List”, the survey of Middle Dates, in 2009.
Contursi, Steven L. – (1952) A native of the Bronx, New York, Contursi is an American businessman and a professional numismatist since 1975. He is founder and president of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Irvine, California.. He has bought and sold over $1 billion of rare United States coins. Steve graduated with a Cum Laude degree in physics from Lehman College of the City University of New York, as well as being honored with the 1974 Joseph A. Gillet Prize for being the top Physics student as a senior.
Coops, Jr., Fred W. – (1918-1992) A longtime owner of Fred Coops & Co., Inc., a California collectibles business. After graduating from high school in 1935, he and his father set up stamp shops in two separate cities, and the son proved successful, diversifying into coins and precious metals as well. Fred owned his San Bernardino business for nearly 60 years until his death.
Corson, Allen – (d. 1994) EAC #155, Corson organized EAC gatherings in south Florida during 1969-1975 and contributed “Corson’s Corner” to P-W. John Wright called Corson “The only large cent collector I’ve met who can wear his collection on a string around his neck.”
Cottier, William H. – A resident of Buffalo, New York and an early collector of large cents. Cottier provided some of the coins for Ed. Frossard’s Monograph of United States Cents and Half Cents published in 1879. Cottier’s holdings were auctioned by Ed. Frossard in May 1882.
Crans, A. W. – Crans’ collection included some copper and was sold in New York on March 7, 1918 by United States Coin Co., Inc.
Crosby, Sylvester S. – (1831-1914) Sylvester was the youngest of 11 children of the Reverend Avazaniah Crosby, pastor of the Charlestown Congregational Church in Charleston, New Hampshire. He was a Boston watchmaker by trade but had a strong interest in numismatics, mushrooms, archaeology and Astronomy. Crosby authored The United States Cents of 1793 (1869), The Early Coins of America (1875) and The United States Coinage of 1793, Cents and Half Cents (1897). He collaborated with J. N. T. Levick in an article on 1793 cent varieties which included the famous Levick Plate. His collection was sold by Haseltine on June 27-29, 1883 and contained 177 large cents. The total sale realized $5,977.54. A landmark sale by the “the man who wrote the book.”
Crossfield, Bruno H. – (1891-1962) Crossfield was born in Minnesota on July 12, 1891, and died at San Francisco in February 1962. He spent most of his life in San Francisco where he was a laborer, and later a coin dealer. Crossfield and Alfred Sewell presented a talk on 1794 large cents at the January 1944 meeting of the Pacific Coast Numismatic Society. A report of that meeting notes that they displayed “41 of the 100 known varieties.” Crossfield was killed in early February 1962, and his body was found in the living quarters of his coin shop, according to an article in the February 8, 1962 issue of San Rafael’s Daily Independent Journal.
Cruzan, Mary – (1912-1996) Mary M. Cowan, a 1934 graduate of Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri, married Winston V. Cruzan (1912-1993), a 1938 graduate of the University of Nebraska’s dental school. In 1998 they bequeathed $3,000,000 to found the Cruzan Center for Dental Research at the University of Nebraska. In the Spink sale of June 3, 1997, the catalog announced “important American and Canadian coins and Medals from the estate of Mary C. Cruzan, formerly the stock of Burdette G. Johnson of St. Louis. She may have been related to St. Louis dealer Burdette G. Johnson.
David, Fernand – (1861-1927) Fernand was a native of Paris, France. He was a manufacurer of trimmings, lace, and embroidery. The sale of his collection was conducted by J. Schulman of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on March 11, 1930. The North American collectors submitting absentee bids reads like a Who’s Who of numismatics. Among those included are John W. Garrett, Henry C. Hines, Carl Wurtzbach, Waldo Newcomer, Barney Bluestone, Wayte Raymond, Thos. L. Elder and Charles Clapp. Burdette G. Johnson appears to have attended the auction in person. The sale contained some significant large cents.
Davis, George L. – (1828-1890) Davis was a 19th century collector born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His collection was placed in storage in North Andover, Massachusetts upon his death and remained out of sight for more than 60 years until the vault was opened in October 1953. The Davis collection was acquired by Stack’s and sold at auction in the April 1954 Davis-Graves Sale.
Davis, Robert Coulton. – (1823-1888) A Philadelphia pharmacist, Davis’ collection, containing 150 large cents, was sold by the New York Coin & Stamp Co. on January 20-24, 1890.
Deetz, Charles H. – (1864-1946) Born in Sellersville, Pennsylvania. A cartographer by profession. His extensive collection was sold by Stack’s in November of 1946.
Demeo, Daniel A. – A retired analytical chemist, Dan has collected coins for over 40 years; large cents since the 1970’s. A lifelong California resident, he has attended cent auctions in the Los Angeles area since the Ruby sales, and collects early and middle date large cents. He also collects large cent literature, ancient coins and antique radios, and tracks pedigrees for the NumiStudy project.
Denman, Terry S. – Denman completed his collection of all collectible Sheldon varieties with the acquisition of an S-15 and a S-37 from Bruce Reinoehl in 2008. He also added the rare S-79 from another source in the same year.
Denman, Tory – (b.1990) Son of Terry Denman. Tory is well on his way with his own set of Sheldon varieties. As of the 2009 Early American Copper convention he had more than 170 varieties.
Dirnbauer, John M. – (1947-2022) Born in Racine, Wisconsin. A retired school superintendent, John operated a coin and numismatic literature business on the seacoast of Maine. John was a third generation coin collector who specialized in early American copper and, much less interesting, type coins. John’s personal collection included almost 500 varieties of large copper cents and 700 reference books and auction catalogs related to those wonderful coppers. He was EAC #571.
Dobak, Patrick – A collector residing in Virginia and specializing in the Sheldon series.
Doughty, Francis W. – (c.1850-1917) Author of Cents of the United States (1890) a collection of 110 of his large cents was sold by New York Coin & Stamp Co. on April 14-16, 1891. Another sale, by the same company, on January 22. 1914, contained 280 of his large cents.
Downing, Homer Kennedy – (1898-1951) Downing was born in Brazil, Indiana, and was employed by Western Electric Company. He did not become an active collector until the 1940s when a colleague, T. J. Clarke, introduced him to large cents. Downing placed particular emphasis on pedigrees in forming his collection and formed an exceptional cabinet of 390 pieces. A month before his death he inked H. D. on the edges of his 1794 large cents. His collection was sold by New Netherlands Coin Co. as part of the 1952 ANA sale. He lacked seven varieties but he did have an S-79 [the most difficult] and an S-80 [one of the most difficult] to obtain. Downing’s nephew, Franklyn M. Rybak, attended the 2010 EAC convention in Annapolis, Maryland and delivered an insightful talk on early childhood recollections of his uncle Homer. On one occasion, while at Downing’s sixth floor apartment at 939 Woodycrest Avenue in New York City [Bronx], he recalls seeing 6 large cents positioned on a window sill; his uncle was toning the pieces.
1951 OBITUARY OF HOMER K. DOWNING , A.N.A. No. 9294
It is with the most extreme regret that we report the death of Homer K. Downing who died suddenly at his home on Mary 29th last. His death came as a sad shock to his many friends and the collecting fraternity mourns the loss of a numismatist, who, in a few short years, became an outstanding authority in his field.
Homer Downing was born May 15th, 1898 in Brazil, Indiana where he spent his boyhood. He attended DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana and studied engineering at Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1921 he entered the employ of the Western Electric Company with whom he remained until his death. He married Anna Rybak in 1928 and soon thereafter established his home at 939 Woodycrest Ave., Bronx, New York. His widow survives him.
It was about eleven years ago when Homer Downing became actively interested in numismatics. Originally, as is the habit of many beginners, his interests covered a major portion of the various issues of United States coins. During the summer and fall of 1941, his enthusiasm became intense and gradually resolved into an ardent interest concerning our early copper cents. About that time he carefully canvassed the New York dealers and eventually made the many contacts and friendships that he later valued so highly. In 1942, following a keen desire to learn fully about his hobby, he joined several of the metropolitan coin clubs and in the latter part of that year made the acquaintance of the late Henry C. Hines.
In the fascinating world of Large Cents, Henry Hines was long recognized, together with Howard Newcomb and George Clapp, as one of the “Big Three.” From the first day of their meeting, he and Homer Downing were fast friends. During the years that followed, many a trip was made from 939 Woodycrest Avenue to the Newark Athletic club. On numerous Friday evenings, copies of Crosby and Hays, Gilbert and Clapp, Newcomb and Andrews, were all carefully perused and Mr. Hines displayed his treasures to an apt and completely absorbed pupil. It was during this period that H.K.D. became acquainted with something more than die deviations or rare varieties. The careful examination of the older sale catalogs and the recollections of an age collector brought forth a desire to trace the history of famous collections and magnificent coins.
Shortly before the death of Henry Hines, late in 1946, Homer Downing met Dr. William Sheldon. The fruits of this meeting will always be of inestimable value to the American numismatist. For many years, Dr. Sheldon had, with painstaking study and deliberation, prepared an exhaustive work on early coppers, 1793-1814. Homer Downing’s valued collaboration in the completion of this famous work need not be mentioned here, but Dr. Sheldon will gladly verify the countless hours of research and meticulous regard for accuracy that were Homer Downing’s contribution toward its publication.
Early in 1947 the Hines estate was dispersed and together with a number of fine cents, Homer Downing obtained the greater part of the Hines library. The acquirement of many standard works together with a large number of prices sale catalogs, many complete with buyers’ names, rounded out an already substantial collection of books based upon Large Cent literature.
Many Saturdays, during the latter years of life, were spent at the American Numismatic Society museum in New York. Old friends were greeted, catalogs and files were carefully scrutinized and many happy hours were dedicated to the Clapp collection housed there. He joined the A.N.S. in 1943 and was elected a fellow in 1944. At his death he was the chairman of the committee on United States coins. His extensive knowledge, and in particular, his clear and deliberate judgment were highly prized at Society and his opinion was often sought by that institution. H.K.D. was a member of the American Numismatic Association and, where possible, attended a few of the more recent conventions. He had a decided interest in the New York Numismatic Club, was an officer of the Bronx Coin Club and belonged to other local organizations, in all of which he was one of the most popular members.
It is almost impossible to record all the activities of a man who loved his hobby as did Homer Downing. At the time of his death he was completing work on a detailed photographic record of the finest-known specimens of the early cents. This, coupled with an intense desire to trace the Pedigree, or history of ownership, was a very important part of numismatics to H.K.D. His records were so complete and so accurate that he could often trace one coin through half-a-dozen or more collections. It is ironic that only a month previous to his untimely death, he carefully inked in the “H” and “D” on the edge of each of his prized 1794 cents. This was, in his words, “To insure proper identification” of pieces from his collection.
Homer Downing utilized his extremely orderly mind with the exacting intensity so characteristic of members of his profession. He investigated methods of cleaning, improving and preserving cents; of displaying, labeling and housing them and, most of all, or organizing factual data in such a manner as to permit its future publication.
Many cannot take our hobby as seriously as did he. Few – a very few, can ever hope to attain his stature as a numismatist. His interests while generally confined to Large Cents, covered many other series. He was particularly concerned with die variations an among other discoveries, unearthed a “unique” variety of the Lord Baltimore Shilling which now reposes in the A.N.S. museum.
In five short years, from 1946 to 1951, Homer K. Downing rose from the rank of specialist to the standing of a leading authority. Had he lived but a few years more, long enough to put into print his magnificent fount of knowledge, a further invaluable contribution to American numismatics, one of the greatest, could have been made.
While many of his close friends in the metropolitan area will long cherish the memories of the club meeting dinners, the get-togethers over coffee and the long evenings around “the desk,” none of his friends, or even acquaintances, will ever forget the offers of willing assistance, the firm smile, or the delighted chuckle, that marked a great numismatist and a good, good friend. – John J. Ford
Dunfield, Robert R. (d. 2010) Robert had over 40 years experience in numismatics and was a specialist in U.S. Half Cents & Large Cents 1793-1857 by die varieties which were his passion. Robert enjoyed researching and sharing information with others. Robert was a member of EAC, ANA, USMexNA, CWTS and CTCC.
Dunham, William Forrester – (1857-1936) A Chicago native and graduate of the University of Illinois. He taught school for a time then entered the grocery business before becoming a druggist and member of the Chicago stock exchange. He assembled a complete collection of United States coinage, from half-cents to twenty-dollar gold, including the Dexter specimen of the 1804 dollar in 1904 for $1,100. Considering it the “capstone” of his long career, Max B. Mehl auctioned the collection of 4,169 lots on June 3, 1941 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Dupont, Charles J. – Along with his partner, Charles Anderson, Dupont operated as antique dealers in Worcester, Massachusetts. They served as agents for the sale of a coin collection via Stack’s auctions. The sales were held in September and November 1954, billed as the Anderson-Dupont Sale. The large cents were cataloged by Dr. William H. Sheldon and Walter Breen.
Earle, Jr., George H. – (1856-1928) Earle was an attorney, and later a financier, who spent his entire life in Philadelphia. He was an ardent collector and always sought the finest coins. He assembled a magnificent collection, including 242 large cents, which were sold at auction by H. Chapman on June 25-29, 1912. Many of his coins were sold to J. M.. Clapp and later acquired by Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. The collection included 29 – 1793s of which 11 were described as uncirculated. Earle had 10 children, including George Howard Earle III who was governor of Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1939.
Eaton, Commodore William Colgate – (1851-1936) An 1869 graduate of Colgate University at which, his father, George Washington Eaton, served as president 1856-1868. Eaton then graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1874. As a U. S. Navy officer he was detailed as head of the Department of Engineering at Colgate 1888-90. In 1892, Eaton was appointed by Viceroy Li Hung Chang as the examiner of naval engineering graduates at Imperial University in Tientsin, China. He served as fleet engineer Pacific Squadron 1899-1900. During the Spanish-American War he served as chief engineer on the USS Amphitrite which participated in the bombing of San Juan Hill. He retired in 1909. His collection, primarily half cents, was sold to Henry Chapman in 1928 and subsequently sold at auction on May, 7-8 1929. The English ancestry of the Eaton families has been traced from Blanqui Thane, of Lochabar, A.D. 1000. Through his son, Fleance, who married Genta, Princess of North Wales, down to William Eaton who married Jane Hussey and died before 1584 leaving sons John, Nicholas and Peter. John Eaton, of Dover, son of Nicholas, emigrated to America in 1635 while William Eaton, of Staple, son of Peter, followed in 1637.
Eckberg, William R. (Bill) – (b.1947) A native of Grand Rapids Michigan, he graduated from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University and spent his career as a biology professor department chairman and dean at Howard University, retiring in 2009. He retired again after a two-year stint at the National Science Foundation and now lives in Florida. He is the President of EAC (2014-2017). Bill is best known as a half cent collector. He has also owned several significant large cents, including 1794s and several with significant pedigrees. A co-author of Grading Guide for Early American Copper Coins, he has also written numerous articles for Penny-Wise on Mint activities involved in the production of the earliest large and half cents, early copper price structures, half cent survivorship and the delivery dates of half cent varieties
Edeburn, Jan – (1938-2024) Jan was born in Youngstown, Ohio on October 27, 1938. His interest in coins began in the late 1940s though his true numismatic bug did not become a full-blown disease until 1963. Edeburn joined the US Air Force and was an avionics technician. While serving in England he advertised to buy large cents and reportedly acquired several nice pieces including a “VF 1794 S-26 for $30.” He passed away June 9, 2024.
Elder, Thomas L. – (1874-1948) Elder was a native of Dayton, Pennsylvania. He attended the Park Institute (Allegheny) and Beaver College, eventually working as a court stenographer and telegrapher. He began collecting coins in 1887 at age 13 and joined the American Numismatic Association in 1899, the American Numismatic and Archeological Society (later the ANS) in 1904, and helped found the New York Numismatic Club in 1908. He settled in New York City and conducted his first auction in 1905. He published the Elder Rare Coin Book (1934), Elder Monthly (1906-1907), and the Elder Magazine (1910-1911) in addition to issuing a number of medals, tokens, and store cards. He died in South Carolina.
Eliasberg Sr., Louis E. – (1896-1976) Born in Selma, Alabama in 1896 his family moved first to Atlanta in c.1900 and then on to Baltimore in 1907. In 1919 he created The Finance Company of America in Baltimore. He was unimpressed by pretense of any kind but coin collecting seriously excited him and awakened his interest in history, events, and the people associated with them. He went on to accomplish what had never been done before: assemble a complete collection of every known date, denomination, and mintmark of United States Coins which clearly made him the “King of Coins.” His collection, which featured many superb large cents, was sold by Bowers and Merena on May 20-22, 1996.
Ellsworth, Col. James W. – (1849-1925) Ellsworth, an owner and operator of coal mines as well as other business interests, was a wealthy collector of art, antiquities and other items, and an important buyer on the numismatic scene around the turn of the century. He formed one of the largest collections in American numismatic history but he is not particularly well known since he sold his coins privately and no catalog was ever published. He sold his large cents to Charles Clapp with the majority of his remaining collection going to Wayte Raymond and John Work Garrett in March 1923 for $100,000.
Ellsworth, Colonel Steven K. – (b. 1946) A resident of Nashville, Tennessee and EAC member no. 1901. Steve retired from the U.S. Army [Special Forces] in 1997 and is now a full-time dealer. Ellsworth started collecting at age 6 and later earned his Boy Scout merit badge in coin collecting. “I can remember gathering pop bottles from fields and roads. I’d pile them in my Radio Flyer wagon and redeem my cargo at the corner grocery store,” he explains. “Then I’d go through the coins searching for dates and pieces I didn’t have yet.” He began to collect early copper seriously in 1972 and collected only large cents [Early, Middle and Late dates by Sheldon and Newcomb varieties] Steve also is keen on die states. Ellsworth had a fine half cent collection which was sold by Heritage Galleries on May 29, 2008. At the Walter Husak sale on February 15, 2008 Steve added the elusive S-37 [finest known] and nine upgrades to elevate him to top position in the collectible 1794 variety listing. Steve is not a descendent of Col. James Ellsworth, as far as he knows, but is a direct descendent of Oliver Ellsworth. Oliver was the first Senator from Connecticut and the third Chief Justice of the United States. Ellsworth moved to strike the word National from the May 30, 1787 motion made by Edmund Randolph of Virginia that called for the government to be called a National Government of United States. Ellsworth moved that the government continue to be called The United States Government. However, it must be noted that all of Steve’s ancestry was not quite so noble; in the late 1800s, a great-uncle served three sentences in the Utah state penitentiary for polygamy. Steve’s dad told him that each time the women got prettier and a bit younger. Steve auctioned his Die State Collection through Heritage Auctions on September 26, 2013. He sold his Late Date collection through Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on 9/26/2021 and his Middle Dates with the same company on 9/2/2022. Steve served as the 61st President of the American Numismatic Association 2019-2021; the only EAC member to ever do such. Steve actively collects Hard Times and Civil War tokens.
Everett, Robert “Bob” W. – (1948-1997) A native of Seattle, Washington, Bob was a collector/dealer and a graduate of the University of Washington. He had a reputation for having only the nicest inventory and never overcharging his clients. His philosophy was to pass on good deals to his customers. He was a large man, this caused by a condition known as “Acromegaly”. People with this condition are often referred to as “Giants”. Bob was, indeed, a very well liked and respected member of the EAC fraternity.
Evert, Thomas A. – (b. 1954) Tom is a native Californian, born in Santa Maria, raised in East Whittier and now resides in Anaheim. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 1978 with a degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, then spent 36 years in the aerospace industry working for TRW/Northrop Grumman. Tom enjoyed coin collecting as a youngster and returned to the hobby once degreed and gainfully employed. His initial focus in the 1980’s was on type coins but by the early 1990’s, the copper bug had bitten him good and his large cent holdings grew to first form a 1793-1857 date set, then a complete two volume Library of Coins set and finally a nearly complete Sheldon early date series (he need only an S-79). While seeking the final few Sheldon varieties, he started a middle date collection and now has 198 coins in that set. Tom “completed” his current group by acquiring the elusive S-37in a Heritage sale on 2/22/2018. Tom’s other favorite pastimes include tennis, lunar and planetary photography and cooking tri-tip (or ribs) over a red oak fire.
Ewing Jr., George E. – (1943-1993) A lifelong resident of Dallas, Texas, Ewing had earned B.S., M.S. and Ed.D degrees. He taught at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas. Often referred to as “a southwest collector” Ewing methodically formed two separate collections of 1794 cents; the first in 1978 and a second, much better set from 1987 through 1993 which included many condition census specimens and an NC-5. Ewing was a Heath Literary Award winner from American Numismatic Association and a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society. He prepared several special projects for A.N.S. including the 1984 C.O.A.C. (Coinage of the Americas Conference) which included color slides obverses and reverses of 1794 cents in the ANS collection.
Exman, Eugene Lester – (1900-1975) Exman, born in Ohio, was a charter member of EAC (#22), an avid large cent collector and personal friend of Dr. William H. Sheldon. As vice president at Harper & Rowe, he assisted Sheldon with publication of Early American Cents and Penny Whimsy. His collection, which included many highly desirable 1794s, was willed to his daughter and, after her death, subsequently to her husband. His 1794s attributed to Robert L. Moore we acquired from Sheldon via Dorothy. They were recognizable because of the “Sheldon Treatment” they had been give by Sheldon. The “treatment” involved coating the coins with carnuba wax. After more than 40 years with Exman’s estate the wax had taken somewhat of a toll on the surfaces which became apparent when it was removed. The collection was sold June 4, 2015 by Heritage Auctions.
Fettinger, John – (1920-1999) John was an avid collector and long time compiler of “The Score”; a census of early date collections.
Fewsmith, William – (1826-1900) Fewsmith was born in New Jersey and was a lawyer. He graduated from Yale in 1844. He was also a well-known Philadelphia numismatist. His fine collection of United States coins, which included 265 large cents, was sold by Ebenezer Mason on October 4, 1870. He is best known as the discoverer of the Sheldon 12, 1793 Liberty Cap.
Fitzgerald, Garry – (d. 2008) Noted for a long history as a collector and dealer of large cents. He is also known in the field of copper coins as “Mister 1824” for his interest in the large cents of that year.
Frankenfield, John Richard “JR” – (1932-2011) A Jamestown, NY native, Frankenfield became involved in the Florida construction business at an early age. After serving two years in the army his company helped to develop the Miami, Florida, area. He was the consummate collector and his pursuits included visiting all 3,142 counties in the USA and taking a photo of the county court building in each one. JR formed a virtually complete set of half and large cents [1793-1857] including the S-79. “JR”, as he was nicknamed, was the ninth person to ever assemble a complete set of the numbered Sheldon varieties. His entire collection was sold by Superior Galleries on February 17-20, 2001.
French, Dr. George P. – (1865-1932) A Rochester, NY native and obstetrician/gynecologist, French amassed an extensive collection of large cents which were disbursed through sales by US Coin Co. on December 5, 1917 (110 large cents) and the H. Chapman sale of December 19, 1927 (98 large cents). The remainder of his collection (830 large cents) was sold to B. Max Mehl in 1930 and disbursed via fixed price lists. Many of French’s large cents were purchased by T. James Clarke and Henry Sternberg. A Bluestone sale on February 17-18, 1933 contained 549 of his cents.
Fritz, Arthur C. – Fritz consigned coins to the 1954 ANA sale. His first sale, containing 110 large cents, was cataloged by Walter Breen and sold by Lester Merkin on October 19, 1966. Many were condition census pieces.
Frossard, Èdouard – (1838-1899) Frossard was born near Geneva, Switzerland. Following his education in France he came to America. During the Civil War he served with distinction, was cited for bravery, and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. Following the war service he became a language teacher in Irvington, New York, while at the same time dealing in coins, an interest which began in the year 1872. From that point on he became a collector and dealer who conducted more than 150 auction sales for himself, W. Elliot Woodward, Bangs & Co. and Sampson. During his career he offered collections belonging to George W. Merritt, Lyman H. Low, George Parsons, Captain Andrew Zabriskie, Joseph Hooper, Ferguson Haines, Frank Bowman, and Howard Newcomb, among others. In 1879 he authored Monograph of the United States Cents and Half Cents 1793-1857. In 1893 he, along with W. W. Hays, authored Varieties of United States Cents of the year 1794 which was reprinted by Thomas Elder in 1910. His collection of fifty-one 1794 cents was sold “en masse” for $420 to T. Harrison Garrett, in his auction of October 2, 1884.
Funk Jr., Charles E. – (1913-1993) Funk was born in New York and became EAC member no. 59. He compiled the annual index of EAC’s Penny Wise from 1967 to 1986. His collection of middle date cents was sold as part of the 1985 EAC sale. Funk was, at one time, the Connecticut State Librarian.
