NNP Blog

4 DECEMBER 2021

Dick Doty and Eric Newman Dress Down for Numismatic Research

The renewal of the ANS Coinage of Americas Conference, with this week’s conference focusing on Victor D. Brenner, brings to mind the forerunner of the COAC series, the 1976 volume Studies on Money in Early America. This work, edited by Richard Doty and Eric Newman, gathered scholarly papers on Am...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

Walter Breen’s Bookmark – A Continental Dollar Test Note?

Newman Portal contributor Bruce Vogel forwarded images of this January 14, 1779 $30 Continental Currency note, along with the following story: “At the 1996 Denver ANA I met with Eric Newman at the base of an escalator. We spoke of several early Colonial & U.S. coin subjects. In 1990, Walter B...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

Newman Portal Posts ANA Convention Video Recap

The recent 2021 ANA convention in Rosemont, IL was just as busy as usual, if not as highly attended. Visitors seem determined to pack the last two years of missed conventions into a single event, and largely succeeded. This writer enjoyed six dinners in five nights (it could have been even more) ...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum Inventory on Newman Portal

The Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum collection was formed in the early 20th century by Farran Zerbe, a president of the American Numismatic Association. The Chase bank acquired the collection from Zerbe in 1928 and most notably mounted an exhibit near Rockefeller Center, a mecca for tourists vi...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

Numismatic Notables: Ken Bressett

In honor of July 4, one of Ken Bressett’s favorite holidays, Newman Portal announces the second installment in its Numismatic Notables series. Bressett was interviewed by Len Augsburger and Joel Orosz on March 19, 2021 and this video is now available on Newman Portal. Bressett covers his early da...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

19th Century Teachers and Students Write to U.S. Mint Director

At an age when many people are ready to retire, 66-year-old Daniel M. Fox was appointed Superintendent of the United States Mint by President Grover Cleveland on June 19, 1885. His prior tenure as the Mayor of Philadelphia gave him valuable experience for this demanding position. He oversaw opera...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

U.S. Mint Strikes Bolivian Coins

An 1883 letter from Chief of the Secret Service, James J. Brooks, to Superintendent of the Mint, A. Loudon Snowden, mentions government “operatives” and “inquiries set afoot.” Even though it sounds like an excerpt from a Sherlock Holmes novel, this National Archives correspondence, recently trans...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

Mel Wacks Updates Handbook of Biblical Numismatics

Mel Wacks has updated his Handbook of Biblical Numismatics, which is now available on Newman Portal. Lianna Spurrier supplied graphics and layout work under sponsorship of Newman Portal. Abraham Sofaer contributed an overview that is featured on the back cover: “This Handbook is just what it sets...

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4 DECEMBER 2021

Defective Nickels Threaten Small Change

Even though we’re moving towards a cashless society, there are times when we need to grab a few coins to complete a transaction.  However, this task was not always straightforward during the late 1800s.  According to correspondence from the National Archives, recently transcribed by the Newman Po...

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