Bio

• Born in Rochester, New York. Married with sons. Grandfather of Charles N. Ricard.

  Producer of leather and the world's largest manufacturer of horse collars. From 1879 to 1885 he produced leather mail bags. In 1887 a fire destroyed his plant. The value was estimated at $135,000 and was not insured. He did not rebuild. The fire also destroyed his correspondence file and part of his library.

  Lighthouse began collecting in 1860. His collection of U. S. coins was in good condition and quite complete. His paper money collection was strong in fractional currency. He described his collection as weighing over 400 pounds.

  In 1885 he suffered a burglary. Mr. and Mrs. Gaffield were later convicted of the crime. Some valuable early quarters and dollars were spent at a stage show box office at face value. Most were recovered. At that time the collection was valued at $60,000.

  He joined the ANA in 1903 and served on the Board of Trustees 1904 to 1907.

  In 1905 Lighthouse moved to San Francisco. On April 16, 1906, he removed his collection from a safe at the Palace of Art and took it home. He also removed a group of Roman medals on exhibit there. He showed the collection to friends including Farran Zerbe. Two days later an earthquake destroyed much of the city. The center of the city and the contents of the safe were destroyed by fire. The collection that had been temporarily removed to his home was not damaged.

  He died at home in Rochester, New York. At the end he sat up in bed and claimed to see flames all around him, perhaps haunted by the earlier tragedies in his life. His collection was sold at auction by J. C. Morgenthau February 18, 1936.

  obit: NUM 22 Nov 1909 page 306 (photo)

  bio: NUM 101 Jan 1988 p 47-54

Date of birth

• 2009-01-18

Place of birth

• Rochester, New York

Date of death

• 2009-09-09

Relationships