Fuoss, Dennis – (b. 1952) Dennis is a native of Paxton, Il, where he spent his formative years. Eventually his academic pursuits lead to a career in electrical engineering. He has resided in Southern California since 2002. He was introduced to numismatics around age 12 when he was given a Whitman Lincoln Cent folder and invited to search the family “penny jar” to fill the holes. As with many, coins took a back seat to academics until about 1986 when a co-worker and fellow engineer invited Dennis to join him on a lunchtime trip to a local coin shop. This visit began his journey through Lincoln and Indian Cents leading eventually to early copper. Dennis purchased his first, an 1804 cent, from Doug Bird in Portland, OR in 1990. He joined EAC in 1992 and attended his first convention in 2001 in Fredericksburg, MD. Dennis is a regional representative for the grading service ANACS. In 2021, after 31 years, he completed his goal of assembling a complete set of Sheldon varieties for the year 1796 (minus the NC varieties).
Furjanic, Jr.. Charles M. “Chuck” – (b.1943) A coin dealer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Furjanic specialized in early copper issues for many years. He currently operates out of Irving, Texas and also handles golf collectibles. Furjanic is known to large cent collectors for his discovery of the 1794 NC-9 cent.
Furst, William S. – (1868-1933) A Philadelphia resident and a lawyer. Furst was a collector whose coins were sold through the J. C. Morganthau & Co. Sale #322 on January 12-13, 1934. Included in the sale was a “MS Hays 31” (S-36) which went to George Clapp for $141. The coin did not belong to Furst but was consigned by Spink & Son, Ltd (London). Clapp donated the coin to the ANS museum. I was “borrowed” for a few years by Dr. William H. Sheldon but was returned in 2001 and now resides, once again, in the ANS collection.
Gable, Esq., William F. – (1856-1921) Proprietor of a large department store and resident of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Gable formed his collection between 1890 and 1901. His collection was sold by S. H. Chapman on May 27-29, 1914 and two of the catalog plates were dedicated to cents and a few half cents.
Gander, Butler M. “Bim” – (b.1950) Coin collecting since a tender age, Bim accumulated a considerable hoard of pocket change by peddling the Norwalk (Connecticut) Hour to unsuspecting neighbors. In 1975 he refined his collecting interests by joining EAC and eventually specializing in 1794 large cents. He completed the 58 collectable variety set of 1794s in 2002, and now focuses on upgrading and adding die states as opportunities arise. He recently moved from southern California to Terrebonne, OR, and now spends a considerable portion of the winter months tying flies so that he can harass the local trout population with a fly rod during the relative brief periods of warmer weather. He also enjoys competitive tennis and occasionally challenging some of his EAC associates on a golf course.
Gardner, Eugene H. – (b.1936) In 1968, :Gene” founded the investment advisory firm of Gardner & Russo in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He began his first collection in 1954 while a college student. His first collection was sold in 1965. His subsequent collection was widely considered to be among the finest ever assembled of silver coinage. The entire collection is to be sold by Heritage Auctions through four sales in 2014 and 2015. The large cents from his collection were sold in the sale of October 27, 2014. Gardner was a collector who appreciated the finest available coins.
Gardner, John Smith – (17??-18??) There is very little information available concerning Gardner, either from his early life before the Mint or his later life after leaving it. He was an acting Assistant Engraver starting in November of 1794, however he was never fully commissioned. Just how much engraving of the coinage dies was done by Gardner and what was done by Scot is up for debate, however it has been postulated by others that Scot did as little as possible due to his lack of die engraving ability or desires. From the beginning Gardner was paid various amounts per day from as low as $1.62 to $2.62 a day for his work as Assistant Engraver. He wrote to Director DeSaussure on August 11, 1795 asking for a raise in pay to $3.00 per day. It was not until Elias Boudinot became Mint Director that this raise was granted. Gardner resigned from the Mint on March 31, 1796. He was later rehired for a short time on July 1st but resigned again on August 26, 1796. He is credited with the engraving of 1794 varieties S-67 to S-72.
Garrabrant, Walter W. – (1866-1944) Garrabrant was superintendent of street maintenance in Newark, New Jersey and a specialist in New Jersey Coppers. Most of his collection, containing 330 large cents, was sold at auction by Stack’s on November 19, 1949.
Garrett, John Work – (1872-1942) A son of T. Harrison Garrett. In 1919 he acquired, from his brother Robert, one of the most outstanding collections of United States coins ever assembled. The collection was formed by their father, T. Harrison Garrett, during the two decades preceding his death as a result of a boating accident in 1888. The collection was added to by his brother Robert. In 1923 he was co-purchaser, with Wayte Raymond, of the Col. James Ellsworth Collection. In 1942 he bequeathed the entire collection to Johns Hopkins University. The collection was sold partially by Stacks in 1976 and by Bowers and Ruddy Galleries in four sales between 1979 and 1981.
Garrett, Robert – (1875-1971) A son of T. Harrison Garrett, Robert became heir to his father’s coin collection. In 1904, Robert Garrett transferred the collection, on loan as an exhibit to Princeton University where it remained until 1919 when he traded the coins to his brother John Work Garrett in exchange for art objects. In 1896, Robert participated in the inaugural Olympic Games in Athens and won the silver medal in the discus. At the time there was no gold medal awarded; silver was the highest award.
Garrett, T. Harrison – (1849-1888) A member of the family which controlled the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, T. Harrison Garrett began his collecting in 1865 while a student at Princeton University. By 1885 he had a world-class collection. His numismatic interests extended not only to American issues but also to ancient and world coins as well. He died on June 7, 1888 when the family yacht collided with a steamboat.
Gaskill, Judge Thomas L. – (1875-1959) Gaskill was a Camden, New Jersey District Court Judge. The New Netherlands Coin Co. sold his entire collection to Dorothy Paschal in 1956. So valuable were the cents that Paschal was rumored to have paid for them with a diamond tiara. The pieces later appeared in the 50th and 51st sales held by New Netherlands; the former sale, which also included selections from F.C.C. Boyd, is noted for its wide selection of Condition Census -worthy examples.
Gebhardt, Michael – A Chicago resident; Mike began collecting at age 6 when his father, a banker, would bring home rolls of pennies to help fill his Whitman Indian and Lincoln cent holders. By age 10 years he had put the collection away only to “rediscover” it later, at age 40. His first large cent was a low grade 1845 purchased for $4. That led to a date collection of Late, Middle, and finally Early Dates. Mike collects Sheldon and Newcomb varieties and (as of 9/4/2014) has 302 of the 355 Early Date varieties, 244 of the 247 Middle Dates, and 367 of the 386 Late Dates for a total of 913 of 988 varieties. Mike refers to his holdings as a “poor man’s collection” but maintains that he enjoys coins that have been used, and even sometimes abused, over those that are perfect.
Gehring, Esq., Lewis C. – (1853-1921) A New Jersey native who resided in Brooklyn, New York, and was in the feed and grain business. Gehring had a collection in excess of 1,600 coins including many choice large and half cents. His collection was sold at auction by Thomas Elder in New York on August 26-27, 1921.
Geiss, Frederic W. – (1892-1961) A Chicagoan, Geiss’ collection was sold by B. Max Mehl through a mail bid auction on February 18, 1947. The collection contained 266 individual lots and 3 multiple lots of large cents.
Gelman, Robert – Bob began collecting early dates large cents in the 1960s. Often confused with Bob Grellman; he is a 30-year EAC member.
Gerrie Jr., Paul H. – (b. 1944) Paul, an engineer by training, spent most of his adult life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he owned the consulting business, Questa Petroleum. Business travels resulted in his developing a strong interest in wine. In 1991, Paul decided to pursue his dream of owning a winery and, in 1992, purchased a vineyard in the McMinnville, Oregon area. Paul began collecting Lincoln Cents at the age of ten. Over time he bought and sold several sets, which helped finance his education, before settling upon his ultimate collection. Gerrie acquired a superb grouping of 83 early date cents, including many 1794s, with a focus on high quality. His collection of 83 Sheldon varieties, including forty-three 1794s, was sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on February 3, 2013.
Gerson, Myles Zachary – (1925-1986) In March 1944 , he enlisted in the Army and served for the remainder of World War II; at that time he was a resident of Queens, New York. Later he was a Chicago businessman and was listed in several editions of Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who in the Midwest, and Who’s Who in the World. Gerson was a collector of 1794 cents. His collection, rich in choice early and middle date cents, was sold privately.
Gies, August Charles – (1855-1944) Gies was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania jeweler. His collection, containing 831 large cents, was offered by Stack’s FPL in January 1942.
Gilbert, Jr., Ebenezer – (1835-1922) Gilbert was a well known collector and expert in copper coinage. In 1909, he and Thomas Elder co-authored Varieties of the United States Cents of 1796. In 1910 he contributed to the Elder revision of the Frossard-Hays text on 1794 large cents which used 53 coins from his collection to illustrate the work. His collection of 290 large cents (including 55 varieties of 1794) was sold at auction by Thomas Elder on October 12, 1910. An original plated Gilbert sale catalog is one of the great rarities of the labyrinthine Elder series. The plates pressed into service for this special edition were the same ones present in the work on 1794 cents published by Elder that same year and are of exceptional quality.
Gillette, George Albert – (b. 1862) Born in Milford, New York, he was the son of a preacher. After graduating from The Rochester Free Academy in 1878, he attended the University of Rochester, from which he graduated in 1883. After graduation he went to California and taught in the Pacific Methodist College and also in Dr. Finley’s College in Santa Rosa. He studied law in the office of his uncle, A. B. Ware of Santa Rosa was admitted to the bar in 1884. In 1887, he returned to Rochester where he soon opened a law practice. Gillette sold his collection of 480 large cents through the Chapman sale of December 19, 1927. A second collection, with 255 large cent lots, was sold through Morganthau on June 9, 1937.
Goldman, Kenneth M. – (b. 1953) Both a coin collector (since 1961) and a coin dealer (since 1968). Ken was born in Massachusetts. He began with type coins which he continues to pursue along with pioneer gold, colonials and pattern coins. His other interests are collecting music boxes and automatic musical instruments.
Goodman, Kenneth – Goodman was born and raised in a lower-middle class section of the East Bronx, New York. At around age seven, he would carry groceries up to the fifth floor flat of an elderly woman, Mrs. Schnabel. She rewarded him by giving a bunch of coins; one of these was a well-worn 1812 cent. He became enamored by the coins size and its intricate and beautiful design. This planted the seed of his future collecting ambitions. Ken enjoyed the beauty of copper as well as the design and uniqueness of each of the pieces, which he viewed as miniature works of art. After graduation from Queens College in New York, Goodman began a forty-year career in the motion picture industry. He moved to Los Angeles and worked in he marketing department of several studios. His collection was sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on January 26, 2014.
Gordon, Jr., C. F. – An early EAC member [no. 21] who was an avid cent collector and at one time owned all Sheldon varieties except S-15, S-18a, S-37, S-48, S-79, S-80 and S-217. He disposed of many of his cents at EAC in 1979 and through various “Swaps and Sales” in Penny Wise.
Granberg, Henry O. – (1860-1947) A native of Norway and one time president of the American Numismatic Association, Granberg lived in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He formed a fine collection containing choice early date large cents and other coins, including an 1804 silver dollar. Much of his collection was sold separately to William Woodin, Wayte Raymond and others. Granberg is listed as consigner to the United States Coin Company auction of May 19-21, 1915.
Gratz, Simon (1838-1925) – A 19th century collector who purchased the 1793 “Ring”, “Wreath” and “Liberty Cap” cents from the Edward Cogan sale of November 1, 1858. He also purchased 10 other of the cents from that sale.
Green, Col. Edward Howland Robinson – (1868-1936) Green was the son of Hetty Green the “Witch of Wall Street.” He was born in London, England while his parents were on a European tour. He died at Lake Placid, New York. Hetty, was, by all accounts, quite miserly and refused to hire a doctor to treat Edward when he injured his leg; an action that caused the eventual loss of the leg. He graduated from Fordham College in 1888 and was admitted to the bar. Green was active in politics for the Republican Party and chaired the Texas Republican State Committee. He was on the board of directors for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, served as a director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and was president of the Texas Midland Railroad. After his death, his coin collection which was valued at $5 million and included all 5 of the 1913 Liberty Head nickels, was acquired mainly by Eric P. Newman. His stamp collection was valued at $3.5 million.
Grellman Jr., John R. “Bob” – (b. 1945) A retired US Air Force officer. Bob is a coin collector, copper variety analyst, grading specialist, and writer. Grellman specializes in the late-date large cents (1840-1857). In 1986, Grellman co-authored, along with Julius “Jules” Reiver, the Attribution Guide for United States Large Cents 1840-1857. Grellman is active in the coin auction business and, working with Chris Victor-McCawley, prepares the EAC annual sales catalog.
Gresser, Jeffrey D. – (b. 1948) A native of New York but lifetime Las Vegas resident, Gresser began collecting Lincoln cents in 1959. In 1986 he joined EAC and attended the Robinson Brown, Jr. sale where he purchased his first large cent; an 1817 N-16. He became obsessed with the date and formed a complete, high-grade set of 1817s. Gresser is an avid numismatist with an extensive research library of research books and coin sales catalogs. His middle and late date cents were sold by American Numismatic Rarities on August 15, 2004. In 2008 he retired from his lifelong job as chief of valet for a major Las Vegas hotel to fulfill his longtime ambition of working in the coin business.
Griffee, John M. – (1924-2007) A native of Ames, Iowa and later of Ocala, Florida, Griffee specialized in St. Patrick and New Jersey coppers. His collection was sold by McCawley-Grellman on 10/21/1995 in association with the first C-4 convention.
Gschwend, Peter – (1846-1928) When Gschwend’s collection was sold he was regarded as “one of the few remaining numismatists of the days when such men as Messrs Mickley, Newlin, Cogan, Woodard, Bushnell, Hazeltine and Levick held their sway in the realm of coin collecting.” Originally from Pennsylvania, Gschwend moved to New York City and engaged in the dry goods business on Fifth Avenue. Elder considered this sale as “the finest and most important that has been held in this city since the Parmelee sale in 1890.” His collection featured “First rate copper” [169 lots of large cents & 37 lots of half cents] and was sold by Thomas L. Elder on June 15-16, 1908. At that time Gschwend had moved back to Pittsburg with his wife.
Guy, W. B. – The Guy Collection was sold at auction by H. Chapman in November, 1911. The large cents, while not generally of high condition, contained many extremely rare varieties including CC3 of S-33, CC1 of S-34 and CC3 of S-36/.
Haines, Ferguson – (1840-c.1925) A resident of Biddeford, Maine, Haines was in the cotton batting manufacturing business. In the 1900 U.S. Census, he listed his occupation as “Capitalist”. Haines was a principal buyer at the George W. Merritt auction of January 3, 1879. Some Haines’ coins were included in the S. K. Harzfield sale of April 9, 1880. His collection was auctioned by W. E. Woodward on October 13-16, 1880 and contained 220 large cents. He also consigned 200 large cents to the Chapman Brothers sale of October 17-18, 1888 as well as some to the Ed. Frossard Sale of December 10-20, 1894.
Hain, Andrew M. – (b. 1948) A collector from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania who assembled the finest collection of Massachusetts silver. He and his brother John first developed an interest in coins when, in 1955, they experienced the opening of floor safe recovered from their maternal grandfathers domicile. In it they found hundreds of Flying Eagle, Indian Head Cents and, of course, Large Cents. Andrew eventually adopted the belief that “common will always be common, although it can be inflated, but eventually under-appreciated qualities such as rarity and beauty and character will always be recognized for their basic importance.” His collection was sold by Stack’s in 1/2001. He has owned, over the years, some fine large cents which were auctioned the same month. An ANS member and Coinage in the Americas contributor
Hall, Dr. Thomas – (1841-1909) A Boston physician, Hall was partial to United States colonial issues and large cents. He assembled what was possibly, at that time, the finest collection of 1793 and 1794 cents in existence. Hall also had a deep interest in Connecticut copper issues and published a monograph on them in 1892. He also had an interest in New Jersey coppers. His collection was sold intact to Virgil Brand on September 7, 1909.
Halpern, Herman – (1923-2011) Halpern was the owner of an Irish pub in New York City. He purchased the Norm Stack collection of 1794 cents, the Harold Bareford collection of cents, many of Del Bland’s 1794s and many of the C. Doug Smith middle dates. His duplicates were sold at auction by Stack’s on March 17-18, 1987. “The Magnificent Herman Halpern Collection” was sold at auction by Stack’s on March 16-17, 1988 and featured many condition census cents. Halpern often bought coins he couldn’t afford then would have to borrow money to pay for them. This would drive his wife, Dora, “crazy” but he usually the right decisions when choosing his coins.
Hannigan, Greg – (b. 1964) A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Greg has been a coin collector since the 1970s. He resided in Maryland and Virginia but returned to Massachusetts as a teenager. Greg joined the U.S. Marines, straight out of high school, where he was assigned to a multi-national peace keeping force in Beirut, Lebanon in 1982. In 1985, after leaving the Marines, he settled in California where he spent 25+ years in the lighting manufacturing industry. His job took him eventually to Florida where he settled in the West Palm Beach area. Greg became a full-time dealer in 2005 specializing in Large cents, Half cents, as well as some Medals and Tokens. Greg assembled the entire Adam Mervis collection and holds the distinction of having bought and sold the first cent, the Dan Holmes S-79, to ever sell for over 1 million dollars ($1,265,000) along with the two Strawberry Leaf cents from the Holmes sale for a client.
Harrison, Charles E. – (1939-2009) An attorney who practiced in Chicago, Harrison joined EAC in 1972.
Herzog, Richard – (b.1947) Proprietor of World Exonumia – AAA Historical Americana. Lives in Rockford IL and full time exonumia dealer since 1972. Issued 11 major exonumia catalogs, including the Brunk collection of counterstamped Coins. Published several exonumia books, including 3 by Greg Brunk on counterstamps. Former EAC member, life member ANA, TAMS, CWTS, CSNS, IL-NA, and served on the Board of CSNS, TAMS, CWTS, etc.
Harzfeld, S. K. – (1848-1883) Born on December 30, 1848 in Kassel, Hesse, Germany, Siegmund Kohn Harzfeld immigrated to the United States in 1876. He entered the coin auction business at the same time and in the same city as the Chapman brothers (Philadelphia). He conducted sixteen sales between 1877 and 1881 working out of 1713 Park Avenue. Suffering from frail health, he returned to Germany. He died on December 18, 1883 in Weisbaden, Hesse, Germany.
Haseltine, John W. – (1838-1925) Born in Philadelphia, Haseltine became a Captain in the Union Army during the Civil War and saw action in numerous battles including Bull Run and Gettysburg. He was wounded near Richmond, Virginia in August 1864, ending his military service. He became a coin dealer and auctioneer as well as a coin collector and stock broker. Haseltine’s 1794 cents were sold in his sale on March 16-18, 1881. Others of his large cents were sold in another of his sales on November 28-30, 1881.
Hays, William Wallace – (1821-1899) Hays was one of the premier large cent collectors. In 1893, Hays collaborated with Èdouard Frossard on the monograph Varieties of the United States Cents of the Year 1794. This work was reprinted by Gilbert-Elder in 1910. Hays’ variety numbers for 1794 cents remained the standard until replaced by the Sheldon system in 1949. Hays practiced law in Washington, D.C. as did his good friend, and fellow collector, Henry Phelps. Charles Steigerwalt bought the collections of both men in 1900, combined the best coins from each, and sold the superb resulting set to Charles Zug. Zug subsequently sold the “Hays-Phelps” collection of 1794 cents at a public auction conducted by Lyman Low on March 7, 1907. Hays marked the edges of his 1794 cents with Maris’ numbers in white ink c.1893.
Heck, Charles F. “Chuck” (b.1948) A Brooklyn, New York native and a certified public accountant. Heck began collecting Indian Head cents in 1956, at age 8, when his father passed his collection on to him. He developed an interest in large cents and joined EAC in 1975. In 1998 he began to channel all of his attention to 1794 large cents by die variety, die state and pedigree. At the EAC Convention in 2001, Heck joined with Dan Trollan, Bim Gander and Jon Warshawsky to create the Boys of 94, a group dedicated to the love of 1794 large cents. His 20 year dedication to studying the die states of 1794 led to the publication in 2022 of the book Die States of 1794 Large Cents which won the 2023 EAC Book Award. Heck is one of the few collectors to assemble a complete set of all 58 collectible 1794 varieties. His collection of 102 1794s was sold, by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers, on February 12, 2017. In 2023, the American Numismatic Association awarded Chuck the Adna G. Wilde Memorial Award for exemplary service!
Helfenstein, Louis – (1906-1978) An attorney for the Consolidated Mutual Insurance Company of New York, Helfenstein was introduced to large cents by C. Doug Smith. His collection of 332 (319 were uncirculated) lots was sold by Lester Merkin on August 14, 1964. The collection was noted for its high quality. A limited edition (100 copies) poster derived from the catalog cover is a highly prized addition to the offices of many large cent enthusiasts.
Henderson, Ernest (1897-1967) A partner with Robert Moore in the Sheraton Hotel chain. Purchased Sheldon duplicates. Produced one FPL and consigned the remaining unsold coins in the 1947 ANA auction.
Henry, Red – A bluegrass musician and long-time coin collector, Red discovered large cents in 1991 and began an early and middle date collection. His early-date rarity studies and other areas of interest have led him to publish many articles in EAC’s Penny Wise. In 1998, Red founded the Early Date Report, a database listing of the holdings of more than 150 early date cent collectors.
Hettger, Henry T. (b.1945) – A Native of New York City, Henry lived in Manhattan then an assortment of locations: Queens, Astoria, Forest Hills, Rockville Centre, Lodi, New Jersey, Oceanside, New York until 1972 before settling in Arlington, Virginia. Henry has worked various governmental positions including a stint with President Carter’s Affirmative Action Project. He retired in 1978 and worked in the coin department of Woodward and Lothrup in Washington, D.C.. He has dealt part-time in coins since 1986 and been a numismatic writer since 1987, writing over 100 articles since then.
Hills, Jonas Coolidge – (1851-1913) He was born in Connecticut on October 18, 1851 and died at Hartford, Connecticut on November 8, 1913. He was the son of Emily Hills, nee Coolidge. His great-grandfather, Jonas Coolidge, served as a private in the Massachusetts Militia during the Revolutionary War. Hills married Elsie Sessions about 1895. There is no record of children. In 1870, he worked as a hardware clerk. That census reports his mother owning real estate valued at $90,000, with an additional $60,000 personal estate. Hills was a collector of rare ability and judgment. He collected war medals & relics, postage and revenue stamps, and coins. Upon his death, Hills bequeathed his war medals & relics to the Wadsworth Atheneum of Hartford, his postage and revenue stamps to his nephew William Ellery Hills, and his coins to nephew William Ellery Hills and niece Gertrude W. Thompson. Hills was listed under the Coins & Stamps heading in early 20th century Hartford city directories. His collection was sold by Lyman Low sale #24, 12/1923.
Hines, Henry Clay – (1856-1946) Hines was a native of Newark, New Jersey. He studied law at Columbia University in New York City and was admitted to the bar in 1883. He practiced as a lawyer for some time but gave it up to become a manufacturer of mens clothing. He was somewhat politically active and, though small in stature, was a giant in honest politics…so much so that it is said he committed virtual political suicide. Hines achieved great success as one of the outstanding authorities on large cents. Both Clapp and Newcomb drew heavily upon his knowledge in preparing their respective books. Hines was a man of cultured taste who desired the best of everything, especially of his coins. Hines suffered a severe financial reversal as a result of the 1929 stock market crash. Despite living in reduced circumstances the latter part of his life, until his death, Hines managed to find $2,500 to purchase the finest known 1799. At the time it was the highest price ever paid for a large cent. Hines’ complete collection was purchased by William H. Sheldon and Homer K. Downing.
Hipps Sr., C. Edward – (1930-2016) A native of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. After high school Ed worked for Bell Telephone Company. At age 6, Ed developed a coin passion which led to his becoming a dealer; opening a shop in 1955 in the Trenton, New Jersey, farmer’s market. In 1958, he opened a coin shop across the Delaware River, in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He was a contributor to the 1982 Blue Book amongst other books in which he had a role. In 1980 he relocated to Texas where he formed Ed Hipps Rare Coins & Stamps. He likes early coins, especially copper. Hipps’ other interests include a collection of Arabian horses. In 2011, oil was discovered on his 90+ acre Texas ranch.
Hodge, Stuart “Stu” – (1943-2003) A native of Buffalo, New York, Stu became interested in large cents in 1977 through Ed Jasper. A longtime and active member of EAC Stu served as president from 1987 to 1990 and was instrumental in implementing organizational procedures which help insure the success of the annual convention. His large cent collection was sold in the 2004 EAC convention sale.
