Harry W. Rapp’s Extensions to Howland Wood’s Commemorative Coinage of the United States

In 2013, Bruce Smith described a manuscript containing Harry W. Rapp’s extensions to the 1922 Howland Wood text on U.S. commemoratives. Wood’s monograph, covering 1892-1922, was extended by Rapp to 1939. Bruce Smith has recently loaned this manuscript to the Newman Portal for scanning, and the full document is now available. Little of Harry Rapp is known, though he appears to have been quite active in the Detroit Coin Club in the 1920s and 1930s, based on club minutes published in The Numismatist. He seems to have appreciated numismatic books, as the June 1940 Numismatist notes “Harry Rapp suggested having the club list the books and other material of its library and distribute same among its members. Several good numismatic books are available in the club library and he urged members to take advantage of our ownership.”  Dealer W. David Perkins loaned Detroit Coin Club ephemera to Newman Portal some time ago, and, in their 1951 banquet program, Rapp is listed as a twenty-five year member who was awarded “honorary life membership” in that club. The extensions to the Howland Wood text represent useful information, including the legislative authority and mintages for the various commemoratives of the period. This manuscript appears to be unique, and apparently never reached publication.Link to Harry W. Rapp manuscript on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/commemorativecoi1939howlLink to Bruce Smith’s original note on the Harry Rapp manuscript: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v16n15.html#article9Link to ANS Digital Edition of Howland Wood’s Commemorative Coinage of the United States (1922): http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark%3A/53695/nnan26716/pdf