Holden, Albert Fairchild – (1866-1913) Holden began the famous Norweb Collection, and Emery May Holden, who became Mrs. Raymond Henry Norweb. Sr. in 1917, continued it. Her grandfather was Liberty Emery Holden (1833-1913) , founder of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. At the time she married Norweb, Emery May drove an ambulance and worked in French hospitals during World War I. Their first son, Raymond Henry Norweb, Jr., an active collector, was born in Paris during the middle of an air raid. The family formed a magnificent cabinet, mostly dispersed through a series of three Bowers and Merena sales in 1987 and 1988. The family donated a Brasher doubloon to the ANS in 1969 and a 1913 Liberty nickel to the Smithsonian Institution in 1978.
Holmes, Daniel W., Jr. – (1938-2016) A Cleveland, Ohio native was EAC member # 340 and CEO of Morrison Products, an electric fan manufacturer. He earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University and went on to earn an MBA there. Later he studied management at the Harvard Business School. Holmes began collecting in 1948, at age 10, by filling holes in Whitman penny boards as so many did. Between 1973 and around 2002, Dan assembled the most complete set of Large Cents ever formed. He purchased his first large cent, a VG7 S-167 for $23, from Willard Blaisdell at 1974 EAC Convention in New York City. His interests expanded to the entire large cent series as the years passed and his passion grew.
The key to the EARLY DATE series (1794 to 1814) is the 1795 S-79 and it is frequently the last variety to be acquired. EAC members can often predict who was next in line to buy that variety and complete their series: in 1986, it was Jack Robinson, in 1989 it was G. Lee Kuntz and in 1991 it was J. R. Frankenfield. Holmes could have jumped the line but he watched as these collections were completed. In 1993 he acquired the S-79 that had passed through the collections of Dr. Sheldon and “Ted” Naftzger
By 1986 Dan had completed a collection of the varieties of MIDDLE DATE cents (1816 to 1839). Previous “complete” collections were gathered by Frank D. Andrews with 205 varieties in 1883 and by Floyd T. Starr with 243 varieties. Three new discoveries brought the Holmes set up to 246 pieces.
The Holmes LATE DATE cents (1840 to 1857) included 384 of the 385 known varieties assembled by 2002. The one missing variety was a unique piece in a collection in Rochester, Minnesota
In 2005, Holmes was elected to the presidency of EAC, the first of two terms. He chose to resign in April 2009 due to failing health, brought about by his battle with ALS. He made a decision to sell the entire collection which featured every collectible and non-collectible variety except for the unique 1793 NC-5 which resided with the American Numismatic Society collection and was loaned to Holmes in order to be able to exhibit a “complete” set at the EAC convention of 2009. Among the highlights in this record-breaking large cent sale was the finest known S-79 which sold for $1,265,000 and became the first-ever large cent to exceed the $1,000,000 mark. Other highlights were the finest known 1799 [S-189] which brought $977,500 and the finest known 1804 [S-266c] at $661,250. Also extraordinary in their joint appearance were both varieties of the 1793 “Strawberry Leaf” cents. Dan also owned Dr. Sheldon’s “color set” that he showed off at EAC conventions. He would tell about meeting Sheldon in 1976 and acquiring the color set shortly afterward. It was housed in a black leather tray with six columns and eleven rows holding 66 pill boxes. The 60 large cents and six Colonials came in as many colors as there were slots in the tray. There were shades of brown ranging from light tan to charcoal gray. These browns could be mixed with shades of red. In the other direction were browns mixed with various shades of green. Dan paid $3,200 for the set on March 29, 1976. The set remained intact and was sold at auction on September 6, 2009, for $37,950.
In all, the entire Holmes collection consisted of *2,151 large cents and grossed a total of $17,763,114.00. Each sale had, as its final lot, a hardbound auction catalog.
*(Early date lot no. 571 comprised the 66 piece Sheldon “color set”)
The Holmes Collection was auctioned, by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers, over a period of 16 months as follows:
Session I – The Early Dates [1793-1814] 572 lots grossing $15,162,560.00 (Sep. 6, 2009)
Session II – The Middle Dates [1816-1840] 564 lots grossing $$1,150,990.40 (May 30, 2010)
Session III – Error Coins and Ephemera 266 lots grossing $356,535.00 (Sep. 19, 2010)
Session IV – The Late Dates [1840-1857] 689 lots grossing $1,093,029.00 (Jan. 30, 2011)
Individual prices paid [hammer plus 10% buyer’s fee] for the 2,151 coins varied between $28.75 and $1,265,000.00 for an average price per large cent of $8,258.
In the 2009 catalog for the sale of his early date cents, Dan told an amusing tale of his summer in 1960. He worked as a guide for the “Three-Corner-Round Pack Outfit” in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. At the end of the summer he hitchhiked around the west and headed home. He was wearing clothes made from elk hide and had a full beard with curly hair. He carried a re-curved bow, a quiver of arrows and had a bowie knife on his belt. He linked up with a group of hobos:
“Thus I began a new career as a hobo. Since I was headed for Cleveland, the advice I received was to wait for a train that would be headed for Kansas City or Chicago. In the meantime we just hung out under the loading dock and watched the trains. Eventually one came along and parked near us. It included a tank car that was leaking. We were nervous that the leak might be dangerous so one of the hobos volunteered to check it out. He came back with a coke bottle full of a dark red liquid and reported that he had struck gold – it was a wine car! We all grabbed our bottles and headed for a fill-up!!!”
The annual EAC auctions included serious offerings of some great copper coins. For comic relief the auctioneer would put up a six-pack of some local beer with the proceeds to benefit the club. Dan was a frequent winner of these beer lots. As winner of the lot, he would present the first bottle to the under bidder. On one occasion when he could not attend the sale, he won the beer lot with a mail bid.
Dan died on January 5, 2016.
Holmes, Milton Ashton – (1891-1960) Holmes was a native of New York and later resided in Jersey City, New Jersey. He had a copper collection which included many fine 1794s. His 336 large cent lots were cataloged by C. Doug Smith and sold by Stack’s in October 5-8, 1960 in New York. He also had a stamp collection considered one of the finest U.S. collections in existence. His stamps were sold at auction in 1960 and realized in excess of $71,000. He died prior to the sales of his collections.
Hoober, Richard T. – (1912 -1990) Graduate of Temple University and President of the Philadelphia Coin Club. He authored many articles on paper money published in The Numismatist.
Hooper, Joseph – (1833-1919) Hooper was one of the founders of the American Numismatic Association and became its president. He also served as editor of The Numismatist. His collection, valued at over $15,000, was primarily sold at auction by Èdouard Frossard in 1912.
Hoskins, John R. (b.1969) A military brat with roots in many locations. John was born in Japan and eventually settled in Colorado after both of his parents retired from the U.S.N. He attended Cal Tech and has remained in the development sector of the pharmaceutical/biotech industry since graduation, currently providing consulting services within the industry. He collected many things as a child, including stamps, bottle caps, baseball cards, and comic books, but mostly coins, in particular Lincoln cents pulled from circulation. He shelved collecting during high school, returning to it in his 40’s when finances and time allowed. John credits meeting Chris Victor-McCawley at the 2017 Denver ANA convention for sparking his interest in large cents. His interests focus on early date large cents by variety, particularly 1794s, along with two and three pence Massachusetts silver, and the Vermont and Machin Mills series. Provenance is extremely important, reflected in his extensive numismatic library.
Husak, Walter J. (1942-2022) – Formerly of Burbank, California, Husak was the founder and owner of an aerospace hydraulic fittings manufacturing company. He began collecting Buffalo Nickels and Lincoln Cents in 1954 at age 12. In 1962 he liquidated his collection to buy a 1957 Triumph sports car that he sold 9 months later to buy a 1954 Cadillac convertible that he drove for the rest of his life. During the 1980s he became an avid runner and completed four Los Angeles marathons. His interest in coins was eventually rekindled and in 1980 he purchased his first large cent, an 1804 S-266b. He assembled an extraordinary set of Sheldon varieties, purchasing many from the Dr. Allen Bennett and R. E. Naftzger, Jr. collections as well as at auctions throughout the country. Husak’s collection included the fabled “Abbey” cent of 1799. His entire collection of 301 choice cents was auctioned by Heritage Galleries on February 15, 2008. The gross sales amounted to $10.7 million and was, in the opinion of most, the greatest large cent sale up to that time. After the sale, he immediately began forming another collection of the 58 varieties of 1794. Ironically, Walter passed a week after acquiring CC-1 of the S-19b which had formerly belonged to Larry Bland. That left his second collection of 1794s lacking only the elusive S-18a; a collection which featured 23 CC-1s and 4 finest known available to collectors. His death on December 15, 2022 occurred exactly 14 years to the day, December 15, 2008, of his establishment of the Liberty Cap Foundation, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to promoting and encouraging our numismatic and cultural heritage.
Husak, Walter “Wally” L. (b.1960) – Wally is the son of Walter J. Husak and a resident of Southern California. He is in the landscaping business and began collecting, in the footsteps of his father, 1794 cents in 2014 to “have something to pass along to his children.”
Hussey, George B. – Assumedly a North Carolinian, it is known that Hussey had an extensive collection which was sold through New Netherlands Coin Co. #54 on April 22,1960 and listed as the “North Carolina Collection of Choice Large Cents.” The catalog noted that the consignor was active in the large cent field from about 1906 to 1940. Two decades earlier, J.C. Morgenthau offered “Rare Roman Coins, the Collection of Mr. Geo. B. Hussey” in their March 14, 1940 sale. Further investigation into his identity is pending.
Iatesta, Michael A. – (b. 1950) Mike grew up in Philadelphia, but spent most of his life in Colorado where he worked as a Project Manager for Lockheed Martin and also as an ordained minister. He first became fascinated by early coppers while in elementary school, when a teacher gave him a large cent each day that he attended a summer Daily Vacation Bible School. His early-date large cents, sold by Superior Galleries on September 19,2005; placed the highest significance on clean, smooth-surfaces and beautiful color with no porosity. Though most were of modest grade, quite a few were either the first or second finest surfaces for their respective die variety. After that sale, Mike focused on high-grade, late-date die varieties. As of mid-2019, he and Dan Holmes remain as the only two collectors to have acquired every late-date business-strike die variety (excepting the 1851 N-42, which is a unique piece that was discovered in 1986 and as of mid-2019 has never been sold). In addition, Mike assembled the finest-ever collection of the twenty-seven “delisted” late-date die varieties.
Ivey, R. Knox – (1927-1984) R. Knox Ivey, EAC member no. 502, a coin dealer, and copper aficionado, died September 24, 1984, at 2 A.M. of gunshot wounds he received during an apparent robbery attempt at his home. Ivey, who operated his business from his home, answered a knock on his door and found a black man who said he was lost and needed directions. According to the Norfolk Police detective investigating the case, the man pulled a pistol from his waistband while he was talking. Ivey slammed the door on the gunman, but the gunman fired through the door, striking Ivey in the abdomen. Ivey was rushed to the hospital and underwent immediate emergency surgery, but this failed to save his life. Ivey was a graduate of Wake Forest University at Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He retired from his job as a chemist in 1977 to become a full-time coin dealer. He traveled to shows throughout the eastern part of the United States, but was generally a fixture at shows in the Mid-Atlantic states. His main interests were early American and Russian copper coins.
Jackman, Allison W. – (1849-1917) A native of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, Jackman began collecting in the 1860s. His interest never waned. His collection, containing 226 large cents, was auctioned by Henry Chapman on June 28-29, 1918. The highlight of the sale was a Brasher Doubloon, which realized $3,900. Four of the sales catalog plates depicted the especially notable large cents, which were remarkable for their outstanding condition. Jackman was a highly cultured gentleman who devoted his life to study. His mother was equally appreciative of culture and lovely things. His collecting was a pleasure for both of them.
Jackson, Dr. J. Bruce – (1930-2023) A surgeon from New Philadelphia, Ohio. His collection was sold by Bowers & Merena in September, 1995.
Jackson, Malcolm N. – A resident of Boston, Jackson assembled a magnificent collection which included a “MS 1793 chain and a gem 1809”. His collection was sold by the United States Coin Co. on May 20-22, 1913 in New York. The deluxe sale catalog featured four 1793s on plate VI while plates VII and VIII contained large cents and plate IX featured half cents.
Jenkins, J. P. Hale – (1851-1921) A lawyer and involved in the early affairs of the American Numismatic Association. Jenkins collected colonial and United States issues. Collection sold by H. Chapman in July 1922.
Jenks, Abram Stockton – (1820-1895) Born in Burlington, New Jersey, Jenks grew up in Newtown, Pennsylvania. At age 17 he moved to Philadelphia where he eventually wound up in the insurance business. His collection along with that of William J. Jenks was sold by Edward Cogan on April 12-13, 1877.
Jenks, John Storey – (1839-1923) Began collecting in 1850 at age eleven He was a partner in the banking business. His collection containing 135 large cents was sold by H. Chapman on December 7, 1921. The catalog is considered to be the best ever produced by Chapman. The sale realized $61,379.46; a record for the time.
Jenks, William J. – An associate with the Edison General Electric Company, Jenks was an active buyer at auctions during the 1860s. Jenks’ collection, along with that of Abram S. Jenks, was sold by Edward Cogan on April 12-13, 1877.
Jensen, Don W. – (1929-2012) Don was from Rutland, Iowa. He served in the marines and was stationed in Guam. Jensen’s collection of fifty-three 1793 cents was sold by A&A Coins of Iowa City, Iowa in 1966.
Jester, William T. R. – From Philadelphia. His collection was sold at auction by Thomas L. Elder on December 12, 1914.
Jewett, Esq., Henry Lee – (1821-1897) A native of Granby, Connecticut , Jewett relocated to Georgia when he was just 13 years old, joining an older brother who preceded him to that state. Jewett was a prominent banker in Macon, Georgia. His collection, with choice large cents, was sold by S.H. Chapman on June 21-23, 1909. In the sale catalog Chapman wrote: “His long life work was marked by the highest standard of business integrity in mercantile, banking and railroad pursuits.” Jewett and his wife were the parents of eight children, four that died in infancy.
Johnson, Burdette G. – (1885-1947) Born in DeSoto, Missouri Johnson, was self-educated and is alleged to have read a book a day from the time he first learned to read. Johnson lived in St. Louis where he was proprietor of St. Louis Stamp and Coin Company. He and a partner, David Sutherland, bought the business from F. E. Ellis in July 1907. A year later, Johnson bought out his partner. From 1902 to 1915 the firm conducted 35 coin auctions. He handled some of the greatest collections ever assembled including at one time all five known specimens of the 1913 Liberty head nickel. Johnson was instrumental in the numismatic education of Eric P. Newman, refusing to sell any coin to him until the young Newman could recite a history of the coin. Newman, when asked to reflect upon his distinguished career said that “for three cents I could ride on a street car every couple of weeks to Burdette G. Johnson’s coin shop in downtown St. Louis to buy something. That man changed my entire life.” Coins “formerly the stock of Burdette G. Johnson of St. Louis, Missouri” were sold in a Spink America sale on June 3, 1997 and were ascribed to Mary Cruzan. Nothing is known of the connection between the two.
Joy, Fred – (1859-1924) A Harvard graduate, Joy practiced law in Boston. His collection, sold at auction by B. Max Mehl, included the Abbey 1799 and the finest known 1804 cent.
Judd, Dr. J. Hewitt – (1899-1986) A resident of Omaha, Nebraska, Judd was a professor at the University of Nebraska from 1930 to 1964 and accepted the position of chairman of the Ophthalmology Department in 1942. He is best known for his interest in pattern coins.
Kaselitz, Douglas C. – (1946-2015) A native of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Doug began collecting at an early age, financing his hobby with a newspaper route begun at age 12. As a youth, he gained much numismatic knowledge by visiting the Grosse Pointe shop “Coins and Stamps.” He spent a successful career in real estate and eventually purchased the “Coins and Stamps” shop he visited often as a young boy. His collection was sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries on July 17, 2015.
Kelly, James F. – (1907-1968) Kelly was born in Dayton, Ohio and was a professional numismatist who began his career in 1936 with Burdette Johnson in St. Louis, remaining there until 1946. Kelly conducted 50 auctions from 1940 to 1965 operating the last seven years as World Numismatiques. He was a founder of Coin World in 1959.
Kennedy, John P. – Kennedy was a resident of Los Angeles. His collection was purchased by B. Max Mehl in 1928 who described it as “the finest collection of large cents ever formed in the west”.
Kessler, Alan H. – Author of The Fugio Cents published in 1976. His collection was sold by NASCA on 4/28/1981.
Keyes, John A. – (1938 -2006) John joined EAC in January, 1990 and was member no. 3223. A man of many talents and hobbies but his love for early coppers was his passion. He loved talking about, buying, owning and showing his coppers to all who shared his enthusiasm. John died of a heart attack, while fishing in Canada.
King, Colin E. – King was a resident of New York City. His collection, with some choice large cents, was sold by the Chapman brothers on April 5-6, 1892.
King, Fred B. – A Rochester, New York resident. King’s collection, part of the H. Chapman sale of December 18, 1927, included 407 large cent lots.
Kissner, Robert J. (1908-1984) – A native of Connecticut, Kissner began collecting large cents in 1948 by focusing only on late dates. In 1952 he came upon 11 splendid 1794 cents which led to his shifting focus first to Liberty Caps, then Draped Busts and finally to Turban Heads. He sold his middle and late dates, through New Netherlands 44th sale, on June 24, 1954. He focused on what he called “C.S.S.” meaning COLOR, STRIKE & SURFACE. Apparently he preferred the early dates which were auctioned by Stack’s on June 27-28, 1975…there were 220 early dates in that sale.
Klein, George M. – (1844-1923) A banker and resident of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He served in the Confederate Army with Company G, Mississippi Co. G 1st Light Artillery Battery. He amassed a huge collection of a variety of coins. His father, John Alexander Klein, in 1869, built each of his adult children a house; George’s house burned in 1970 and all that remains today was originally a kitchen and servant’s quarters. In the “Vicksburg I” sale were included some large cents including an “MS 1793 chain”. The sale was conducted by W. Elliot Woodward on May 21-25, 1888.
Kline, Charles Robert – (1856-1906) Mr. Kline was a lawyer and resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He inherited a set of large cents that his father and grandfather had assembled after moving to Pennsylvania c. 1795. It is felt that these cents had all been collected from circulation. The collection passed on from father to son until finally being auctioned by Lyn Knight Currency Auctions on 6/12/2007.
Kline, John W. – (ca.1823-1892) The sale of the A.C. Kline collection (Adelia C. Kline was John’s wife – John consinged the collection using his wife’s initials A.C. Kline) on June 12, 1855 was the most significant numismatic auction in America before the Civil War. Conducted by M. Thomas and Sons of Philadelphia it’s 1,854 lots realized $2,062.80.
Kling, Lewis – Contributed coins to the Nofal-Kling sale by Cape Kennedy Medals on July 3, 1976.
Klosterboer, Robert A. – (1960 ) “Bob” is a Montana native but now a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, He graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. As a 36-year veteran of the Semiconductor industry, business travel offered him an opportunity to explore the world. During a field assignment in Michigan, in 1986, Bob had the good fortune to meet Bob Matthews who introduced him to Large Cents, die varieties, and the great people of EAC. Bob currently collects Large Cents from 1793 – 1857 by variety and die state is one of the few to ever assemble all 58 collectible varieties of the year 1794.
Knee, E. Larry – (b.1932) Larry was an accountant at Montfort of Colorado, a cattle feeding and meat packing company. He was an early member of EAC with member number 647. Larry collected large cents and half cents, specializing in the middle dates by variety. He thought that Mint engraver Robert Scot was a “cool guy”. Larry quit smoking in 1959 to be better able to afford collecting coins and traveled to San Francisco and Chicago EAC Conventions from Colorado by Amtrak. “Right hand has held S-48 and S-79. Eyes have seen Dr. Sheldon’s Color Set”. Once bought a copper from Dan Holmes for $ 5.00. Recommends that no member ever sell all of his coppers as you most likely will not be as lucky as Dr. Beckwith.
Koebert, John C. – (b.1948) John is a native of Washington, DC., currently living in Reston, Virginia and is a Staff Accountant for Marriott International. He began collecting coins at age eleven when his father showed him a “new” Lincoln cent with the memorial reverse. He began a collection from circulation, of all Lincoln cents, culminating with a purchase of the elusive 1909 S-VDB, for $150, in 1964. Over the ensuing years he went on to complete a type set, from colonial coins to the dollar. In 2002 as he recognized that his favorite coins were the coppers he joined EAC and began work on a date set of half cents and large cents, eventually focusing on the year 1794 large cents. John became a “Boy of ’94” in 2009 and proudly wears his cap to every coin show. He was awarded the American Numismatic Association’s Presidential Award in 2010. His collection of 1794s was sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on 9/13/2015.
Kollar, Allan J. – (b. 1947) A native Seattle, Washington, Kollar became interested in collecting in the mid 1950s searching through change from his newspaper route. He recalls finding a worn “V” nickel and a Standing Liberty quarter worth 30 cents at the time. During college he earned a degree in fine arts from Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Washington. His experience in this field led to an eventual career as a fine arts dealer. It was this career that actually enhanced his numismatic hobby by giving priority to aesthetics. In the may 2005 Superior catalog offering his collection Kollar comments: “I learned in selecting coins, as well as in choosing fine paintings, that one can study and look for years; however the real education begins when one buys the precious object.”
Koshkarian, Dr. Haig Aram – (b. 1938) A native of Waukegan, Illinois and, after completing both his education and a 2-year tour in the US Navy as a medical officer, became a practicing psychiatrist in La Jolla, California. He began collecting coins while in grammar school in the early 1950s, by filling holes in Whitman Lincoln penny folders. Koshkarian is a fastidious collector of the finest specimens and, while not specifically a large cent collector, has owned several high-grade specimens. His collection was sold by American Numismatic Rarities on March 9-10, 2004.
Kosoff, Abe – (1912-1983) Kosoff was born in New York City and a graduate of New York University. He started a coin business in 1937 and opened Numismatic Gallery in 1939. Kosoff conducted a number of auctions in partnership with Abner Kreisberg until 1954. Kosoff conducted additional sales under his own name, including several significant large cent sales such as T. James Clarke, Sloss and Schwartz. He was a founder of the Professional Numismatists Guild in 1954 and served as president from 1954 to 1955 and from 1965 to 1965. Kosoff was co-author of the Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States Coins and a columnist in Coin World and Numismatic Scrapbook.
Kraft, Gottlieb – (1856-1935) A resident, in 1930, of Shaler, Pennsylvania. Little is known of Kraft but that at least 2 of his 1794s found their way to the George H. Clapp donation to the American Numismatic Society.
Kuntz, G. Lee – (1926-2016) A resident of Claremont, California who served in the U. S. Navy during WWII and went on to enjoy a career in various engineering fields. Kuntz became interested in coin collecting as a teenager when a classmate brought a Lincoln Cent board to school for a “show and tell” program. In 1989, when Kuntz purchased the S-79 from the Jack Robinson sale for $63,800, he became the eighth person to have ever assembled a complete set of all Sheldon collectable varieties. His collection was auctioned by Superior Galleries on October 6-9, 1991. The S-79 sold for $115,500 to J. R. Frankenfield.
Lahrman, Lee G. – Lahrman’s collection, including 355 large cents, was sold by Abe Kosoff on February 1-2, 1963.
Lambert, Maj. Richard (1828-1915) – Born in Dublin, Ireland, he immigrated to America in 1845 and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lambert entered the United States Army in 1847 and served in the Mexican-American War through which the United States cemented possession of Texas and acquired “Alta California” (CA, NV, AZ, & UT). He resigned from the US Army and joined the Confederate Army in 1861 and served until 1865. Lambert acquired a fine collection which included large cents. He decided to sell at age 82, although he was still in fine health, feeling that his time “was running out and material affairs should be concluded.” His collection was sold at auction by S. H. Chapman on October 21-22, 1910.
Langseth, Jr., Paul – (b.1947) A native of Illinois and retired teacher currently residing and working at a coin shop in Arizona. Paul began collecting in 1960 when “buckets of pennies from the cities’ parking meters were searched.” He started, like most, with the blue Whitman folders. One day he found a 1916 Walking Liberty which did not look quite right so he returned it immediately to the bank only later to discover it had been a rare pattern piece. Early large cents were always on his mind and when able to would purchase one. Paul’s fondness was for the rarer and nicer surfaced coppers. He credits Darwin Palmer’s mentoring and help in obtaining some great coins and advice on the 1794 heads of 1793. One of his first purchases after joining EAC was an S-272 from Denis Loring. He was impressed when Loring sent the coin though he was a “stranger”. Paul concentrated on R5 and R6 early dates with emphasis on Liberty Caps and 1794 in particular. He felt that the “coins were great but that the friendships formed along the way were better.” Paul’s current collection consists of several 1848 small date cents.
Lapp, Dr. Warren A. – (1915-1993) An obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Lapp was charter member 33 of the EAC. He was creator and editor of Penny Wise from September 15, 1967 until March 15, 1986. He collected large cent oddities. In 1975 Lapp co-edited United States Large Cents 1793-1857 with Early American Coppers Club founder, Herb Silberman.
Lardner, Foster – (1873-1934) Lardner was the manager of a theater. Some of Lardner’s collection, including 144 large cents, was sold by United States Coin Co. on November 20, 1914. The collection included an MS 1793 wreath and a 1795 thick planchet. A second collection with 95 large cents was sold June 24, 1930 by B. Max Mehl.
Lassetter, Rory – (b.1977 ) A native and resident of Oregon, Rory served in the US Navy and, in his youth, lived 2 years in Northern Italy and 3 years in Spain. He attended Western Oregon University where he earned a bachelors degree in humanities and a graduate degree in education. Rory is currently in the teaching profession. He began collecting coins with his father at a young age and returned to to the hobby in his 30’s. His collection largely consists early date copper, with a particular focus on the year 1794. With the acquisition of the elusive S-53 in May, 2021, Rory completed his quest of acquiring all 58 of the collectible varieties of 1794.
Lauder, Loye L. – (1911-1964) Lauder had an important collection which was sold at auction by William Doyle Galleries on 12/15/1983. It was cataloged by C. Douglas Smith.
Lawrence, Dr. L. Michael – (b.1944)– A native of Iowa, Mike has now retired after 35 years of practice in emergency medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His wife, Deborah, also collects coins and early copper. In early childhood, he began a lifelong appreciation and quest for collecting coins. His grandfather gave him some half cents and large cents as a very young lad and these coins became sentimental favorites and seeds for a long journey and growth in copper. Memories of enjoyable evenings at the home of an elderly mentor kept the warmth of copper thoughts smoldering when Jim Cowden would bring out his old National coin albums, including one of large cents, and proudly show them to Mike. Three decades later and long after Jim had passed, Mike happened to cross paths with Jim’s nephew who by that time had only a few of Jim’s coins. But Mike was able to buy the very same 1793 Liberty Cap large cent that he had admired in the old album as a boy and now it is a splendid memento of his mentor Jim Cowden, even though the coin is an electro (Mike wonders if Jim knew that). Also, Mike found two 1909S-VDB large cents while looking through rolls of pennies one summer at the age of twelve. His loyal interest in large cents and half cents bloomed in the 1980’s when he joined EAC and determined to assemble his collections of half cents and early date large cents by variety, and it was at that time also that he began to develop friendships and relationships with some of the finest people he knows—-his EAC friends! Those relationships bring immeasurable pleasure and fulfillment to Mike and he feels blessed to have them. In May of 2010, after more than 25 years of collecting large cents by variety, Mike purchased the Knapp 1795 S-79. With this coin, Mike became the 16th “known” collector to assemble a complete collection of each of the 302 numbered Sheldon varieties of early date large cents.
Lee, Francis H. – (1837-?) Born in Massachusetts, Lee was the curator for the Essex Institute in Salem. In 1891, he was listed as an annual subscriber of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Lee, Dr. Wallace E. – (1929-2017) A native of Pontiac, Michigan, Lee practiced dentistry there for 35 years before retiring in 1994. He was a leading authority on obsolete paper money of the state of Michigan, writing a book on the subject. Lee’s numismatic adventure began in 1962. His interest in copper stemmed from buying groups of auction lots in an attempt to put together a date set. His collection was sold by Superior Galleries on May 25, 2003 sharing the catalog with a grouping of C. Doug Smith 1798s.
Leeds, Robert B. – (1828-1905) Leeds was a native of Absecon Island, New Jersey and served as a sailor c. 1850. He and his brother Charles acquired the land upon which Atlantic City, New Jersey sits. He was the first postmaster and treasurer of Atlantic City and, eventually, its first mayor. Leeds collection was sold by H. Chapman on November 27-28, 1906.
LeGras – Superlative examples of United States coinage were obtained by Èdouard Frossard from the LeGras Sale held in Paris, France in 1883. Many of these pieces were resold by Frossard in a U.S. auction of June 1883.
Levick, Joseph N. T. (c.1828-1908) Levick served as a captain during the Civil War. In 1866 he initiated the American Journal of Numismatics. In October 1868 he published a survey of 1793 cents. In April 1869 Levick and Sylvester Crosby composed an article describing the 1793 varieties and a plate depicting the various obverses and reverses. His coins were included in several auction sales and the Levick pedigree on a large cent is at once distinguished and elusive:
Cogan – December 19-20, 1859 (89 large cents)
Cogan – September 15-17, 1863 (130 large cents)
Woodward – May 26-29, 1864 (190 large cents)
Woodward – October 18-22, 1864 (130 large cents)
Woodward – December 16, 1885 (380 large cents)
Elder – October 14-15, 1907
Elder – February 26-27, 1908
Lewis, George W. – (b. 1863) A Burlington, New Jersey resident and a teacher. Lewis’ collection was sold by H. Chapman on June 8, 1916 and contained and the now-in-the-ANS example of the extremely rare reeded edge 1795 S-79.
Lightbody, Colin – (b. c.1809) A Brooklyn, New York resident, and a coppersmith/plumber. Lightbody’s collection, which included the famed 1799 Abbey cent, was sold by E. Cogan on December 6-7, 1866.
Lilliendahl, William A. – A native and resident of Tremont, New York. In the 1864 New York tax assessment he lists his occupation as “retail dealer” and is shown to possess 2 one horse carriages valued at $200 on which he was assessed 1% tax. His collection was described by Antonelli as “one of the finest presented for public sale up to that time.” He was the discoverer of the S-79 in 1862. His collection was sold at auction by William H. Strobridge:
Part I on May 26-28, 1862 (170 large cents)
Part II on December 15-17, 1863 (160 large cents)
The Woodward sale of March 20-25, 1865 contained 119 large cents.
Lincoln, Esq., C. S. – Lincoln served as Coiner at the U.S. Mint and had a modest collection which included several large cents. His coins were sold by his executors, along with the collection of F. D. Taylor, by H. Chapman on June 18, 1908
Lincoln, F. W. – Little is known of Lincoln save that he was affiliated with W. S. Lincoln and Son, London. His name is on the pedigree of several important coins purchased by Benjamin H. Collins. These were an S-20b, S-24 and S-27.
Lindegard, Axel – (1862-1945) Originally from Askersund, Sweden, Axel immigrated to the United States in 1884 and eventually made a home in Hallock, Minnesota which, at the time, had a population of around 300. By the 1890’s Axel, and his brothers, operated the Lindegard Brothers general store selling everything from shoe laces to imported Chinese porcelains. He was an avid collector of many things as well as an amateur historian and wrote a history of his town. The store operated until the great depression of the 1930s. Little is known of his numismatic interests but that he did own at least the lovely Hays 40 (S-39) which was sold by Lyman H. Low in 4/1902:410 for $22.75.
Logies, Martin A. – (b.1960) A California collector whose collection was sold as the “Cardinal Collection” by Stack’s Bowers Galleries 1/24/2013.
Lomprey, Sr., Robert – (1917-1996) Lomprey was EAC#1845 and loved the cents of 1853. He headed three generations of EAC members.
Long, Dennis Irving – (1925-1989) A fourth-generation Kentuckian, Long was educated at Yale and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. In addition to operating the family horse farm and the associated breeding business, Long was involved in various other activities including motion pictures, shopping malls and real estate development. His coins were auctioned by Bowers & Merena 1/1990.
Loring, Denis W. – (b. 1947) Loring was born in Flushing, New York and was an actuary by profession. Later, moved to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Denis was one of the founders and longtime national secretary of EAC. Specializing in large cents since 1965, Loring wrote the early cent grading standards for the Official ANA Grading Guide. He was the fifth person to complete a complete collection of all numbered Sheldon varieties of early cents. Loring is one of 30-some persons to have completed a collection of all 58 of the collectible varieties of 1794. In 1982 he exhibited his 1794 cents, complete by Hays numbers, won the “Best of Show Award” at the 1982 ANA convention. Also, in 1982, he sold the entire 1794 set, intact, to Jack H. Robinson. Loring is a charter member of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society and a long-time contributor to the annual Blue Books and Red Books.
Low, Lyman Haines – (1844-1924) A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Low served for three years in the Union Army during the Civil War. Afterwards, Low was a travelling salesman of dry goods until entering the coin business in 1883. For eighteen years [1891-1907] he served as co-editor of the American Journal of Numismatics. He wrote a landmark monolog on Hard Times Tokens and, alone, wrote the “Red Book” of his day covering copper, silver, gold and paper money. Low was both dealer and collector. His coins (with 400 large cents) were sold on May 1-3, 1924.
Luer, M.D., Carlyle A. – (1922-2019) A 1946 graduate of the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a longtime resident of Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Luer retired after 30 years as a practicing general surgeon. He was a world-renowned, published botanist, specializing in orchids. He was an avid collector of stamps, books and porcelain. Lyle was a serious Sheldon variety collector in the 1960s, purchasing many of his coins from Sarasota, Florida dealer Joe Scott and various Florida coin shows. At one time, in the early 1970s, dealer Alfred Bonard drove from Pompano Beach to Sarasota to sell him a group of large cents; Bonard wanted to put the money into ancient Greek and Roman coins. Dr. Luer accumulated many of the early dates including 43 varieties of 1794, some of which were condition census pieces which became hidden from view, for nearly 50 years, until knowledge of their existence emerged following the inadvertent discovery through this web site, in September 2011, by his son Albert. Albert noticed that some of the provenances listed on the web site appeared to be his father’s coins. Indeed, some were and many pedigree gaps have now been filled in.
Lutz, Wendell – (b. 1944) Of Tucson, Arizona; a long time fancier of large cents and current owner of the Beckwith 1804 S-266a which he obtained from the aftermarket of the Husak sale in 2008.
Lyman, John P. – (1847-1914) A resident of Boston, Massachusetts and president of the Webster-Atlas National Bank of Boston. Lyman’s collection, containing 130 choice large cents, was sold by S. H. Chapman on November 7, 1913. Chapman referred to the collection by “every piece shows the work of the engraver unmarred by the buffetings of circulation.” The limited edition catalog with photographic plates is avidly sought by numismatic bibliophiles today.
MacDonald, John B. – (1938-2020) MacDonald was a retired manufacturer’s representative from Dayton, Ohio. Consulting initially with Jack Borckardt and later Denis Loring he formed several specialty collections of high-grade large cents; his favorite being those of the year 1793.
MacDonald, Stuart “Mac” – A Michigan native and materials pioneer, MacDonald is best known to the wider world for his innovations with plastics. His wide-ranging numismatic collection was offered by Heritage Galleries in September 1997; after his passing. An 1800 NC-3 was one of the highlights.
Macallister, James G. (1892-1945) Although he was recognized as one of Philadelphia’s most active professional numismatists, James did not like to refer to himself as a dealer though in the 1940 U.S. Census he listed his profession as “collection coin business.” His areas of interest included United States colonials, half cents, and large cents, the latter being his particular specialty. Macallister wrote two articles of interest to 1794 large cents collectors in the Coin Collector’s Journal: “Auction Records of 1794 Cents” (May 1934) and “More About the Cents of 1794” (July 1934). He cataloged many sales for Wayte Raymond, the most important of which was the Newcomb collection in 1945, the year of Macallister’s death.
Mackenzie, Mortimer L. – (1842-1874) MacKenzie was a resident of New York City. He provided some cents for the Levick plate of 1869. Eighty-six of his large cents and twenty-four half cents were sold by Edward Cogan on June 23-24, 1869. According to Cogan, “The set of U. S. Cents being the finest ever offered in any one collection” and were considered to be “landmark large cents.” They realized $1,295. The five plates marked the first use of photography in an auction catalog. He died at an early age due to pulmonary consumption.
Maris, M.D., Dr. Edward – (1832-1900) Known as the “Quaker physician” Maris authored Varieties of the Copper Issues of the United States Mint in the Year 1794 (1869) describing the 39 known varieties of 1794 cents. He reissued the publication in 1870, this time advancing the number of known varieties to 43. A Maris collection containing 501 lots was sold by H. P. Smith on June 21, 1886. Plate four of the sale catalog depicts mainly large cents. Another grouping of his coins, a consignment of 85 large cents was sold by the Chapman brothers on November 16-17, 1900.
OBITUARY OF DR. EDWARD MARIS, M.D. – 6/21/1900
Dr. Edward Maris, a prominent member of the Society of Friends, and a well known numismatist and collector of autograph letters, died early Wednesday morning at his residence, 1106 Pine Street, Philadelphia, after a short illness. He leaves a widow, one son, Alfred E. Maris; a daughter, Mrs. George Y. Wood, and four grandchildren. Dr. Maris was born near Chester, March 15, 1832, and was a son of Jesse J. Maris, for many years President of the Delaware County Bank. After graduating from Jefferson Merical College in 1856, Dr. Maris became identified with the Philadelphia Dispensary, and was for sixteen years resident physician there. About twenty years ago he retired, to take up the private practice of his profession. As a collector of coins, Dr. Maris was particularly assiduous and active, and he had a very comprehensive collection of the early issues of coins of this country. His collection of colonial issues of New Jersey cents was particularly complete, and he wrote and published a book on these coin issues. A. few years ago he disposed of some of his collection, devoting himself latterly to the collection of historical coins and early American currency, His collection of coins illustrating Bible history was comprehensive. The most interesting of any of these old relics collected by Dr. Maris is, undoubtedly, what is said to be the original charter granted by William Penn to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Dr. Maris bought the document at a sale in London, but the price paid for the parchment was never mentioned by him. Dr. Maris was a member of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society. He was an overseer of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and for many years was a manager of the Treasurer of the Friends’ Select School. He was an active philanthropic and temperance work as conducted by the Friends and was active as a member of the Friends’ Indian Committee, having in charge the reservation in New York state.
Marvin, William T. R. – (d. 1913) A resident of Boston, Massachusetts, Marvin provided some of the coins used in Ed. Frossard’s Monograph of United States Cents and Half Cents published in 1879. He also published The Medals of the Masonic Fraternity Described and Illustrated in 1879.
Mason, Jr., Ebenezer Locke – (1825-1901) A native of Yarmouth, Maine he was publisher of Mason’s Coin and Stamp Collector’s Journal from 1867 to 1872. One of the pioneers of the hobby, Mason became a dealer in the early 1860s. He described 14 varieties of 1793 cents in 1868, the first published work on the topic. He is credited with naming the “Jefferson Head Cent.” Mason conducted thirty-four sales between 1868 and 1890.
Massamore, Dr. George W. – (1845-1898) A lifelong resident of Maryland, Massamore enlisted in the Confederate army at the age of sixteen and remained there until the end of the war. Afterwards, in 1868, he earned a D. D. S. Massamore was active as a conservationist in his home state. His activities in the world of coins began in 1876 as a founding member and secretary of the Baltimore Numismatic Society. He conducted forty-six sales between 1880 and 1897. He handled some high-grade 1794s which worked their way through George Clapp and into the ANS collection.
Masters, Jr., Frank H. – (1914-1985) Masters’ outstanding collection, containing 274 large cents, was sold by RARCOA on May 14-15, 1971.
Mathewson, Charles R. – (b. 1870) A little known collector from Providence, Rhode Island. He was a postman by trade and legend has it that many of his best specimens were obtained from his rural customers. His choice large cents were sold privately by Copley Coin Company of Boston.
Matthews, Robert E. – (1929-2000) Matthews developed an interest in coins through his father’s collection. He was a third generation pharmacist but in 1962 opened a coin shop, Matthews Money Tree, to pursue his first love. He purchased the major part of his early date large cents from Jackson Storm with the balance being formed from auctions throughout the 1980s. His collection was sold by Superior Galleries on May 28, 1989. The 779 large cent lots included some cents from other collectors.
McDowell, Allen E. – (1901-1991) Little is known of McDowell who emerged on the scene in the mid 1950s. He purchased lots in the 12/7/1957 New Netherlands 50th sale, including seven 1794s. It is believed that he sold his coins to St. Louis dealer, Jake Hendin, in the 1970s. Del Bland paid a visit to his residence in Dublin, Ohio, c.1985 to learn of what became of his coins. Despite the barking dog in the front yard McDowell guardedly conversed until Bland mentioned that he was friend of C. Doug Smith at which time McDowell broke off communication claiming that Smith had tried to “screw him on a deal.” To this day none of his 1794 purchases from 1970 have been traced.
McCoy, John F. – A New York City resident; very little is known of McCoy who assembled a most important early coin collection, noted for its choice large cents and outstanding colonial pieces. His coins were purchased by W. Elliot Woodward who sold them at auction on May 17-21, 1864 in what was, at the time, “the second largest auction sale of coins ever made in the USA” and “the finest collection of American coins ever offered.” The sale brought $13,010.60.
McCoye, Frank – (b. 1843) A native of New York who relocated to Los Angeles, California, and apparently returned to New York. In Los Angeles records he is listed as being in real estate though, later in 1910, in New York, he declared he was an assessor. McCoye’s collection was sold by the Chapman brothers on May 5-6, 1887. The plates for the catalogue proved to be failures and were not issued but were destroyed.
McGirk, Dr. Charles E. – (1869-1939) McGirk was a lifelong resident of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. He authored United States Cents and Die Varieties 1793-1857 which was serialized in The Numismatist during 1913-1914. He formed a large collection of large cents that was sold by Walter F. Webb in February 1937. The collection contained 5,000 large cents including bulk lots of low grade coins. He sold an S-79 to George Clapp in 1937, for $15, which is now in the ANS.
McGuigan, James R. – (1942-2022) A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. James earned a bachelors degree from Carnegie Mellon, a Masters from the University of Chicago and eventually a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a professor at Wayne State University School of Business and, while there, co-authored two books. McGuigan began collecting Lincoln Cents at age 10 which spread to other denominations and a keen interest in early U.S. coinage. He abandoned his professorship and decided to become a full-time dealer in 1981.
McIntire, Robert T. – He operated McIntire Numismatic Auctions, in Jacksonville, Arkansas, from 1981 to 1989. In June 1988, the firm handled the Roy Rauch collection of large cents. He spent 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, connected with the Atlas-F and Titan II missile projects.
McLaughlin, Richard E. – McLaughlin partnered with Jack Robinson as the company McLaughlin and Robinson, operating out of Vienna, Virginia. Their first coin sale was in May 1983. The company faded after Jack Robinson sold his collection in 1989.
Medhurst, Raymond – (b. 1953) – Ray is a resident of Fort Myers, Florida and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is a retired college registrar. Ray’s interest in large cents began when he purchased several 1794s from the Jackson storm collection through EAC dealer/collector Robert Matthews c.1984. Ray collects large cents by variety with a main focus on 1794s.
Medio, Joe – (b.1946) A native of southern New Jersey, Medio began collecting in 1958 at age 12. He used the income from a paper route to travel, by bus for 25 cents each way, seven miles to the nearest coin shops. Medio joined EAC in 1982 thereby expanding his large cent interests. His collection was sold by American Numismatic Rarities on June 25, 2004.
Mehl, B. Max – (1884-1957) Born in Lithuania, Mehl and his wife had two daughters. Mehl was a coin dealer and auctioneer operating out of Fort Worth, Texas and is credited with fantastic and innovative promotion of coin collecting. He was the first to use radio advertising and probably did more to advance the hobby during the first half of the 20th century than any other individual. He conducted 120 auctions from 1903 to 1955, including many of the most important collections sold during those years. Most of his auctions were actually mail bid sales. His Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia, published in more than 50 editions, was an innovative promotional technique.
Mendelson, Dennis – (b.1947) A native of Columbus, Ohio, Mendelson is in the floor and wall covering business. He began collecting at age 13 when his grandfather gave him an “old red shoe bank” filled with Indian cents, Buffalo nickels and Lincoln pennies. He sold his middle/late date large cents as part of the Superior Galleries sale of February 3, 4, 5, 1991.
Mercer, Robert W. – (b.1840) A Cincinnati, Ohio resident and a book dealer, Mercer collected a great variety of coins and had an “extensive collection of coin sale catalogues” which were auctioned by W. Elliott Woodward on December 8-10, 1882. The sole plate in his catalog depicted, among other things, “important cents”.
Merkin, Lester – (1916-1992) Born in Philadelphia of Russian immigrant parents, Merkin was a coin dealer and auctioneer whose first auction sale was the Louis Helfenstein Collection in 1964. Also in 1964 he attended the Lord St. Oswald sale and was a winner of several of the pieces offered. Epitomizing the term “gentleman dealer”, he conducted 31 auction sales, many cataloged by Walter Breen. Lester was also a talented jazz musician.
Merritt, George W. – (1857-1933) Merritt developed an early taste for collecting beginning at around 18 years of age. He was one of the most industrious of collectors, bidding on fine large cents or half cents whenever they became available. A world traveler, Merritt’s interest soon drifted to other areas and in 1878, at age 21, he decided to give up coin collecting and travel to Europe. Many of his coins were plated in Ed. Frossard’s Monograph of United States Cents and Half Cents (1879) which was originally prepared to accompany the auction catalog of Merritt’s remarkable collection of 200 large cents which was sold by Frossard on January 3, 1879, and realized $1,400. It is thought that Merritt possibly returned to collecting around the turn of the century.
Mervis, Adam – Adam is CEO of one of the largest family-owned scrap processors in the United States. He collected Early Date Large Cents with his teenage son, Alec, who is the “eyes” of the collection. Other collecting interests include Large Cent errors {of which them maintain the largest grouping in the country}, proof Large Cents, Middle and Late date Large Cents as well as Morgan and Peace Dollars. Their collection included two Strawberry Leaf cents as well as two S-79, reeded edge, cents among many other rarities. In June, 2012, he finalized the acquisition of all eleven 1794 NCs .. a feat only accomplished by three other collectors before him. His entire large cent collection was sold by Heritage Auctions on January 10, 2014.
Mickley, Joseph J. – (1799-1878) A musical instrument repairman in Philadelphia. Mickley began a quest in 1817 when he decided to look for a cent from his birth year; perhaps the most difficult large cent year to locate. Mickley is sometimes referred to as “The Father of American Numismatics”. In 1867, Mickley lost $16,000 worth of coins in a burglary. His remaining collection was sold at auction by W. Elliot Woodward on October 28-November 2, 1867. The collection contained 140 choice large cents. Some additional Mickley coins were included in the Haseltine sale of January 31, 1879.
Miles, Jr., R. L. – Part II of the Miles collection, which consisted of silver and copper pieces, was sold by Stack’s April 10-12, 1969. The sale included 233 lots of early copper with both S-188 and S-189 varieties represented. In addition to his numismatic pursuits, the auction catalog biography feted the highly educated businessman for excellence at contract bridge.
Miller, Edward – Miller’s collection containing 200 large cents was sold by William Hesslein on April 12, 1916. A VF-25 Starred Reverse went to R. D. Book and eventually wound up in the ANS inventory.
Miller, Henry C. – (1844-1920) A public school principal, his collection was sold by Lymon Low on June 15, 1897. Another sale by Thomas Elder on April 13-14, 1917 had 54 varieties of 1794, five of which, had been plated in Gilbert-Elder. Miller authored The State Coinage of Connecticut and his attribution numbers remain in use today.
Mills, John G. – (1865-1906) An Albany, New York native, Mills was a business man, coin collector and pigeon fancier though he listed his occupation as “capitalist” on the 1900 U. S. Census. His important collection (with 160 large cents) was sold by the Chapman brothers on April 27-29, 1904. The Mills deluxe catalog, with its great photographic plates, is avidly sought by numismatic bibliophiles today.
Milstead, Byron W. – (b. 1956) Milstead is a resident of Davao City, Philippines where he retired after a career as a corporate attorney and technology company general counsel. An advanced collector of United States and Spanish Philippine Islands coinage, after retirement his focus returned to his earliest numismatic love – large cents – with the collection focusing on high grade Flowing Hair and Draped bust cents.
Montanye, Lewis F. – (1852-1897) A New York resident, and a coffee merchant, who assembled his collection in just five years beginning in 1876. His collection containing 180 large cents was auctioned by H. G. Sampson on April 27-28, 1881. Another collection of his coins was sold by Bangs and Co. in 1898.
Moore, Robert L. – (1896-1986) Moore was associated with Ernest Henderson during the formative years of the Sheraton Hotel Corporation. After buying a few large cents from Dr. Sheldon he caught the “copper disease.” Moore also formed the Sheraton Coin Company. Around 1960 he sold his set of 1794 cents privately to Dorothy Paschal and Eugene Exman.
Morgan, William F. – Morgan purchased proofs from the Beckwith collection. His collection of 425 large cents was sold by J. C. Morganthau & Co. on June 16, 1932.
Morley, C. Thomas – (1936-2000) A native of Michigan and later resident of Cocoa Beach, Florida. Tom was the owner of an advertising agency, Morley authored 1794 Large Cents Graded and Updated (1979). His first collection, with 208 lots, was sold by Cape Kennedy Medals on December 20, 1975. A second collection, with 257 large cents, was sold by Superior Galleries as part of the Dr. Jack Adams Sale of May 31–June 2, 1992. Morley was known for his exceptional attraction to the cents of the year 1794.
Morris, Charles – A Chicago resident, Morris’ collection was sold by The Chapman brothers on April 19-20, 1905.
Morris, George – Morris’ collection was sold by Chas. Steigerwalt on 6/16-17/1891.
Mory, Paul S., Sr. – (1885-unk) Born in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, he later relocated to Philadelphia where he was president of Mory-Buckwater, Inc. as well as vice-president of the Philadelphia branch of the Boyertown Casket, Co. He began collecting coins around 1929 and went on to become a dedicated numismatist. His numismatic interests were diverse but he seemed to favor his copper cents. His collection was sold by Bowers and Merena Galleries on June 22-23, 2000 in Chicago and featured an exquisite MS65 1813 S-293 on the catalog cover; this coin sold for $69,000.
Mougey, Peter – (1841-1908) Thomas Elder called the large cent collection of this wholesale grocer from Cincinnati, Ohio the “finest collection ever offered.” Thomas Elder sold his 300 large cent lots on September 1-3, 1910.
Nacol, Dr. Charles S. “Sam” – (died 1998) Sam was a physician by vocation and a long time collector of quality coppers in choice condition. After Sam’s death his wife, Lynn, presented a gift of $1,000.00 to the Early American Coppers Club in his memory.
Naftzger Jr., Roy E. “Ted” – (1924-2007) Charter member #60 of EAC. A man of considerable means, Naftzger assembled , arguably, the finest collections of large cents ever formed. However he was not simply a “check writer” but was a true numismatist. “Ted” put his emphasis on quality, though quantity seemed to somehow go along with that. In April 1972 he purchased the entire collection of Dr. William H. Sheldon. He then sold his duplicates (285 early date large cents) at auction, through New Netherlands Coin Co., on November 14, 1973. Naftzger dispensed with some of his collection through the 1989 and 1990 EAC Convention sales and by private treaty. In 1992, many of his duplicate early-dates were sold to Eric Streiner. After Naftzger’s death, in 2007, the remaining and, no doubt, most cherished pieces were disbursed through Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers: His forty-three remaining early dates were sold on September 14, 2008. 475 of his choicest middle dates were auctioned on February 1, 2009 with an MS65 1823 N-2 selling for $299,000. The remaining late dates were auctioned on September 7, 2009. The gross prices Realized was $2,724,591.50 including an 1852 N-24 PR65 at $92,000, 1848 N19 PR65 at $42,550, 1844 N-2 MS64 at $33,350. Thus marked the end of the disbursement of the greatest large cent collection ever formed.
Neggen, Fred – (1909-1974) Neggen was a resident of Northridge, California since 1911 and lived there until his death in 1974. He was a WWII veteran. His coins were sold by Superior Galleries on February 16-18, 1976.
Neil, Will W. – (1894-1967) Neil was employed as a druggist in Abilene, Kansas. He first described the 1793 edge variety known as S-11b. His collection, with 394 large cent lots, was sold by B. Max Mehl on June 17, 1947. He also owned an 1804 dollar and a 1913 Liberty nickel.
Neilsen, Dr. Dane B. – A dentist in Ventura, California. Neilsen was one of the initial members of the Early American Copper Club.
Neiswinter, James – (b.1951) “Jim” started collecting in 1963 at age 12. Bought his first large cent & joined EAC in 1981 and quickly fell in love with the cents of 1793. In 1983, he obtained his first 1793 at the last EAC convention to be held in NYC. It took him 20 years to gather all the collectable varieties of 1793 plus one N/C. Jim had a few 1794s (all Heads of 93) and also collects varieties of 1817 & 1839. Jim recreated the famous 1869 Levick plate of 1793s using his collection of 1793 cents. He sold his collection through Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on January 27, 2019. He partnered with Dan Trollan, who was selling his 1794s, to form a consolidated sale.
Nelson, Doris – Her collection was sold by Stack’s on February 4-6, 1976. Wishing to remain anonymous the auction was called “TAD Sale” and included 199 large cent lots. (see listing for TAD)
Newcomb, Howard R. – (1877-1945) Newcomb served in the Navy during the Spanish-American War. One of the great names in cent collecting, Howard Newcomb was the seventh great-grandson of William Bradford who arrived on the Mayflower and served as governor of Plymouth Colony for about 30 years Newcomb was considered to have one of the finest collections of high grade large cents in existence. He authored The United States Cents of the Years 1801-1802-1803 (1925) and the standard reference United States Copper Cents 1816-1857 (1944). He also collaborated with Clapp on The United States Cents of the Years 1795-1796-1797-1800 which was published in 1947, three years after his death. Newcomb’s coins were sold at auction, by Wayte Raymond, in two increments:
Part I on February 7-8, 1945 – 487 lots realizing $21,704.50
Part II on May 16, 1945 – coins offered, by lot, with Blaisdell the successful bidder on many pieces. Then, $500 was added and the cents were offered as a group. Floyd Starr bought the group for $5,350.
Newcomer, Waldo C. (1867-1934) President of the National Exchange Bank in Baltimore and CEO of the Baltimore Trust Company. Newcomer considered his collection to represent “probably the most complete set of 1794 large cents in existence” and the “70 varieties comprised all of the Hays numbers except 38 and 53. In all, he is believed to have possessed 115 large cents. Newcomer’s financial empire apparently crumbled during the depression. A large portion (approximately 4,000 coins) of his collection, one of the largest ever formed in the United States, was sold to B. Max Mehl in 1931 for $250,000. As in the case of James Ellsworth, Newcomer is not particularly known as his coins were sold independently and no auction catalog exists. His coins were included in several sales conducted by Morganthau in 1939: #394 on February 23-24, #397 on April 12, #399 on May 3 and #401 on June 7. Walter Breen claimed that he had committed suicide.
Newman, Eric P. – (1911-2017) A protegé of Burdette G. Johnson the proprietor of St. Louis Stamp and Coin Company. An article about Eric Newman by Robert Hoge, a former curator at the American Numismatic Society, recounted this Eric Newman story: “I always like to tell a story about when I was ten years old, and my allowance was five cents a week,” replied renowned numismatic scholar Eric P. Newman when asked to reflect upon his distinguished career. “For three cents I could ride on a street car every couple of weeks to Burdette G. Johnson’s coin shop in downtown St. Louis to buy something. That man changed my entire life.” Eric recalls that Johnson “had an absolutely spectacular memory; he had absorbed a total 20-volume history of the world… I remember his saying to me one day, ‘Eric, I won’t sell you this coin because you don’t know anything about it. But here’s a book… You take it home and read it, and then tell me what you learned.’ I did, and he became my very close friend and mentor. I bought many coins from him, American large cents, colonials, and in due course we purchased most of the Col. Edward H. R. Green collection together.” Johnson once told Newman that he would not sell him any coin until he could recite the history of it. In the 1930s Newman acquired all five of the 1913 Liberty Head nickels from the Col. E. H. R. Green estate.
Nicholas Jr., John J. – (born 1948) Nicholas is a native of Philadelphia. He became interested in coins in 1959, at age 11, when an uncle began giving him a proof set each year for his birthday. In 1971 he met some EACers at an ANA Convention, joined EAC, and became “infected” with variety fever. His collection, billed as the “finest collection of middle dates ever”, was auctioned by Superior Galleries on February 2, 1992.
Nippert, Jr., Alfred K. – (b.1951) A native of Asheville, North Carolina, he was the half-brother of Louis Nippert (see below.) He was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati law school and a partner in the Nippert & Nippert law firm. At the age of five, a friend of his mother introduced Alfred to coin collecting. He was “bitten by the bug” of coin collecting drawn by the history, politics and personality wrapped into this one avocation. After relocating to Cincinnati he met coin dealer Albert “Bud” Ault whose enthusiasm rekindled his collecting drives. In Cincinnati, he began buying coins at Fountain Square Stamp & Coins. In 1982, he sold his collection to brother Louis. In 2017, Alfred scaled back his law practice to venture into a new career with “voice-overs” and his new company; Next Voice You Hear, LLC.
Nippert, Louis (1903-1992) – Louis was the great-grandson of James N. Gamble (1803-1891) who, along with brother-in-law William Proctor, founded the Proctor & Gamble enterprise in 1837. Nippert was the majority owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, from 1973 to 1981, during their most successful era in which they won two World Series (1975 & 1976.) He was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati law school, and a partner in Nippert & Nippert, believed to be the oldest father-son law firm in the United States and possibly in the world. His father, Judge Alfred K. Nippert (1872-1956), was born in Frankfort, Germany to American parents. Later he became a special emissary to Germany and handled claims evolving from the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915. Louis married Louise Dieterle Nippert (1911-2012), also a graduate of the University of Cincinnati. Together, they were very philanthropically involved with the cultural arts in the Greater Cincinnati area. Their collection of coins, the majority of which were purchased from Louis’ brother, Alfred, in 1982 and which included twenty-five 1794 cents, was sold by Mallette & Associates of Cincinnati on 7/25/2015.
Nofal, Robert C. – Contributed coins to the Nofal-Kling sale conducted by Cape Kennedy Medals on July 3, 1976.
Nomura, Steven A. – (b.1947) A semi-retired dentist, practicing for over 30 years in Aberdeen, Washington. A self proclaimed “army brat,” Nomura was born in Seattle, Washington into a military family. He was raised on military bases in Japan, Okinawa and Texas. . Educated at the University of Washington (bachelors degree in biology and psychology), University of Hawaii (masters degree in genetics) and University of California School of Dentistry (DDS). In 1961, a classmate acquainted him with collecting coins from pocket change and putting them into Whitman folders. He later graduated to large cents collecting middle and late dates by Red Book varieties. In 1997, Steve liquidated his holdings and began to collect the 58 varieties of 1794 because “1794s epitomize, for me, the lure of large cent collecting.” Steve also collects bust halves and “V” nickels as well as Hardy Boys books in first edition; also an avid bicyclist and bowler. Steve’s collection was sold in Heritage Auctions “Bellevue” sale #1311, on 1/8/2020.
Norweb Collection, The – Containing coins from several generations of the family, the collection was begun by Liberty Emery Holden (1833-1913), who furnished the spark for Albert Fairchild Holden (1866-1913), one of America’s most prominent industrialists, who developed an interest in numismatics. At the turn of the century he ordered proof coins directly from the Philadelphia Mint and business strikes of higher denomination branch mint coins directly from San Francisco and New Orleans. His interest in turn was transferred to his daughter, Emery May Holden (1896-1984). By the age of 12 she exhibited a precocious interest in numismatics and was attributing die varieties, keeping inventory notebooks, and perusing the auction catalogs of Lyman Low, Henry Chapman and others, and making recommendations for additions to the family collection. In 1917, Emery May married R. Henry Norweb (1895-1983) who rose to ambassadorial rank and went on to play an important role in world history. Ambassador and Mrs. Henry R. Norweb pursued numismatics together and became private clients of leading dealers from around the globe. Their collection was auctioned in several parts with large cents included in part III sold on November 14 & 15, 1988.
Noyes, William C. – (b.1944) Noyes is a Cap Cod, Massachusetts resident and full-time writer, photographer, coin cataloguer and dealer. He began collecting Lincoln cents in Whitman folders as an 8-year old cub scout and joined the ANA at age 11. His primary interest is non-gold world coins from 1700 to present. Noyes claims “probably the most complete Yeoman collection in the U.S.” He has collected large cents 1793-1857 and devotes much of his research to issues surrounding this series. He maintains a photo archive of more than 25,000 coins. In 1992 he authored United States Large Cents 1793-1814 and United States Large Cents 1816-1839.
Oakes, Dean – (b.1936) The discovery of a 1909 penny in his father’s pocket change changed the life of 13-year old Dean Oakes in 1950. A dozen years later in 1962, Oakes graduated from the University of Iowa and opened a coin business, A & A Coins, in Iowa City. He continues to operate Dean Oakes Currency today (2015). His personal collecting interest is Iowa National Currency, although he also collects large cents. Oakes was born the son of a farmer. His large cent collection was sold by Heritage Auctions on 1/9/2014.
Oechsner, Herbert M. – (1898-1987) A resident of Verona, New Jersey, Oechsner formed an impressive cabinet over several decades. In the auction catalog of his collection, offered by Stack’s in September, 1988, the firm noted: “Classic numismatic collections in the finest tradition are marked by breadth of subject and depth of specialization. Bushnell, Earle, Stickney, Jenks, Garrett: the roll of famous names echoes down the generations. Herbert M. Oechsner strove for decades to build a truly comprehensive and broadly based collection on their model, seeking to balance specialization in certain series with representative examples from the entire world of numismatic collecting.” His collection included American Colonial and Federal issue pieces, Tokens, Medals, George Washington material, Patterns, Colonial and early United States paper money, Civil War tokens and much more. The heart of the collection was his extensive collections of New Jersey and Connecticut Coppers.
Oliphant, Jeffrey – (b.1955) Oliphant is an attorney and real estate developer residing in Southern California. He was an active collector, from the early 1970s through the 1980s, whose interests were early date large cents by variety. He also collected large cent literature. He retains his collection as of this posting. Oliphant served as EAC Secretary from 1978 to 1981 and as EAC President 1981 to 1987.
Olsen, Kent D. – A native and resident of Utah, Kent served in the Air Force and is a retired United States Postal Service letter carrier. Those who know him refer to him as “The Mailman”. Since the mid 1980s he has managed to quietly acquire a near complete set of Sheldon varieties and is missing less than 10 of them. He is lacking only 5 of the Newcomb middle and late date large cents. Kent has has also assembled numerous die states of the numbered Sheldon and Newcomb varieties. Kent is an avid fisherman and takes in many a Walleye trout throughout Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. In 2011 he became a member of “The Boyz of ’94”.
Packard, Mike – An EAC collector who continues the practice, started by Tom Wolf, of distributing counter stamped cents as mementos of annual EAC conventions.
Padula, Robert G. – (b/1946) A native of Warwick, Rhode Island just as was Dr. William H. Sheldon. Padula holds a B.A. in history and has been in the insurance business his entire career. He owns an insurance brokerage firm. With the acquisition of the Exman S-37, on June 4, 2015, Bob became the 38th person in known history to have assembled all 58 varieties of 1794. He additionally achieved the even rarer accomplishment of completing his collection of all collectible Sheldon varieties to become the 16th all-time member of the “301 Club.” His collection was sold by Heritage Auctions on 9/8/2017.
Palmer Jr., Darwin B. – (b.1943) EAC charter member #68 and a past vice president. Palmer is a retired U. S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and a medical entomologist. He is a collector of diverse interests. 1794, specifically heads of 1793, are his favorite year of large cents. He Published “ PILLAR and PORTRAIT FOUR REALES of the NEW WORLD” in 1982. Has collected Scottish hammered silver coinage, Spanish Colonial silver by type: each mint each king, each denomination. Enjoys the Greek and Roman provincial copper coinage minted in Spain. He once owned, and was also intermediary, for many CC level specimens. The state coinage of New Jersey 1786 through 1788 are now his favorite series.
Parrino, Jay – (b. 1946) A coin dealer in Kansas City, Missouri. Parrino operates the Mint, L.L.C., specializing in highest quality collectibles material. He purchased many of the Naftzger large cents from Eric Streiner in 1992.
Parmelee, Lorin G. – (1827-1905) Parmelee was from Wilmington, Vermont. He made his fortune in the baked bean business in Boston, converting some of it to his passion of coin collecting. In the early 1850s he began searching through his daily receipts for rare cents. He continued to upgrade his collection and sell off his duplicates. Parmelee purchased the collections of George Seavey in 1873, J. Carson Brevoort (c.1876) and Charles Bushnell (c.1882). In 1883 his collection was valued at $60,000. He consigned coins (310 large cents) to the Strobridge sale of June 18-20, 1873. The Strobridge sale of Parmelee (Brevoort) on June 12, 1876 contained 170 of his large cents. His collection was offered for sale by New York Coin and Stamp on June 25-27, 1890 and contained 145 large cents. Parmelee was known to, on occasion, buy back some of his coins.
Parsons, George M. – (1818-1895) A native of Franklin, Ohio and an attorney. He married Jane Swan and they had eight children. His “old collection” was sold by H. Chapman in Philadelphia on June 24-27, 1914. Two of the catalog plates depicted his choice large cents and half cents.
Paschal, Dorothy I. – (1905-1981) Paschal was charter member #77 of EAC. Born in, and a resident of, New York City she was employed as a biological researcher at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She was more familiarly known as “Doctor Dorothy” and was a woman of great charm with exquisite taste. Quite in keeping with her aristocratic bearing, she was a direct descendant of Chief Justice John Jay. Indeed, she was the last member of the family to occupy the Jay estate in Bedford, New York before it was given to the State Historical Society in 1953. She became a serious collector after meeting Dr. Sheldon. Paschal assembled one of the finest collections of large cents. She was the third person ever to assemble a complete collection the numbered Sheldon varieties. “Dr. Dorothy” valued appearance and beauty over all other coin characteristics. She collaborated with Sheldon in the publication of Penny Whimsy. Her collection was sold, over time, by Ray Chatham. An excellent obituary can be found in the Sept. 1981 issue of Penny Wise.
Patterson, G. M. – Patterson is a native Californian with a long career in the title insurance business. “Pat” began collecting in 1961 when his mother gave him an 1853 gold dollar which his grandmother had found on her front lawn in Nebraska in 1865. His collection, with 231 mostly middle/late date large cents was sold by Kagin’s on May 6-7, 1988.
Pearl, Oscar J. – (1905-1979) Pearl was a New York City resident and worked in the banking industry. From 1945-1975 he lived in Italy. His collection, containing 479 large cent lots, was sold by fixed price list of the Numismatic Gallery in the spring of 1944. The fixed price list catalog included a reprint of Chapman’s The Cents of the Year 1794 as well as Crosby’s The United States Cents of 1793 which were bound in.
Petersen, Christian M. – (1908-1986) Manager of the Peterson Dairy Farm in Chehalis, Washington, Petersen collected high grade middle date cents. He served on the ANA board in 1953. Parts of his collection were sold intact to Art Kagin. Part (115 large cents) was sold by Hollinbeck-Kagin on August 7, 1954. More (300 large cents) was sold in the Hollinbeck-Kagin sale of October 31, 1957. His remaining collection was offered at auction, by Kagin’s Numismatic Auctions, on February 1, 1986 as part of the Philip Van Cleave sale.
Pfeffer, Milton B. – (1919-1992) A New York City native, Pfeffer was a charter member #6 of EAC. In addition to his collecting he was a partner in the law firm of Gwertman and Pfeffer. He handled incorporation and served as legal counsel to the club from 1972 until his death
Phelps, Henry – Phelps was a government lawyer and lived in Washington, DC. His large cents were sold to Steigerwalt in 1901 and offered in the Steigerwalt fixed price list #63A of October 1903. The Hays-Phelps set of 1794s were later offered by Lyman Low in his sale of the Zug collection on March 17, 1907.
Picker, Richard – (1915-1983) Picker, of New York City, had a collection of brockages which was sold by Coin Galleries on May 24, 1989. There were brockages of 19 early and 32 middle date large cents.
Pierce, C. David – Two hundred of Pierce’s large cent duplicates were sold in Hollinbeck sale on November 25, 1944. The sale realized $51,522.30. One hundred fifty more were in the Hollenback fixed price list in 1945. Other of Pierce’s coins were offered in the Numismatic Gallery fixed price list of fall 1946.
Pitkow, Howard Spencer – (1941-2022) A native Philadelphian, Howard attended the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained both his B.A. (1962) and M.S. (1963) degrees. In 1971 he earned a Ph.D. in medical physiology from Rutgers University, specializing in endocrinology and reproduction. He is a retired professor emeritus from Temple University School of Medicine where he taught endocrinology to medical, dental, pharmacy, graduate, physical therapy and podiatry students. Research interests included diabetic wound healing. He wrote research grants and published over 100 articles in various medical journals At the state level he was elected president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences (PAS). Nationally, he served as president of the National Association of Academies of Science ( NAAS). On the local level served as Chairman of the Department of Physiological Sciences ( i.e. Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology) for 10 years at a medical school in Philadelphia, Pa. His numismatic collections consisted of 11,215 coins and paper money; foreign and U.S. (pre and post federal coin series.) Howard specialized in early U.S. copper amassing 882 varieties of U.S. large cents—273 early, 242 middle and 367 late dates. Additionally he had 70 half cents and 29 of 30 delisted large cent varieties (3 middle dates and 26 of 27 late dates.) He also had over 1,080 large cent and 55 half cent duplicates. He was a frequent contributor to Penny-Wise with 31 articles on half cents and large cents published therein.
Pittman, John Jay – (1913-1996) A native North Carolinian who grew up near Rocky Mount; Pittman was the oldest of seven children. At age seven he worked all day in a cotton field; he didn’t have his first pair of shoes until age ten. He spent part of his youth as a hobo, riding the rails to New York City and then returning to attend and to graduate from the University of North Carolina. He became a chemical engineer and worked for Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York. In 1954, with the support of his wife, they mortgaged their home to finance his trip to Egypt to attend the King Farouk sale. David Akers conducted the two John Jay Pittman sales; Part I in October of 1997 and Part II in May of 1998. Pittman was 37th president of the American Numismatic Association {1971-1973.)
Pogue, D. Brent – (1964-2019) A native of Dallas, Texas. Pogue attended the University of Texas – Austin where he graduated with a degree in economics. After a post-graduation stint on Wall Street as a Goldman-Sachs real estate analyst, he eventually wound up in Los Angeles as an asset manager with Praedium Fund. Brent began his interest in coins at the age of 10 when his father presented him with a bag of wheat-back Lincoln cents. In the bag he found a 1915 cent which turned out to be worth $65. This encouraged his interest in coins which evolved into the acquisition of what is referred to as the most valuable collection of federal American coins in private hands ever formed. His collection focused on issues from 1792 to the late 1830s and contained several very important 1794 cents. It was sold, in multiple parts, by Stack’s Bowers Galleries-Sotheby’s beginning on May 19. 2015 and culminating with part V, which contained the significant large cents, on March 31, 2017.
Pretsch, Christopher F. (b.1965) A native of Amityville, New York, Chris attended Cleveland State University. He went on to work on Wall Street for twelve years before moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Chris is a partner in an independent investment advisory firm in Pittsburgh. In spite of being exposed to early copper, through his father’s interests, while growing up he never collected coins. In 2008, while looking through his dad’s copy of the Walter Husak auction catalog an interest took root. He attended the EAC conventions, in Buffalo, New York (2012) and Columbus, Ohio (2013.) In Columbus Chris met Walter Husak and Al Boka and his interest began to grow. Chris collects early date large cents with a focus on 1794 by variety and die state. He also collects the coinage of New Jersey and Vermont.
Proskey, David U. – (1853-1928) Proskey was both a dealer and a collector, He was partner with H. P. Smith in New York Coin & Stamp Company. George Clapp called him the most knowledgeable source on large cents he had ever met. Proskey wrote a serial article on United States cents for the Coin Collector’s Journal which was later turned into a book by Doughty. Proskey formed a partnership, The New York Coin & Stamp Co., in 1888, with Harlan P. Smith. Proskey sold his collection to Henry Hines in 1916.
Punchard, Richard V. – (1932-2024) Punchard was a heating and air conditioning contractor. He was a collector of die varieties and die states. He is noted for his discovery of the 1822 Newcomb 14 cent variety. Much of his late date collection was sold privately to Dan Holmes. Remainders from his cent collection were sold by Bowers and Merena in 1995 and his library was sold by Remy Bourne in 1997.
Ralls, Dr. Philip W. – (1948-2012) A lifelong southern California resident and professor of radiology at the University of Southern California. Ralls was a collector of high quality draped bust large cents with special interest in 1798. He also owned a few 1794s over the years. Ralls was EAC president 1990-1996. He was known for his discriminating taste in high-grade cents. His collection was sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on January 26 , 2014.
Randall, J. Colvin – (1832-1901) A dealer, collector and cataloger from Philadelphia. Randall’s collection (110 large cents) was auctioned by Bangs, Merwin & Co. on October 18-19, 1869. The 1794s were cataloged using the recently published Maris numbers. Another Randall collection was sold by S. K. Harzfeld on November 26-27, 1880. Randall conducted his own sale of yet another collection, containing 61 large cents, on November 28, 1882, .
Randall, John S. – (1817-1878) Gave name to “Randall Hoard” of high grade middle date large cents. In a letter to Edward Cogan in 1870, he identified the coins as being from 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820 and 1825. It is now believed that the “hoard” consisted of 1816 N-2, 1817 N-13 and N-14, 1818 N-10, 1819 N-8 and N-9, 1820 N-13 and N-15. The collection, including bulk lots, was in the Cogan sale of May 6-9, 1878.
Rasmussen, Wesley A. – (1934-2018) “Wes” was born in Milwaukee and owned a printing company in Minneapolis. He served as EAC president from 1996 to 1999. Rasmussen was an avid large cent enthusiast and collected early, middle and late date cents, by die variety, over a span of 25 years. His late date collection was sold by Superior Stamp & Coin on February 8, 1998. Rasmussen’s early and middle date cents, lacking only the S-79, were sold by Heritage Galleries on January 13, 2005 at the F.U.N. show. His former company continues to print Penny-Wise.
Rauch, Roy – A collector from Long Island, New York credited with discovering the branch mint proof 1875-S 20 cent piece. His large cents were sold in the late 1970s. He now deals primarily in die cast cars.
Reale, Gene – Reale had a small but intensely high grade collection of U. S. half and large cents assembled over the course of a half-century. His coins were auctioned by Sotheby’s on January 15, 1998. The seventy-four lots sold for a total of $991,700.
Reed, Byron (1829-1891) Reed was born in Darien, New York and lived in Ohio and Wisconsin Territory before finding his home in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1855 he opened a real estate office and became involved in local government, eventually serving as city council president in 1872. A benefactor to the city, Reed donated land for the free public library building and a house that later became the first Boy’s Town, operated by Father Flanagan. He was an active coin collector and acquired an impressive collection which included an 1804 silver dollar. His entire cabinet was donated to the Omaha Library. A portion of the coins were sold in 1996 with the rest remaining on display at the Western Heritage Museum.
Reed, Walter H. – (1930-2011) Walter was born in Brooklyn, NY and later settled in Huntington, NY. In September 1993 he became member no. 4019 of Early American Coppers. Reed was an avid collector of large cents focusing on the Sheldon varieties. He had all of the collectible 1794s, except the elusive S-37, and was a member of the “Boyz of ’94”.
Reimers, A. – Reimers’ collection of silver and copper coins was sold through Ed. Frossard’s eleventh sale on September 17, 1880 in New York City.
Reimers, Charles D. – (1872-1946) Reimers was a noted stamp and coin dealer in the 1920’s. He seems to have some business arrangement with B. Max Mehl. His office was in the same building as B. Max Mehl, the Flat Iron building, Fort Worth, Texas.
Reinoehl, Dr. Bruce M. – (b.1948) Bruce began collecting Lincoln cents in 1955 and graduated to Large Cents in the 1970s. He collects Early and Middle Dates by die variety and die state. He also worked on cataloging known die states of the cents from 1793 through 1839. He was one of only thirty-three persons (at that time) to have ever assembled a complete set of all 58 collectible 1794 varieties until he gave up his S37, in 4/2009, to help a fellow collector achieve the same objective.
Reiver, Julius “Jules” – (1916-2004) Reiver, a native of Wilmington, Delaware and a mechanical engineer by training. Jules was an expert in methodology and organization. Jules entered the army in July 1942 and rose through the ranks. He commanded the first anti-aircraft battery to land on Omaha Beach in June of 1944. During the battle of the Bulge, later that year, his battery heroically turned back the German offensive aimed at a major gasoline depot (featured in the movie The Battle of the Bulge.) Jules received the Bronze Star and was promoted to major by the end of WWII. He began collecting at age 7 and became an expert on die varieties of all US coin series. He authored Mature Head United States Copper Cents 1843-1857 (1980) and, along with J. R. Grellman, Attribution Guide for United States Large Cents (1987). Jules collection evolved to focus on die varieties and die states of all United States copper and silver coinage from 1793 through 1839. His collection is considered, by many experts, to be one of the most significant ever to be formed. His collection, comprising 4,642 coins was sold at auction by Heritage Galleries on January 24-28, 2006 and grossed $8,629,654.
Reynolds, Thomas D. – (b.1940) Reynolds, of Omaha, Nebraska, began collecting coins in 1952 and moved into large cents and half cents in 1965. He is a collector as well as being a full-time dealer since 1986. He collects condition census early date large cents by variety if in choice condition. He is referred to as “Mr. 1798” and has all 46 die varieties of 1798 all in the finest of condition. Reynolds’ collection was sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on January 31, 2016.
Rice, George W. – (1852-1918) Rice, of Detroit, Michigan, wrote a series of articles on large cents which was published in The Numismatist. He served as Secretary of the ANA in 1894/1895. Rice’s collection, formed over four decades containing 330 large cents and including eight 1793s, was sold by St. Louis Stamp and Coin on April 13-14, 1906.
Riley, Theodore W. – Died prior to the sale of his collection on December 1-3, 1879 by Edward Cogan. Some nice large cents were included in this sale, the seventieth and final one conducted by the legendary Edward Cogan.
Roach, J. Chandler – Roach was a Philadelphia resident whose collection, containing 128 large cents, was sold to J. Colvin Randall. The coins were later included in the S. K. Harzfeld sale on November 26-27, 1880 and included a starred reverse “acknowledged to be the best known to exist.”
Robinson, Jack H. – (1941-2021) A native of San Diego, Robinson became the seventh person known to complete the Sheldon series of cents when he acquired an S-79, for $24,200, from the Robinson S. Brown sale of 1986. He authored and published the Copper Quotes by Robinson series of pricing guides. His entire collection was sold at auction by Superior Galleries on January 29-30, 1989 and grossed $1,632,847.37. The S-79 sold for $63,800.
Rogers, H. – Yet another little-known entry in the long line of 19th century Philadelphia cent collectors. Rogers’ collection was sold through a S. K. Harzfeld auction on January 1/24-25/1881.
Root, James E. – Root’s collection, which included an “MS-70 1793 AMERI.” from the Mickley collection, was sold in New York by Edward Cogan on December 16-18, 1878. The “AMERI” is today still considered CC-1.
Roper II, Jon L. – (1902-1983) Roper was educated at Princeton University. Beginning in 1925, he was employed with the Roper family firm, Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation. Roper joined the Navy at the start of World War II and the Navy felt they would be best served by having him remain in Norfolk where he served as superintendent of naval works. His numismatic interests were centered around colonial and early American coins. His collection was sold by Stack’s in 1983.
Roper, Dr. Lewis – (ca.1805-1850) Roper was a dentist. In 1849 he left his Philadelphia home to travel to the California gold fields. He died the following year on his journey back East. The sale of the Roper collection is believed to be the “First All-Coin US Sale” in which sufficient interest was taken by numismatists to take note of prices paid and the buyers. With a total of 698 lots, including some large cents, the sale was conducted by M. Thomas & Sons of Philadelphia on February 20-21, 1851 realizing $1,172.47.
Ropes, E. W. – Collection sold by New York Coin & Stamp Co.: Part I was sold December 15, 1893 and contained 150 large cents (including an S-80). Part II was sold February 28, 1899, with 105 large cents including an S-48.
Rose, Joseph H. – (1922-2003) Served as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes in the Central Pacific Theater during WWII. He began his career as a coin dealer in 1946. He joined Harmer Rooke Numismatists, Ltd. in 1969 and became president of the company in 1972. His collection, with 466 large cent lots, was auctioned by Harmer Rooke Numismatists, Ltd. on March 15, 1990.
Rosemont, Y. P. – His fine collection of cents, including 49 varieties of 1794, was auctioned by Thomas Elder in May 1924.
Roses, Dr. Allen D. – (1943-2016) A native of Paterson, New Jersey, Roses was the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland who escaped the Holocaust. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and completed his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He served in the USAF during the Vietnam war. He was a professor of neurology and neurobiology at Duke and chief of neurology at Duke University Medical Center before becoming senior vice president for genetics research and pharmacogenetics at GlaxoSmithKline which he joined in 1997. His medical interest lied in research surrounding Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to his coins he was a wine aficionado. His large cents were distributed by his estate beginning in 2017.
Ross, Allen G. – (b.1960) Allen, a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a flooring contractor in Southern California, serving the home building industry. He had never seen a large cent until he was 43 years old. Once exposed to the coins his passion grew rapidly and today borders on addiction. His first focus was late date large cents by variety and he put together an extensive collection including die state progressions on interesting varieties. Once nearly complete with the late dates, he began to focus on early dates. In researching early-date history he developed a passion for the year 1794 for its many varieties, personalities and history. Like many, Allen collected the common varieties, and “low hanging fruit”, he is currently focused on the rarer 1794 varieties and trying to acquire all 58 collectible varieties.
Ross, Dr. George R. – Ross wrote a series of articles on varieties for The Numismatist published between 1919 and 1931 though later generations of numismatists have corrected much of his work on die characteristics and emission sequence. His collection of 362 large cents was part of the Elder sale of May 13-15, 1937.
Ruby, Dr. Charles – (1900-1997) A native of Carthage, Indiana, Ruby relocated to California in 1926. He held a law degree and began teaching law and history at Fullerton College in 1929. He remained there, in a teaching capacity, for 37 years. Ruby was a collector of stamps, autographs, guns, Indian artifacts, glassware and art as well as coins. The Ruby large cent collection was said to be second only to that of the ANS. His collection was both broad and deep and contained many coins of great condition, great pedigree and great rarity. The first Ruby sale was conducted by Superior Galleries on February 11-13, 1974 and contained 364 lots of early date large cents. The Ruby sale part III was on February 10-12, 1975 and contained 282 more early date large cents along with other cents. Other duplicates were sold through other auctions and private sales. He spent his last years in a Fullerton, California nursing home where he died at age 96.
Rucker, M.D., Ralph – (1942-.2018) Originally an Oklahoma product, Ralph practiced neonatology and pediatric pulmonary medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, CA during the 1970’s and 80’s; a period when an explosion in Large Cent sales and interest was heating up, prompting a large number of specialized auctions in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area. Over the next 2 ½ decades, he steadily assembled a pleasing collection of the early dates. After retiring to his ranch in northeastern Oklahoma, Ralph continued his pursuit. He completed the entire set of Early Date varieties by Sheldon numbers at the 2007 EAC convention in St. Louis where it was announced that he had gotten the “ultimate stopper” S-79. With his accomplishment, Ralph became the 12th person in large cent history to complete the Sheldon series, and the first in 10 years to do so.
Ruddy, James F. – (1933-2013) Ruddy was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1933. He attended the State University of New York from 1950 to 1953. He began collecting coins in 1953 and his career as a coin dealer started the following year. He became acquainted with Q. David Bowers a short time later, and the two entered a partnership in 1957. Ruddy was the author of Photograde in 1970 .
Ruttenberg, Gary M. – (b. 1945) A Detroit, Michigan native and, later, a Los Angeles resident where he has had a law practice, beginning in 1971. His collection was sold in two parts: Part I, his late date large cents, was conducted by McCawley-Grellman on August 19, 1995; part II, his half cents and early dates, was sold on August 17, 1996. In addition to his law practice, Gary was an accomplished ultra-marathoner, having completed over 60 marathons (26.2 miles) and 70 ultra-marathons, including fourteen 100 milers.
Ryder, Hillyer – (1851-1928) His collection was bought by Wayte Raymond on May 5, 1945 for $30,000. Some of his coins (160 large cents) were included in his auction of November 20, 1945. Others were included in New Netherlands sale of September 26, 1953. The sale contained 87 early dates and 121 middle and late dates. Author of The Colonial Coins of Vermont and The Copper Coins of Massachusetts.
Saltus, J. Sanford – (1853-1922) Known as the man who gave his life to numismatics. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut on March 9, 1853 and died in London, England on June 23, 1922 while in town to attend a meeting of the British Numismatic Society. The coroner’s report listed that his was “Death by Misadventure.” He was found in his hotel room with a glass of ginger ale and also a glass containing a solution of potassium cyanide used for cleaning coins. It is believed that he inadvertently drank from the wrong glass. At least some of his coins were donated to the American Numismatic Society.
Salyards, M.D., Harry E. – (b.1949) A retired family physician living in Nebraska and collector of American coins since age 10. Harry has been a collector of large cents since 1974. He joined EAC in 1979 and has been editor of EAC’s “Penny-Wise” since 1986. He has come “full circle” with his collecting: from a medium grade date set, to a Redbook variety set, through a “die variety and die state” period surrounding 1802’s and 1803’s, to a current focus on 1794 large cents by obverse die.
Sampson, Henry Griswold – (c.1840-1899) Born in Vermont, Griswold was in business as a coin dealer in New York City. Sampson conducted 22 auctions from 1881 to 1889, after a brief four-sale partnership with H. P. Smith. In addition to his numismatic activities Sampson sold insurance and printing presses.
Sanford, E. Harrison – The Sanford catalog, with plates, is “one of the great rarities of the Cogan series.” Among the coins on the plates are depicted “choice large cents….” His collection was auctioned by John W. Haseltine on November 27, 1874.
Sargent, Arthur Hewes – (1856-1932) A Boston resident and longtime collector, Sargent began spending much time overseas. In fact, passport application records show that he was living in Paris c. 1921. His attraction to overseas travel apparently helped him to decide to sell his collection. His collection, with 260 large cent lots, was sold at auction by S. H. Chapman on June 20, 1913.
Sartoris, Dr. Kenneth J. – (1908-1978) A physician from Schenectady, New York, Sartoris’ collection was sold, in 1982 and was catalogued by John Adams, Del Bland and Denis Loring.
Saslow, Richard – Collection sold by RARCOA, on January 18, 1969, included 114 large cent lots.
Sawicki, Joseph F. – (1881-1969) Born in Poland, Sawicki became a Municipal court judge in Cleveland, Ohio from 1919 to 1933. Collection sold by Stack’s on February 27, 1954 contained 180 large cents; about 150 were uncirculated.
Schafer, Lawrence (b. 1973) “Larry” is a Pittsburgh native currently residing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He is a 1996 graduate of Duquesne University School of Pharmacy. Larry is assembling a set of 1794’s with an eye towards pedigree, die state, color, and errors. In April 2021 he was able to acquire the only known brockage 1794 cent (an S-38 identifiable by reverse die state). Larry enjoys hiking and our country’s natural beauty, especially the American West, and in particular Bryce Canyon, Utah. He thinks it not a coincidence there are the same number of national parks as there are varieties of 94’s (Fifty-Eight)
Scheer, Lillian – Served as housekeeper to Henry Clay Hines. She received a number of large cents from his collection; they were later sold to Willard Blaisdell and Homer K. Downing.
Schuman, M.D., Robert A. – (b.1945) Schuman is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. He is a retired radiologist living in Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania. He began collecting at age 10 and worked at Mason-Dixon Coin Exchange (Thos. P. Warfield) from 1958 to 1963 where he learned to attribute and cherish large cents; especially 1794s. Schuman received national “large cent” recognition in 1971 when he discovered and purchased the finest known S-19b which had been misattributed, in the RARCOA Masters Sale, as an S-18b. He owned the finest set of 1794 “Heads of ’93” in collectors’ hands, which he sold through Heritage Auctions in August 2024, as well as possibly the greatest large cent error, a mint state, off center double strike S-28, which realized $588,000.
Scot, Robert – (1740–1823) Scot was born somewhere in the British Isles but the exact location is debatable. He was first trained as a watchmaker in England but later learned the art of engraving. Scot was best known as an engraver of flat work and the bank note plates in particular. He came to America in 1777 and engraved plates for subsistence money, bills of exchange and office scales used by Robert Morris as Superintendent of Finance during the Revolutionary War. In 1780 Scot was appointed as the state engraver of Virginia. He moved to Philadelphia in 1781. In November, 1793, Scott was commissioned as Chief Engraver of the U. S. Mint, by Mint Director David Rittenhouse, to replace the recently deceased Joseph Wright. Gardner is credited with the engraving of the 1794 large cent dies for the varieties now known as S-21 through S-66. He is also credited with design of the 1795-1797 $10 eagle, the 1796 Quarter (along with John Gardner), the 1797-1804 Heraldic Eagle, the 1794-1797 half cent, and the 1800-1808 draped bust type half cent. Scot died on November 1, 1823 while still serving as Chief Engraver at the Mint.
Scott, John Walter – (1845-1919) Scott was born in England immigrated to New York in 1863. Early on he was a collector of stamps and established the first stamp dealership in the USA. The stamp business was not a success so he tried his hand at the Western gold mines before returning the New York where he conducted the first stamp auction in the United States, on May 28, 1870. He created the Coin Collector’s Journal, in 1875, edited at first by Ed. Frossard and later by David Proskey. He issued fifty numismatic catalogs which were edited at first by David Proskey then Lyman Low beginning in 1888. He is also the creator of the Confederate half dollar re-strike.
Schwartz, Edward H. – Schwartz’s collection was sold by Abe Kosoff on October 11-12, 1961. The sale had 1,170 lots of large cents and included some selections belonging to Emanuel Taylor and Raymond Gallo.
Seagrave, Lincoln Taft – (1881-1921) Seagrave was a bank secretary from Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He was descended from 17th century Massachusetts settlers, and son of a 19th century manufacturer of woolen products. According to the 2/1903 Chapman Brothers catalog, Seagrave left the numismatic hobby to “pursue other interests.” He became director of the Mercantile Trust Company in Providence, Rhode Island.
Sears, Elmer S. (1874-1937) Sears was a dealer/collector who joined with Wayte Raymond, providing financial assistance, in the United States Coin Company. In 1908 he issued a fixed price list containing 257 of his large cents. Sears was a heavy buyer at the Beckwith sale of 1923. His October 9, 1918 sale contained 230 large cents. Sears discovered the 1803 NC-1.
Seavey, George F. – Seavey, of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, purchased choice cents from William J. Jenks and contributed coins for the 1868 Levick plate on 1793s. His collection contained 170 large cents and was sold by W. H. Strobridge on September 22-23, 1863. Additional coins (95 large cents) were in the Strobridge sale of June 21-22, 1864. Levick described the Seavey collection of cents as the finest in the country. His best coins were purchased privately by Lorin Parmelee in 1873.
Sewell, Alfred C. – Not much is known of Sewell other than that his name is embossed on a hard cover edition of the 1944 Oscar J. Pearl F.P.L. offered by Numismatic Gallery. It is assumed that he had more than just a passing fancy regarding the large coppers.
Shalowitz, Dr. Robert J. – (1951-2022) A Baltimore, Maryland native and a “founding father” of EAC (#260), Bob was an obstetrician/gynecologist in Akron, Ohio. He began collecting Lincoln cents in Whitman folders while in the sixth grade. As a boy, there were four coin shops within one block of his house in Baltimore. One shop had a tray of low-grade large cents, at $1 each, from which he completed a date run of late dates and became “hooked”. He obtained a copy of Penny Whimsy in 1967 and “discovered” an unattributed S-83; his large cent odyssey had begun. Shalowitz purchased the intact Denis Loring collection in 1974. “Shal” went on to collecting a “color set” as he claimed that the cents being offered had gotten too expensive. With one of the best “eyes for copper” Bob acted as intermediary in many important large cent transactions. Shalowitz most enjoyed the camaraderie that EAC offered. He loved being together, for hours sometimes, simply talking about large cents with fellow EACers.
Sheldon, Dr. William H. – (1898-1977) Sheldon was a physician and psychologist associated with the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. He became interested in large cents at age 10 while working for the Chapman brothers. He authored Early American Cents (1949) and, later, Penny Whimsy (1958) which brought together all previous writings on large cents and gave us the 70-point quantitative grading scale, an introductory condition census and the variety designations we use today. Sheldon sold his first collection to Charles Fisher in 1932 to finance his medical education. His second collection, containing 566 large cents, was consigned to Stack’s for their sale on October 15-22, 1938 and was advertised as “The Large Cent Sale of the Century.” His third collection included all 295 collectible and 30 non-collectible varieties and was sold to Roy E. Naftzger, Jr.
OBITUARY OF DR. WILLIAM HERBERT SHELDON, Ph.D., M.D. – 1898-1977
On Friday, September 16, 1977, William Herbert Sheldon died in his sleep. Soon to be 79 years old, he had lived a full life. Indeed, had he died in 1945 when mustered out of the U.S. Air Force with a seemingly incurable disease, “Doc” Sheldon would have left a list of accomplishments matched by few. The thirty-two borrowed years which followed permitted him to complete a series of important works – each extraordinary in itself, the whole of epic proportions.
Scientific journals will chronicle Sheldon’s academic degrees (four), the university faculties on which he served (six), and a copious body of professional writings. The latter include six major books, beginning with THE VARIETIES OF HUMAN PHYSIQUE in 1940 and ending with PROMETHEUS REVISITED published just two years ago.
It is as a numismatist that we knew him and pay tribute to the man. The avocation of collecting “the big coppers” is approximately 120 years old. Doctor Sheldon’s active participation in the hobby spanned 70 of these 120 years. Beginning with “the cigar box of old cents” studiously scrutinized on the kitchen table in that small New England village of Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, young Sheldon graduated to a boyhood apprenticeship under cousin George Arnold, a well-known Providence dealer. At the ripe old age of twelve, he moved on to the senior circuit of numismatics, making regular weekend pilgrimages to the Philadelphia store of the famous Henry Chapman. There he served as a general factotum but spent his happiest hours sifting the huge Chapman inventory for rare varieties. Clearly, our first cherry picker was destined for bigger things.
Doc Sheldon was never a wealthy man, and the history of his collecting shows this to be the case. If one excludes coins from the Pawtuxet cigar box, many of which found their way into his beloved color set, he had three collections. The first was sold to Charles Fisher in 1932 to finance Sheldon’s internship at the University of Chicago. The second was sold at auction by Stack’s in 1938, the proceeds going to purchase photographic supplies for an important scientific venture.
The doctor’s final and famous collection was begun while he was at Harvard in 1939. There he had frequent contact with his longtime friend, Carl Wurtzbach, who in turn had access to many items from the Brand Hoard as well as to necessitous dispositions by the then insolvent Henry Hines. In 1942, Sheldon signed up for his second World War. Upon returning in 1945, he made for Fort Worth where B. Max Mehl had just repurchased many of the choicest pieces from his extensive Dr. George French offering of 1929. The Doc bought liberally from this source, financing a portion of the venture by trading off several important cents to George Clapp, a friend and mentor. The biggest piece of the mosaic fell into place in 1947 with the acquisition of the coins in the Henry Hines estate. Although Hines had been forced to sell some of his coins during his lifetime, what remained was quite extraordinary. In subsequent years, Sheldon used the abundance of Hines’ duplicates to pry loose gem coins from T. James Clarke, C. Douglas Smith, and , many others. The finishing touch was provided by the purchase of seven mint red cents from the St. Oswald sale of 1964. Long before this last major accession, the Sheldon collection had become the finest set of large cents ever assembled. Not only was it the best in terms of quality, but its 295 listed varieties and 30 non-collectibles exceeded the 323 varieties amassed by the indefatigable George Clapp.
Eclipsing even his accomplishments as a collector were Dr. Sheldon’s contributions to large cent literature. His EARLY AMERICAN CENTS (1948) and PENNY WHIMSY (1958) are classics, combining as they do, both comprehensiveness and originality. In these books, he succeeded as no numismatist before him in “helping a younger generation” to understand an entire series and in giving “the amateur cent lover a chance so that he may trade a bit ….. and own a few of the rarities without thereby losing his shirt.”
In addition to these obvious and exceptional virtues, the man’s writing possessed yet another dimension. Sheldon was a poet; and, with his gift of expression, he was able to articulate the essence of what we are about. Why do we collect? “We always live in a valley lying between the nostalgic past and an unknown future. To own a family of the early cents is in some measure to command a causeway between …. the past …. and the future.” What do we collect? We collect “these symbols of humility and integrity on which are imprinted the bright hope of yesterday morning.” How do we maintain what we own?” ” ……. In general, value can be improved rarely and with great difficulty, but it can be lessened with no trouble at all.”
William Herbert Sheldon was a giant in numismatics. He gave us answers. He gave us his example. He gave of himself to friends who were so fortunate as to know him. His legacy will endure as long as there are people who collect.
John W. Adams September 26, 1977
OBITUARY OF WILLIAM H. SHELDON – New York Times – September 18, 1977
William H. Sheldon, 78; Correlated Physiques And Traits of Behavior
Dr. William Herbert Sheldon, a psychologist and researcher in correlating human biology and physique with social behavior, died Friday of a heart ailment at his office at the Biological Humanics Center in Cambridge, Mass. He was 78 years old.
Dr. Sheldon made major contributions to classification and refining the relationships between the physique and personality of humans, advancing a formula of a somatype of each each individual. Each person, he held, is primarily an endomorph, a mesomorph or an ectomorph, although each has variations of all three components.
An endomorph has a chunky body and is an extrovert who expresses his emotions verbally, sometimes weeping under stress. A mesomorph, with an athletic , muscular body, is an extrovert whose expression is in physical actions. An ectomorph, thin and often tall, is an introvert, inhibited and thoughtful, and under pressure seeks privacy and contemplation.
Headed Research Center
Dr. Sheldon, who lived in Pawtuxet, R.I., was the director of the research center in Cambridge and Professor Emeritus of the University of Oregon Medical School, where he was a clinical professor of medicine from 1951 to 1970.
From 1946 to 1959, he was the director of the Constitution Laboratory of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, and he taught and conducted research at the universities of Chicago, Wisconsin, Harvard and California and the Rockland State Hospital in Orangeburg, N.Y.
Dr. Sheldon was born in Warwick, R.I. A colleague described him yesterday as mainly an ectomorph, and a dedicated scholar who had deep interest as a naturalist.
He served as a second lieutenant in the Army in World War I and as a lieutenant colonel in the Army’s Medical Corps in World War II. His wife, the former Milancie Hil, died 10 years ago. The funeral will be private.
Sherman, Dr. Eugene – Born in Bronx, New York, Sherman is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. He continued his education with medical training at Pittsburgh, Georgetown, and UCLA. He has been an obsessed coin collector since the age of eight when he would read B. Max Mehl’s Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia by flashlight under the covers when his parents thought he was asleep.
Shintaku, Ronald – Ron resides in southern California, and is a graduate of the University of California. In 1963, he was introduced to coin collecting by a schoolmate, who initiated his collection interest, and also to acquire a copy of the “Red Book”. After reviewing the Red Book 16th Edition, he was amazed at the variety of US coins that could be collected. But, it was on page 66, top of the page, a grainy black and white photo of a 1793 Chain-type, “AMERI” large cent which lit his enthusiasm and continued pursuit in collecting “the old large pennies”. Ron also purchased his first large cent in 1963 from a Woolworth’s variety store, a lightly corroded 1845 N2 for the princely sum of $4.50. And, later acquired his first early date variety in 1969, an S70 in G4, from a schoolmate who worked part-time in at a local coin shop. Currently, Ron is working on assembling a mid- to medium-high grade 1793-1857 date set with certified coins from PCGS or NGC. And, recently also began a Sheldon 1793 variety set, having acquired the S7, S15 and S16 from the 2012 Scott Barrett Early Date collection sale.
Shorthouse, E. – The collection of Shorthouse included an XF Chain AMERI and other U.S. large cents and was sold by S.H. & H. Chapman in New York on December 6, 1889.
Shurtleff, Dr. Augustine – (1828-1901) Dr. Shurtleff was a resident of Brookline, Massachusetts and the first person to publish a study of cents. His work, “About Cents” first appeared on the front page of the Boston Evening Transcript on March 1, 1859. It covered most of the cents from 1793 to 1857 but with particular attention to the year 1793. He noted 11 different varieties of that year. The portion of his article pertaining to 1793 was reprinted in the April 1859 issue of the Historical Magazine. His descriptions were so good that Crosby copied them 10 years later in his American Journal of Numismatics monograph which accompanied Levick’s plate depicting the 1793s. Shurtleff, along with Jeremiah Colburn and Rev. Joseph Finotti were the founders of the Boston Numismatic Society in the late 1850s.
Siedlecki, Rev. Stanislaus – (1854-1910) A catholic priest from the diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota. He was born in Austria-Poland and was ordained a priest in 1878. He immigrated to America in 1888 and was assigned Saint Stanislaus church in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In 1892, scandal led to his transfer to St. Mary’s Polish church in Blossburg, Pennsylvania. He was later transferred to St. Adalbert Church in Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania. Siedlecki was a client of Henry Chapman to whom his collection was consigned after his death. His collection was sold by Henry Chapman on April 22, 1911. In the catalog Chapman stated that Siedlecki had a coin collection which “included magnificent large cents of 1794, 1796, 1797, 1802 and 1803.” He was buried in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Plymouth, Pennsylvania.
Silberman, Herbert A. – (1916-2001) Silberman was founder and first president (1967-1977) of the Early American Coppers Club (EAC) and held membership #13. He formed the club after placing a small notice in the November 9, 1966 issue of Coin World. The ad was a listing of some of his duplicates for sale and concluded with “If you collect Large Cents, please write. We are trying to start a mail club to trade and discuss this series”. One year later, on November 1, 1967, the Early American Coppers Club reached the level of 93 charter members. The number of charter members symbolically commemorated 1793, the year that the first cents were struck. Dr. William H. Sheldon received charter membership # 1. Herb was a contributing editor from the first issue of the club’s bi-monthly newsletter, Penny Wise, until January 15, 2001. Herb and Warren Lapp were joint editors of United States large Cents 1793-1857 (1975). Without Herb Silberman’s dream and energy, EAC would most likely not exist and large cent collecting would not have advanced as it has.
Simpson, F. G. – (b.1860) Simpson was a native of Wallingford, Connecticut and a pattern maker with a silver company. His collection, containing some large cents, was sold by S. H. Chapman on June 9, 1924.
Sleicher, William – Proprietor of a large iron works in Troy, New York, Sleicher formed a wonderful collection featuring many large cents. He bought heavily at the Mougey and Lyman sales. His collection, containing 300 lots of large cents, was sold by S. H. Chapman on October 9-10, 1919.
Sloss, Dr. James O. – (1913-1987) Sloss was a native of Beaver, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1941 and served in the Army Medical Corps during WWII. Ted Naftzger actually purchased all of the Sloss large cents, took out the pieces he wanted for his own collection, and sold the remainder through Abe Kosoff under the Sloss name. The sale of this collection was conducted at the Park-Sheraton Hotel in New York City, on October 21, 1959. There were 356 large cent lots, some of which were attributed to another [unnamed] collector. Among the better offerings were the Cogan-Cleneay S-1 “AMERI”, the Beckwith S-2, and the Hines S-189; the finest known 1799.
Smith, C. Douglas – (1914-1999) A Brooklyn resident and 42-year employee of the Baltimore & Ohio and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroads. Smith was charter member #79 of EAC. In 1947, Smith began collecting large cent varieties under the tutelage of Dr. William H. Sheldon and Homer K. Downing. Over the years he has put together no less than five separate sets of 1794 varieties but never had all 58 collectible varieties at one time. Smith was also active as a cataloger of some of Stack’s more important sales. Smith believed that the draped bust design was the most beautiful to appear on an American coin and decided to specialize in large cent years 1796-1807. He purchased 128 draped busts from the Downing sale of 1952 and, in 1956, completed a set of all collectible varieties of those years.
Smith, Dewitt Sheldon – (1840-1908) Born in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, during the Civil War Dewitt served as 2nd lieutenant of company H of the 49th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He served as captain of the company during the battle of Port Hudson. After the war he went to work in the family business, the Smith Paper Company. Smith had one of the finest collections of pioneer gold. He owned the finest known Fallen 4, from the Chapman auction of 1895.
Smith, Harlan P. – (1839-1902) In the wholesale fruit business until 1876 when he entered the coin business. In 1888, he partnered with David Proskey to form the New York Coin & Stamp Company. Smith’s collection, including 120 large cent lots, was sold by the Chapman brothers on May 8-11, 1906.
Smith, Ludwig T. – (1920-1994) Smith was a native of Brooklyn, NY. He studied law and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1946 later passing the New Jersey Bar. He became Law Secretary to the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. In 1960, Lou was hired as General Attorney by Litton Industries. This position resulted in much world travel. While in India he developed Hepatitis C from a cholera vaccine received in Bombay. This eventually lead to his death. He spent his final years as a gentleman farmer in Grass Valley, California. The Smith collection of colonials, half cents and large cents was sold by Chris Victor-McCawley & Bob Grellman in Orlando, Florida on January 7, 1995.
Smith, Peter C. – (b. 1944) A Minnesota native, Smith has been Historian for EAC since 1979. Smith authored The Story of the Starred Reverse Cent (1986) and is a collector of early and middle date large cents by die variety. Pete also authored Names with Notes, a collection of biographical information on copper people.
Smith, William R. T. – (b.1938) President of EAC from 1978 to 1981. Smith authored a series of articles, Cents and Nonsense, in Penny Wise editions from 1973 to 1983. His collection was sold privately during the 1970s.
Snow, Warren Buffington (1918-2006) A native of Chicago, Illinois, Buffington grew up in the Canal Zone where his father was stationed. He entered the United States Army and spent 5 years of wartime service in the South Pacific. He saw action in Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima where he witnessed the raising of the flag in 1945. After the war, he completed studies at the University of Delaware as a chemical engineer first working at Dupont and later as sanitation engineer of the New Hampshire Water Supply ad Pollution Commission. A quiet collector, his interest was mainly in high quality coins with a focus on proof large cents. His collection was sold by Stack’s in November, 2008.
Soverel, Herbert F. – Collection sold by United States Coin Company in New York on October 23, 1913 and contained beautiful 1793s along with the finest 1799 ever offered at auction. He also had a large collection of die varieties.
Spingarn, Joel W. – (1921-2018) A World War II veteran, Spingarn was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 20, 1921 “with the collecting bug.” He started collecting stamps as a teenager until he “became smitten with photography” which became his life-long vocation. A resident of Redding, Connecticut, he operated a photo supply store in Queens, New York for 37 years. The “collecting bug” returned one day when, at a hotel in which he was staying, he happened upon a coin show in progress. He became fascinated and decided to assemble a type set of U. S. coins. He later met EACer Dick Moore, at a Long Island coin show, who introduced him to large cents. Joel completed the Sheldon varieties except for S-79 and S-217. He sold his large cents privately and subsequently collected Conder tokens and US paper money. Spingarn passed away on May 14, 2018. A military veteran, he is buried in the Long Island National Cemetary.
Stack, Harvey G. – (1928-2022) The son of Morton Stack, Harvey went to work full time in 1947 for the family business, working alongside his father, uncle, and cousins Norman and Benjamin. His career would last more than 70 years. He helped assemble the cabinet of gold coins by Josiah K. Lilly, chariman of the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company. After Lilly’s death in 1966 his collection of over 6,000 coins became part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian. In 1996 he appeared before the U.S. House Banking Committee to propose the 50 State Quarters Program. In 2011 Stack’s merged with Bowers and Merena to become Stack’s Bowers Galleries.
Stack, Morton M. – (1901-1967) Internationaly famous coin collector and dealer, he founded Stack’s Rare Coins in 1933 at 690 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan and held their first public auction in 1935. He was one of the editors and partners of the Numismatics News, a trade journal published in New York City.
Staples, Roscoe E., – (d.1943) A native of Maine and a successful businessman, Staples joined the Maine National Guard in 1934 as a second lieutenant eventually rising to captain in 1941. He embarked for the Pacific theatre in 1942. Staples was killed by a Japanese sniper during the taking of the Munda airfield on August 2, 1943 and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for bravery. Staples had acquired the famous Parmelee Strawberry Leaf cent from James Kelly in 1941 for $2,750. The coin remained with the Staples family until it was sold at auction by American Numismatic Rarities on November 30, 2004 realizing $414,000; just over four years later, in January 2009, the coin was sold again…this time for $862,500.
Starr, Floyd T. – (1904-1971) Starr was a lifelong Pennsylvanian and Financial Vice President for Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. A mystery in life, Starr requested there be no publicity of his death. During life references to him noted him as a “Philadelphia collector” and after his death the collection was called the “Philadelphia Estate.” Starr had one strong bias in his collecting; he wanted the best he could get. He had no time for mediocrity in coins or anything else. In 1945, Starr bought 267 late date cents, from the Newcomb collection, for $5,350. He also bought the late date collection of Henry Hines through Numismatic Gallery. Duplicates from the two collections, 509 large cents, were sold in the 1949 ANA sale. His collection was sold by Stack’s; Part I on June 13-14, 1984 and Part II in December 1984. The sales were cataloged by Denis Loring, C. Douglas Smith and Julius “Jules” Reiver.
Stearns, Charles H. – (1820-1904) A grocer and later a cabinet maker by trade. Charles was the son of William and Joanna Stearns. He was born in Paris, Maine and lived most of his life in the communities of Wakefield and Reading, Massachusetts. He also served as a local postmaster for many years. He married Henrietta cook Chowdrey in 1844 and had four children including a son Clinton H. Stearns who acquired his collection upon his death in 1904. Charles’ collection was especially strong in Massachusetts silver coinage.
Stearns, Clinton H. – (c.1861 – 1936) Son of Charles H. Stearns. Clinton acquired his fathers collection in 1904. He appears to have added certain early date large cents from the Lymon Low sale of 3/7/1907. The Stearns collection eventually passed to Clinton’s son, George Stearns (c.1896-1965). The entire Stearns family collection was sold by Mayflower Coin Auctions in December 1966. Clinton had three children; George (died 1965), Helen (died 1968) and Gertrude (died 1985). None of his children had children of their own. It may be that any coins remaining unsold wound up with Gertrude until her death.
Steigerwalt, Charles T. – (1858-1912) Steigerwalt was a life-long resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1900, he was the discoverer of the most difficult collectible 1794 variety, S-37; often referred to as the “Steigerwalt Variety.” He conducted auctions and issued fixed price lists. Steigerwalt purchased W. W. Hays’ collection in 1900 and the Henry Phelps collection in 1901. The Hays-Phelps 1794s were in his fixed price list of October 1903. Steigerwalt offered the set for $1,000 in the August issue of The Numismatist. Eventually, the set was purchased by Charles Zug and later auctioned by Lyman Low in 1907.
Sternberg, Henry A. (1875-1955) A resident of Dundee, Illinois, Sternberg had a general store from which he retired in 1923. In 1930 he bought some of the French collection. He consigned coins to the J. C. Morganthau Sale #305 of April 7-8, 1933. The sale included coins from the Beckwith and French collections and offered an opportunity for cent collectors to “secure some of the finest and most famous Cents in existence. Cents which have been in the great Collections of the past”. More of his coins were sold at auction by Bolender on March 2, 1956 including 133 large cents, 40 of which were 1794s.
Sternlicht, Eugene (b.1954 ) Eugene was born in Chicago and entered the US Army in 1972 where he studied x-ray technology and was awarded the American Registry of Radiologic Technology certificate. He later studied at Northeastern University and ultimately received a bachelor’s degree in Health Management from the State University of New York in 1981. He was “bitten” by the “coin bug” early and sold his first coin, for a profit, in 1967; this sealed his future. He began attending Sunday shows in 1975 and moved to Florida in 1983. Eugene originally wanted to collect 1793s but found them a bit expensive so he assumed that 1794s would be more affordable. He eventually gathered together 51 varieties of 1794 and also started on others in the Sheldon series. He ultimately owned 220 different Sheldon varieties.
Stewart, Frank H. – (1873-1948) Though he was not a traditional large cent personality, Stewart is included herein as he owned the Stewart Electric Company on North Seventh Street in Philadelphia. He was the final owner of the buildings which comprised the first U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. Despite his attempts to have the Mint preserved, the building was eventually demolished in 1911. He wrote a History of the First United States Mint, still an important reference, and commissioned Edwin Lamasure to prepare a painting of the buildings as they may have looked in the 1790s. Research shows that, unlike the bucolic, stand-alone look of the Mint buildings in the painting, it was located in a densely inhabited area of Philadelphia. Stewart had a grouping of large cents which he donated.
Stickney, Matthew Adams – (1805-1894) Stickney was a resident of Salem, Massachusetts. “About 1823 he began to collect coins and was probably the first person in America to form a systematic collection of the various dates in the several series.” “He was a gentleman of great refinement and gentleness of character, ever willing to be of service in our chosen science as is attested by his aid to Mr. S. S. Crosby, when he was preparing him monumental work on the Colonial, State, and Washington coins in 1873-1875, supplying many of the coins from his great collection to illustrate the book .” [H. Chapman] His was a “famous early collection, perhaps the best” according to H. Chapman. The sale was Chapman’s first major production after breaking up with his brother and he put every effort in preparing the catalog which is alluded to in his introductory statement; “to prepare this catalog has been a labor of love.” The auction took place June 25-29, 1907.
Stillinger, Ph.D., Frank H. – (b.1934) Frank was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and his earliest childhood was spent in the small New Jersey towns of Ewingville, Pennington, and Boonton. Frank holds a B.S. in chemistry (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Rochester (1955) and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry from Yale University (1958.) His professional career included 42 years (1959-2001) as a basic research scientist at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey. He is currently (2014) part of the Chemistry Department at Princeton University. Frank became EAC member no. 675 in January 1978. His initial interest in the large cent series arose soon after the end of World War II, but was temporarily interrupted by higher education obligations at the University of Rochester and at Yale. However, the pursuit of early, middle, and late date large cents resumed in 1960 and has persisted for the following half century. His recent collecting focus has involved late die states, and mint-caused errors. Frank also had a passion for a single Sheldon variety, the 1803 S-262, which he thought should not be an R-6 as described by Sheldon in Penny Whimsy. He bought at least 76 of them, mostly Fine or below.
Stoebner, Donald – (1947-2024) A native of Eureka, South Dakota. He was the Valedictorian of his high school class of 1965. Don spent seven years teaching before moving on to a pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University in 1978 and settling in Wisconsin for over 25 years. He was an original investor and founder of Town and Country Sanitation which grew to become one of the largest such operations in Wisconsin. After retiring in 2010 he moved back to Leola, South Dakota. Don’s numismatic interests were early date large cents with an emphasis on 1794 as well as capped bust half dimes by variety and remarriage. He became the twentieth person to assemble a complete Sheldon set of early American coppers. Stoebner’s collection was sold at auction by Heritage Galleries on September 5, 2019.
Storck, Sr., Arthur Maurice – (1922-2019) Of Portland, Maine, Storck, listed his occupation as “stamp and coin” in their 1962 city directory. His parents were both born in Russia and listed their original name as “Stock”. He enlisted in the US Marines reserve at age 14 and later, at age 17, transferred to the Army and was assigned to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii in 1940. There he experienced the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He saw battle on Guadalcanal and was severely wounded in the Philippines. He met his future wife while in New Zealand. After the war he settled in Arizona where he started a coin business. He, along with several notable numismatists, (Abe Kosoff, Ambassador and Mrs. Henry Norweb, John J. Pittman, James P. Randall and others) attended the King Farouk Sale held in Cairo, Egypt. He joined the ANA in 1948 and contributed to the Red Book of 1960 and the Blue Book of 1964. . Nothing is known of his collecting.
Storm, Jackson – His collection of early cents was sold via Denis Loring to Robert Matthews on August 1, 1984. His middle and late date large cents were sold to Roy Rauch who later consigned them to McIntire for auction on June 10, 1988.
St. Oswald, Lord – On October 13, 1964, this long-hidden collection was auctioned by Christie, Manson & Woods in London. It contained many uncirculated examples of United States copper and silver coinages of the years 1794 and 1795. Little is known about Major Sir Rowland Denys Guy Winn, M. C., 4th Baron St Oswald, but at the time of this sale bearing his name it was stated that he had visited America in 1795 and had stopped by the Philadelphia Mint where he obtained examples of coinage from these years. Although the auction was not publicized in America, word spread, and the sale was well attended by American bidders and their agents.
Straus, Philip G. – Straus’ collection, containing 310 large cents, was sold at auction by Stack’s on May 3, 1959. The cataloging was done by C. Douglas Smith and 30 of the coins were plated therein.
Streiner, Eric – A native of the Bronx, New York, Eric began dealing in coins before he was a teenager. He was just 21 years old when he handled the remarkable R. E. Naftzger, Jr., collection of large cents, a high-seven figure collection at the time when a million-dollar barrier for a single coin had not yet been broken. The consummate collector, Streiner is especially passionate about Tiffany material; items from his collection have been on public display, including a Tiffany collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Strickland, William – (1753-1834) An Englishman, Strickland was an accomplished man with varied interests including antiques, art, science, agriculture, and numismatics. In September 1794 he embarked on a ten month tour of America. After traversing New England he arrived in Philadelphia in December, spending four months in the new nation’s capitol. He knew a number of the Founding Fathers socially, with stops at Mount Vernon in April 1795 followed by Monticello in May of that year. Strickland would become a correspondent of both Washington and Jefferson upon his return to England. While in Philadelphia he took some coins as souveniors from the mint. These coins would be passed down through his descendants for the next 170 years before finally coming to auction as the Lord St. Oswald collection at Christie’s in 1964. There were twenty-four 1794 large cents in the collection with twenty-two being auctioned in 1964 and the remaining two coins in 1992. At the time of the 1964 Christie’s auction the great importance and superb condition of the coins were not fully appreciated. For years it was hypothesized that the coins were acquired in the year of issue by an ancestor of the auction’s consignor. This idea was disputed in the 1990’s. More recently, however, new research, archival, genealogical, and numismatic indeed support the acquisition of the coins by William Strickland during his 1794-1795 trip to America. Today, the Lord St. Oswald coins are highly prized and carry a pedigree, arguably, the greatest any coin can boast.
Strobridge, William Harvey – (b.1822) In 1861, Strobridge was selling Fairbanks scales in Baltimore, Maryland. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he move to New York, bringing with him a coin collection of some years building along with a collection of a Southern friend. These assets most likely provided his introduction into the coin world. He conducted twenty-nine sales between 1862 and 1878. He eventually lost his eyesight and his son attempted to carry on the business.
Strobridge, T. R. – Son of William H. Strobridge, he attempted to carry on his father’s business after the former lost his eyesight. T. R. conducted eight lackluster sales before terminating his attempts.
Stubblefied, Jerry – Jerry is a native of Fulton, Mississippi involved with the construction industry. Like many others, he began collecting cents as a child by filling holes in Whitman boards. In the 1990s, a friend boasted that he “had a complete set of pennies [sic] from 1793 to today’s date, including the 1856 flying eagle cent”. Though Jerry knew little about collecting the boast motivated his personal quest towards completing a date set of cents. After he had formed his date set he learned that there were three varieties of 1793: chain, wreath and liberty cap. He also learned there were a lot of other dates with major varieties. He then learned about Dr. Sheldon and the 300+ varieties he had identified; the chase was on. Stubblefield also collects half cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, etc. With the acquisition of S-37 and S-79 in March of 2012 Jerry became one of an elite group to have amassed all 302 collectible Sheldon varieties.
Stuller, Joe – Contributed to the Nofal-Kling sale conducted by Cape Kennedy Medals on July 3, 1976.
Sullivan, Lotus – Collection sold at auction by French’s on April 26, 1947 included high grade cents. Many were formerly from the French, Pearl and Michael F. Higgy collections.
Sunday, William F. – He served several terms on the American Numismatic Association governing council and acted as the auctioneer for the association’s 1931 convention in Cincinnati. In his Encyclopedia of United States Half Cents, Walter Breen includes him in an uncomplimentary footnote, describing him as someone who tooled, polished, re-engraved, and removed corrosion from large cents.
Suros XII, Dr. Juan – (b. 1941) Suros is a native of Barcelona, Spain and was a cardiologist residing in Chula Vista, California. He was heir to a Catalonian nobility title. He gained part of his education as an exchange student in Oregon which ultimately resulted in his USA residency. Suros formed a fantastic “overdate” collection, containing many choice large cents, which was sold by Superior Stamp & Coin on February 8, 1999.
Switzer, J. Mark – A Southern Maryland resident, collector of middle and late date large cents. In 1996, Switzer founded the Early American Coppers Region 8 a moderated, weekly email newsletter. For many years Mark organized and operated the annual EAC Sale lot viewing with great efficiency.
Szymanski, Toby – See TAD information below.
TAD – Name given to a collection sold by Stack’s, on February 4-6, 1976, which contained 199 large cents. It was reported that the collection was from an anonymous collector who had died a few years earlier. The consignor was subsequently identified as Toby and Doris (nee Nelson) Szymanski. (see listing)
Taylor, Emmanuel – A close friend of Homer K. Downing, Taylor consigned coins to the Schwartz sale of 10/1961.
Taylor, Frank D. – A Pittsfield, Mass. resident, Taylor’s collection, rich in choice early large cents “in a superb state of preservation,” was sold, along with coins belonging to several other individuals, including Thomas H. Windle, by H. Chapman on June 17-18, 1908.
Taylor, Col. James H. – A resident of Charleston, South Carolina, Taylor’s collection was auctioned by William H. Strobridge on November 16, 1875. It contained some “superb copper” along with selections from others.
Temple, Joseph Armstrong – A Texan who served with the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Temple began collecting in 1850. His collection, including 202 large cents, was sold by G. C. Adams on April 29, 1905.
Terranova, Anthony J. – (born 1947) A native New Yorker, “Tony” is a full-time dealer who began his career in 1975 with Neil Berman and who has been in the business for himself since 1978. Terranova deals in only the finest coins often handling rare and historic pieces with an emphasis on quality. Tony is also an avid collector. Terranova has represented many major collectors and has acted as an intermediary for many important coin purchases.
Thompson, Phyllis – (1931-2018) A New York City native. Phyllis moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida as a child of ten before going off to college and finally settling in Dayton, Ohio. As a stay-at-home mom Phyllis discovered the joy of coin collecting through Lincoln cents. However, she later learned of the allure of Large Cents and went on to assemble “one of the finest collections of late dates ever formed by a female.” The collection was sold at auction by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on February 2, 2010.
Thurlow Esq., Bradbury K. – (1924-1990) A native if Brookline, Massachusetts. Thurlow was a graduate of Harvard University majoring in Greek and Italian literature. During WWII he served with the State Department as divisional assistant in European affairs. He was a stock broker residing in Morristown, New Jersey. Thurlow’s collection, with more than 300 large cents, was auctioned by Mayflower on December 8-9, 1967 and a sizable number of his coins appeared alongside those of Richard Saslow in RARCOA’s auction of January 1969. He also consigned 140 large cents to the Merkin Sale of September 25-26, 1970.
Thurston, J. A. – Nothing is known of Thurston. The Chapman brothers sold his collection in December 1888.
Trollan, Daniel W. – (b. 1952) A resident of Durango, Colorado, Trollan owned an automotive facility known as “Dan’s Sports Car” where he built and sold refurbished cars. Like Tom and Ray Magliozzi (aka Click & Clack) of National Public Radio [NPR] fame, he also repaired cars. Trollan’s interest in cents began in childhood when he used his weekly 50 cent allowance, plus maternal support, to buy rolls of cents from local banks. After seeing his first large cent, he was hooked. Dan joined EAC in 1989 as member no. 3154. Trollan went on to become one of the select group of collectors to have assembled a complete set of all 58 collectible 1794 varieties. In June 2010, he acquired the semi-unique 1794 NC-2 (the other example is impounded in the ANS), becoming only the third person (following Robinson S. Brown, Jr. and Daniel W. Holmes, Jr.) to assemble a complete set of ALL known 1794s – 58 collectible varieties and 11 non-collectible varieties. He sold his collection through Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on January 27, 2019. He partnered with James Neiswinter, who was selling his 1793s, to form a consolidated sale.
Turissini, Dr. Thomas J. – (1956-2024) A retired cardiologist residing in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Turissini began collecting small cents at age 6 and later became infatuated with early date Large Cents after purchasing a copy of Penny Whimsy in 1991. He joined EAC that same year and focused on collecting 1794 large cents, by die variety, and only in the finest condition.
Twining, J. S. – The Twining collection included a “gem 1804, and 1807/06” and was sold by W. Elliott Woodward on April 27-29, 1886. The sole plate in the catalog depicts mainly large cents.
Valentine, Jan – (b.1950) A retired commercial airline pilot and resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, who started collecting Lincoln cents in 1959 at the age of 9. Valentine purchased his first large cent in 1974 and became a member of EAC. He collects large cents with emphasis on 1816-1835 by die variety. Valentine is also an avid numismatic bibliophile with a virtual complete set of Chapman catalogs and many references on large cents to accommodate his “enduring passion and reverence for large cent collectors from the past.”
Valenziano, Jr., Donald K. – (1952-2009) An Omaha, Nebraska native though he lived in New York, Texas and ultimately settled in Chicago. He was a 30-year member of EAC and was member no. 783. Valenziano was a collector of half cents and a full time dealer in half and large cents from 1986 until his death from infectious complications following hip surgery on August 2, 2009. Well respected by all who knew him, Don also had a passion for world travel and had visited all of the continents except Antarctica.
Van Buskirk, Amos – (1862-1947) A Pottstown, Pennsylvania resident engaged in the hardware business and a true connoisseur of 1794s, Van Buskirk assembled a collection with no less than 54 varieties of 1794. This set, and other large cents totaling 435, were sold at auction by Henry Chapman on March 14, 1917.
Van Cleave, Philip Ford – (1920-1991) Van Cleave was born at Urbana, Illinois on August 14, 1920, the son of Harley and Bernice Van Cleave. His early years were spent in Urbana, Illinois. He died at Carlsbad, New Mexico on August 1, 1991. He attended Urbana High School and the University of Illinois. He served at the chief naturalist at the Petrified Forest National Park in the late 1950s. His collection of 388 cents included a complete Sheldon-numbered set of the early cents with two exceptions, S-79 and S-80. He also held 15 of the Sheldon “Non-Collectible” cents including a 1798 NC-2 that he cherry-picked from B. Max Mehl, a coin that is still tied for the finest known. Kagin’s sold his collection in February 1986.
Van Colle, Harold – (1915- 2007) A retired British pharmacist turned philosopher, therapist, and writer. Van Colle was in the room for the Lord St. Oswald sale at Christie’s in 1964 and helped return the finest known S-45 to America. He appears to have known Dr. Sheldon, though the details of their relatiionship is not fully known.
Van Roden, William – Van Roden was a resident of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. His collection, containing 222 large cent lots, was sold by Stack’s on May 2-4, 1968.
Varon, Solomon J. – Varon was a Portland, Oregon resident and a minor collector of large cents. Many of his large cents were sold through Jack Beymer in the late 1980s.
Victor-McCawley, Chris – (b.1952) A predominant, contemporary dealer, as well as a collector, residing in Frisco, Texas. Chris began collecting coins when his great-aunt Betty allowed him to look through her mayonnaise jar full of pennies while teaching him to play poker. At age 12 he began spending his allowance at Fred Coops coin shop in his native San Bernardino, California. In 1979, as a graduate student at Loyola University, Chris began collecting again and became a part time dealer to support his passion. He loves coins with a “great history and a story to tell.”
Wadlington, W. M. “Jack” – A retired commodity futures trader whose collection was distinguished by both completeness and quality. Except for 3 unique late date varieties his collection was complete by Sheldon and Newcomb numbers including 33 of the Sheldon non-collectibles, over 50 mint state early dates, 37 proof middle dates, 35 proof late dates, and many condition census cents. Wadlington dispersed his early date cents through a Chris Victor-McCawley FPL in July 2005.
Walter, John Whitney – Walter, who worked in the electronic “Special Systems” field, is admittedly “an incurable collector.” Often referred to as “Mr. 1796.” In 1960, Whitney set out to assemble a collection representing every coin variety minted in that year and went on to build what is certainly the most fantastic set of 1796 coins ever. His large cents were all of the highest level available. There were 17 finest known or finest available to collectors, 5 second finest known, 4 third finest and a dozen between fourth to sixth finest known. The collection was sold by Stack’s on May 4, 1999
Walton, George O. – (1905-1962) Walton’s “Fabulous Numismatic Collection” which included “decent copper” was sold in New York by Stack’s on October 2-5, 1963. Walton is most well known for having one of the 1913 Liberty Head nickles. After dying in a car accident on March 9, 1962, the coin ended up in a closet at his sister’s house in Virginia for 40 years until “rediscovered” in 2003 after Bowers and Merena Galleries offered $1 million for the coin’s return and sale.
Ward, John M. – John was born into depression-era Houston, Texas. His coin collecting blossomed in 1953 when, while enrolled in college, John began checking through $50 bags of unrolled cents; this led to his forming a complete set of Lincoln’s and eventually into large cents. His large cent collection was sold, (one week shy of the thirty-ninth anniversary his of acquiring Sheldon’s Early American Cents on April 12, 1965) along with those of Ron Adam and C. Douglas Smith, by Superior Galleries on September 5, 2004.
Ward, Jr., Philip H. – (1886-1963) Ward was born in Washington, D.C., the third son of Philip Henry Ward. After graduating from George Washington University he accepted a position with Walker Electric Company and moved to Philadelphia. He later founded Ward Electric Company and served as president of the firm until his retirement in 1930. Perusal of the 1964 Stack’s catalog of his collection shows a remarkable and varied numismatic interest but his main collecting interest was philately. Stack’s noted: “However, because of his preeminence in the stamp world, it was not generally known that he was a dedicated numismatist and included in his coin collection many unique and valuable items.
Warfield, Thomas P. – Owner of the Mason-Dixon Coin Exchange in Baltimore until the mid-1960s. Warfield was also a collector who, with the exception of the Garrett Collection, amassed the best all-around collection in the Baltimore area since Mendes Cohen in the late nineteenth century. Warfield’s collection, cataloged by Walter Breen, was sold by Associated Coin on October 28-29, 1955 and included were 609 lots of large cents.
Warner, Thomas – (1831-1890) A native of Massachusetts and, later, resident of Cohocton, New York. Warfield was in the lumber industry. He was a “principal” buyer at the George W. Merritt auction conducted by Ed. Frossard on January 3, 1879.
Warshawsky, Jon M. – (b.1966) Jon is a resident of San Diego, California and a certified public accountant. He started with small cents at age 12 in 1978. He began his early copper interests in 1991 with the purchase of a 1793 half cent. Upon finding a copy of Penny Whimsy, Jon promptly consigned the single half cent to an auction and began collecting the cents of 1794 and related literature. Jon was elected president of EAC in 2002. On Easter Sunday 2016, John was involved in a tragic automobile accident in San Diego which left him with life-altering injuries. However, he continues his interest in the friendships he established during many years with EAC.
Washburn, Frank DeWitt – (1907-1969) A well-known New England numismatist and the owner of the Copley Coin Company of Boston for many years. As a specialist in early American coins, Frank was familiar to large cent, half cent, and Colonial collectors throughout the country. At one time he had assembled an excellent set of large cents which he broke up when he became a coin dealer. He served three years in the Pacific Theater with the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was associated with various Boston banking institutions. Washburn, with Maurice M. Gould, formed the Copley Coin Co., a shop in the Copley Square section of Boston, which was known throughout the world. Although not a member of the EAC, he was a member of many of the country’s leading numismatic societies, a long time member of the ANA, and had served as Vice President of the Collectors Club of Boston.
Watters, Charles Aloysus – (1850-1932) A Liverpool, England collector. A British collection featuring a small but remarkable selection of American coins including “choice early cents.” Auctioned by Glendining & Co. on June 14-15, 1917.
Weinberg, Alan V. – (b.1944) A retired Los Angeles Police Department officer, Weinberg began collecting in his pre-teen years. The second coin he ever bought was a VF S-4 Chain cent from a Stack’s sale. “Mr. 1793” seeks only problem-free, clean-surfaced, original patina, EAC graded EF-45 to AU-58 cents of the year 1793. Weinberg is an avid collector of exonumia.
Wells, Jr., March – (1928-2019) Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wells began collecting Lincoln cents at an early age while growing up in Illinois. He was a longtime resident of Kentucky. Wells became interested in large cents in the 1970s after purchasing a few middle dates from John Ashby. He served as EAC president from 1999 to 2002. Wells’ middle date collection was sold by Superior Stamp & Coin on February 8, 2000 and he began focusing on the early date cents which were sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers on February 1, 2009.
Wetmore, Maj. William Boerum – (c.1850-1919) Wetmore was a military officer educated at West Point. Commissioned a second lieutenant on June 14, 1872. In 1873 he foiled an attempt at robbing the paymaster and fought against the Indians at Red River the following year. He resigned his commission in 1876 but was appointed a major in the New York Militia, serving that organization from 1879 to 1882. He had a notable collection of large cents which were included in his sale, along with an 1804 dollar, by the Chapman brothers on June 27-28, 1906.
Whitaker, M.D., Howard – (d.1983) Howard was a chemical engineer before becoming a surgeon with a practice in Savannah, Tennessee. He joined EAC in 1978 and was a good friend of John Wright who prepared his obituary for the November 1983 Penny Wise and also sold off his large cent collection in 1982. Howard loved his coins but saw them as a means to an end as is reflected in his philosophical [partial] quote: “The main needs of each person in large cents are not fulfilled in coin collecting (especially large cents), at least not in the coins themselves. The payoff is one large ego trip and it is part herd instinct. Interpersonal relations, combat, competition, comradeship, commercialism, and climbing to the top of the heap are the drives – the coins are only the counters or chips. Any other tokens would do if sophisticated enough.”
Whitman, C. T. – A New York City resident. Whitman’s collection, with 133 large cents, was sold by Chapman Brothers on August 10-11, 1893.
Wiggins Esq., J. K. – Collection containing American “silver and copper” coins was sold at auction in the store of Edward Cogan in Philadelphia on March 25-26, 1862.
Wilharm, Dr. George F. E. – (1853-1920) A resident of Crafton, Pennsylvania. Wilharm was an allopathist ( A method of treating disease with remedies that produce effects different from those caused by the disease itself) and graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Western Pennsylvania Medical College, 1880. He served with the Union Army during the Civil War. Wilharm’s collection, containing 425 large cent lots, was auctioned by B. Max Mehl on February 15, 1921.
Williams, Charles M. – An insurance executive in Cincinnati. His collection was purchased outright by Abner Kreisberg and Abe Kosoff (Numismatic Gallery) and sold through their F.P.L. sale #68 on November 14, 1950. The collection included an exceptional run of 668 large cent lots. Included was a Chain cent, the unique Sheldon NC-2, Strawberry Leaf cent, and a near complete run of 1794s.
Williamson, Raymond H. – (1913 – 1997) Williamson was EAC Charter member #54 and a numismatist for many years in which time he authored several papers which were published in The Numismatist, The Colonial Newspaper, Coin World, Searby’s Coin & Medal Bulletin, Penny-Wise and The Virginia Numismatist. He was a major contributor to Eric Newman’s The Fantastic 1804 Dollar.
Willins, Lilian S. – (1917-1997) A resident of Bridgton, Maine, Lilian was an early member of EAC. In the September 15, 1971 issue of Penny Wise Herb Silberman recounted the distinctive way in which she sold one of her pieces: she established a price and had every interested buyer write his name on a slip of paper. The lucky person whose name was drawn – Willard Blaisdell – then received the opportunity to purchase the coin; a choice VF example of 1801 S-217.
Wilson, Esq., David S. – (b.1826) Of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On the 1900 US Census he lists occupation as “retired attorney.” His collection, though mainly noted for it’s gold coins, contained choice large cents and half cents which are depicted on the last two plates of the sales catalog. His coins were sold by S. H. Chapman on March 13-14, 1907.
Wilson, James B. – A New York resident, Wilson’s coins produced a truly notable sale which was especially important for large cents. At the head of the large cent section Elder states: “The finest collection ever sold at auction.” Sold by Thomas Elder on October 5-7, 1908.
Windle, Thomas H. – (1833-1907) Of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Windle was in the hardware store business as well as fertilizer manufacturing. During the Civil War, he served as a band musician with the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry in Myers independent Company. Windle’s collection included 138 lower grade large cents and was sold along with the F. D. Taylor collection on June 17 & 18, 1908 by H. Chapman.
Winsor, Dr. Richard B. – (b.1830) A Providence, Rhode Island physician and pioneer in the field of large cent collecting. He was a fastidious purchaser and assembled coins which were cited in the Crosby-Levick census of 1793 issues (1869). Winsor’s collection was sold by the Chapman brothers on December 16-17, 1895. It contained 180 large cents including the NC-2 “Strawberry Leaf” variety which he is credited with having discovered.
Wismer, David C. – (1857-1949) Wismer was an authority and author on U.S. paper money. His collection was sold by New Netherlands: Part I on April 13-15, 1951 with 90 large cents and Part II on October 5, 1951. The large cents in the sale were actually from the Brand estate via Armin and Jane Brand. There were 38 lots of 1794 cents with either Hall-Brand or Wurtzbach-Brand pedigrees.
Wolf, Thomas – (1933-2010) Tom was born in Steubenville, Ohio; lived many years in Miami and, as a retired firefighter, lived in West Virginia until passing on May 15, 2010. Tom originally held EAC # 132 but when it was offered he purchased #31. He began collecting large cents in the early 1960s and accumulated quite a large amount. Tom sold a large portion of his Sheldon’s through the Goldberg Company with their 2/10/2008 Pre-Long Beach auction. He chose to assign his 1794s and the S12 to the May 10, 2008 EAC sale. He feels that EAC “helped so much in his early collecting years” and we wanted club members to have a good chance of acquiring these coins.
Wolfson, Samuel W. – (1909-1963) Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Wolfson’s family relocated to Jacksonville, Florida in 1912. He attended schools in the South and entered business with his father, Morris and his brother, Louis in 1932. They formed the Southern Pipe and Supply Co. which grew into one of the largest pipe supply companies in the Southeast. Samuel served in the US Navy during WWII and was discharged as a Lieutenant Commander. After the war he re-entered business with his four brothers and purchased the St. Johns Shipyard in 1946 as well as the Tampa Shipbuilding Corp. in 1948. The family was involved with shipyards, ship building, construction, paints, steel production and various diversified industries. He was instrumental in bringing International League Triple “A” baseball to Jacksonville for the first time in 1962. His copper was sold in Wolfson. Part Two: “United States Silver and Copper Coins” which was auctioned by Stack’s on May 3-4, 1963 in New York.
Woodin, William H. – (1868-1934) A resident of Berwick, Pennsylvania and was a graduate of Columbia University. He was general superintendent of the Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Company which built railroad cars. He was also a principal of the American Car and Foundry Company. Woodin served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from March 5 to December 31, 1933. His collection was sold at auction by the United States Coin Co. on May 19-21, 1915. There were 295 lots and there was some speculation regarding the source of the coins. Some sources show the coins were from H. O. Granberg while others indicate the Granberg coins had been sold to Woodin.
Woodward, William Elliot – (1825-1892) A resident of Roxbury, Massachusetts and in the apothecary trade. Woodward was both a collector and a dealer. Woodward’s collection was sold by his company on October 13-18, 1884.
Wright, John D. – (b.1939) A native of West Palm Beach, Florida and later, from 1971, a permanent resident of St. Joseph, Michigan. John was a graduate of Georgia Tech University and a Viet Nam veteran and an ex-United States Air Force KC-135 pilot (refueling tanker), and a retired systems programmer for Whirlpool Corporation. Wright was an avid collector and is a numismatic scholar. He first became fascinated with coins in 1951 when he saw a sign in the window of a shop stating that they would pay “$1,000 for an 1804 Dollar” or “$500 for a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel.” John bought his first large cent in 1954. He has been a member of EAC since its inception in 1967 and served as the organization treasurer from 1972 until 2008. John also collects Ptolemaic bronze and Siberian 10 Kopeks. He wrote the large cent section of the Red Book (Guidebook of U.S. Coins) in 1979 and, in 1992, authored CENT Book 1816-1839 which was chosen as the best US coin book of the year. John sold his entire large cent collection, in excess of 1,000 pieces, to Daniel W. Holmes, Jr. The coins were delivered at the FUN show in January 2006 using Chris Victor-McCawley and Robert Grellman as intermediaries. Those coins that Holmes did not want or need were then released for sale through Chris Victor-McCawley.
Wright, Joseph – (1756-1793) Wright was born July 16, 1756 in Bordentown, New Jersey, to affluent Quaker parents Joseph Wright and Patience Lovell-Wright. His family were vegetarians and father, Joseph, was a landowner and cooper. For many years, the artistic Patience had amused herself, and her children, by molding faces out of putty, bread dough, and wax. After her husband died in 1769, her pastime became a full-time occupation as she began to earn a living from molding portraits in tinted wax. After her husbands death, Patience moved to New York where she opened a wax works at 100 Queen Street. Patience was an extraordinary wax artist who pre-dated Madame “Marie” Tussaud (Anna Maria Grosholtz 1761-1850) by a bit and is considered to be America’s first female sculptress. In February, 1772, Patience set sail for England where her reputation preceded her and ultimately resulted in her being invited to Buckingham Palace, to create wax busts of King George III and Queen Charlotte. While in England, Patience was able to gather sensitive British military information and forwarded them, hidden inside her wax sculptures, through Benjamin Franklin to the Continental Congress. These messages helped the colonists in their efforts to defeat the British. After his father’s death in 1769, Joseph, Jr. may have been taken by a guardian, Manuel Eyre and his wife, who lived in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, an area today known as “Fishtown.” In that year, Joseph began studies at The College, Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania. In 1775, Joseph, Jr. joined his mother in England and became the first American-born student to matriculate in the Royal Academy of Arts at Somerset House in London where he studied for six years, until 1781. In 1781, Joseph, and his mother, traveled to Paris and, while there, he painted several portraits of Benjamin Franklin. After seven years in Europe, Wright returned to America in 1782, where he became the first of just two artists to make a plaster mold of George Washington. On December 5, 1789, Wright married Sarah Vandervoordt in Philadelphia. He began working at the nascent U. S. Mint in the second half of 1792. In August, 1793, Joseph was designated as the Mint’s “First Draughtsman and Diesinker.” Wright was responsible for the design of the Liberty Cap half and large cents. These designs were based upon the obverse of the Libertas Americana medal on which Wright is believed to have been the designer. Large Cent varieties S-12 to S-20 [the so-called heads of 1793] are his creations. Wright, contracted yellow fever and died on September 13, 1793. His wife Sarah also died from the fever. Recent research by William Eckberg, has cast doubt as to whether Wright actually designed the Liberty Cap. The research article appeared in the October 2017 issue of Penny Wise, the official publication of Early American Coppers, Inc. (EAC) on page 208.
Wrubel, Gordon J. – A charter member of Early American Coppers, Gordon is well known as an expert in all areas of U.S. coins. He became a full-time coin dealer in 1974, and joined the Professional Numismatists Guild in 1980. He is also a life member of the American Numismatic Association. Gordon is a founding member of Professional Coin Grading Service and served for several years as the firm’s Director of Grading. He is also a leading expert in rock-n-roll records.
Wurtzbach, Carl A. – (1864-1947) A cousin of Virgil Brand and President of the Lee National Bank. Wurtzbach was financed by Brand in assembling a collection of the finest large cents available. His collection included 164 cents transferred to Brand in 1919. The collection, which included 365 large cents, was sold in the Bluestone auction of February 28, 1948 which featured the Wurtzbach coins.
Wyatt, Russell Ansyle – (1904-1985) A native of Indiana and an executive at LeRoy’s Jewelers in Los Angeles, Wyatt acquired many large cents from Harry DeVore in the 1930s. His collection containing, 763 large cent lots, was sold by Superior Galleries September 30 – October 1, 1985.
Yancey, Shawn A. – (b.1970) A native of Wichita, Kansas and resident of Springfield, Missouri. Shawn is a 1993 graduate of Texas A & M University and began collecting coins at age 10 after his great-grandfather gave him a 1922 Peace Dollar. After a dormant period, Shawn’s interest in coins was rekindled in 1996 while visiting antique and estate sales with his parents. These events also featured some coins. He began buying and selling and soon caught the “early copper bug”. He became a dealer in 1998 and specializes in early copper. His personal copper interests are focused on the year 1793.
Yates, W. N. Esq., – Of Philadelphia, Yates’ fine set of Large Cents was sold, along with the collection of D. M. Kuntz, by H. Chapman on December 18, 1908. In the catalog Chapman describes Walter N. Yates as a “well known collector of cents.” The collection included 32 cents of 1794.
Young, Jack – An engineer by training, Jack started collecting as a youth, filling in a Lincoln penny board with his grandmother. He is a member of EAC, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC), C4, NLG, ANA, and ANS. Jack is one of the leading authorities in the hobby today on the subject of counterfeit coins. He has consulted with staff of the U.S. Senate finance committee, U.S. Secret Service, Customs and Border Patrol, and Department of Treasury. His work has appeared in various journals including The Numismatist. For his efforts Jack was awarded the Alan Kreuzer award by the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force in 2019 and the Sol Kaplan award by the Professional Numismatists Guild in 2022. He is the founder of the “Dark Side” Facebook counterfeit watch group. Jack continues to collect early date lower grade large cents by date and variety with his current focus on counterstamped examples.
Young, John P. – (b. 1873) A resident of Ithaca, New York and a professor at Cornell University. In the 1925 NY state census he listed his occupation as “scientist.” Young collaborated with Howard Newcomb on the 1956 reference UNITED STATES COPPER CENTS 1816-1857. He may have done some of the meticulous hand lettering. His collection was sold through several sales: Bluestone 87th (84 large cent lots), Bluestone 88th (200 large cents), Bluestone 89th (350 large cent lots), Bolender 181st sale of September 8, 1951 (389 large cent lots), Bolender 182nd sale on November 10, 1951 (300 large cent lots) and more.
Zabriskie, Capt. Andrew C. – (1853-1916) A resident of New York City, Zabriskie was a lifelong collector. His most lasting achievement as a collector is in the field of Political tokens and medals; most specifically his focus on the sixteenth president. His pioneering work, “A Descriptive Catalogue of the Political and memorial Medals Struck in Honor of Abraham Lincoln”, which he wrote and published in 1873. Only seventy-five copies were printed, but it became the foundation of the collecting area which has become known as Lincolniana.” His collection, which included superb large cents, was sold by H. Chapman on June 3-4, 1909.
Zug, Charles G. – (1872-1908) A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Zug died at the early age of 36 from heart failure, reportedly caused by “over-exertion through excessive bicycle riding while a lad.” Zug purchased the Hays-Phelps set of 1794 cents from Steigerwalt in 1906 and consigned them for auction by Lyman Low on March 7, 1907. The consignment had 60 large cents. Zug’s primary collection, consisting mainly of gold coins, was sold by S.H. Chapman on October 22, 1909.