The Origins      of the American Numismatic Society

[Excerpted first chapter from "The American Numismatic Society, 1858-1958"

by Howard L. Adelson, New York, ANS, 1958.]

The scientific study of numismatics is inextricably bound with the history and fortunes of the American Numismatic Society which has done so much to forward it. Interest in numismatics in this country, however, antedates the existence of any society devoted to the study of coins and medals. Coin dealers and collectors, though few in number, were in evidence from earlier times, but only at about the middle of the nineteenth century was there such a sharp growth of interest in the relatively unknown field that the formation of numismatic societies became possible. Probably this sudden rise in the number of individuals actively interested in coins and medals was connected with the more general awakening that the country was experiencing in all fields of cultural endeavor.

The period immediately prior to the Civil War was one of strong emotional attachment to the great issues which divided the nation, but popular attention was by no means focused solely on the larger political questions. The deep stirrings of a cultural revival with many facets were fully evident. Cultural growth on the North American continent had developed noticeably in the latter half of the eighteenth century with the advent of a number of eminent men, prominent among whom were Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, founder of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. The expansion and diffusion of that culture was, among the people in general, however, largely a phenomenon of the era between Presidents Jackson and Lincoln.

The popularization of knowledge about the middle of the nineteenth century had, of course, deep social significance. This was the age of men like Emerson, Thoreau, Longfellow, Irving, Lowell, Melville, Agassiz, and that most likable Boston Brahmin, Holmes. New England, and Boston in particular, achieved a level of cultural activity unsurpassed elsewhere in the country, yet this high plane of intellectual endeavor was by no means restricted to one class of society. In 1829 the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was founded in Boston, to be followed seven years later by the more expansive American Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.

The prevailing belief in the country among the intellectual groups was an unwavering conviction in the idea of progress. Rousseau in Europe had pointed the way towards a democracy of good men by his contentions regarding the utility of education. Associationist psychologists created in their own minds images of man as purely the result of his experiences and environment. It was therefore possible to improve man by subjecting him to the best experiences and educating him properly. In accordance with such reasoning the mill owners of Lowell encouraged their female employees to make use of their leisure hours reading, or listening to scientific discussions which would improve their minds and at the same time keep them from harm. Many wealthy men endowed institutions for the diffusion of knowledge. Not the least of these men were Stephen Van Rensselaer, Benjamin Bussey, John Lowell, Joseph E. Sheffield, and John Jacob Astor. In 1836 the Lowell Institute was established in Boston for the purpose of bringing distinguished lecturers to that city. By 1857 the Cooper Institute had been founded to provide an education for the sons of laborers in New York City.

This belief in the advancement of man by education had as a concomitant force a native American belief in self-improvement. The American man was not solely dependent upon the largess of the wealthy if he was to improve himself and to provide himself with that education which was a prerequisite for advancement. Numerous so-called "mechanics institutes" came into existence dedicated to improving the educational level of the working man. Many of these groups, of course, resulted from the philanthropic aid and support of the wealthier citizens, but this was by no means true of all of them. Mechanics, tradesmen, and laborers often combined of their own accord to form debating and lecturing societies which ministered to their desires for education. The popularization of knowledge was a national theme.

The peak of intellectual activity during this period, of course, was achieved in New England and the surrounding areas, but it was by no means restricted solely to that locale. The entire country participated in some measure in this revival of learning though it must be pointed out that the contributions were much more limited in the South than elsewhere. Non-slaveholding states of the West enjoyed their own measure of cultural activity as witnessed by the astounding popularity of the lectures on astronomy delivered in Cincinnati in 1846 by Ormsby Mitchel. So successful was this lecture series that the citizens of that city gave a telescope to Mitchel which was second only to that of Greenwich, England. In the very next year the first popular journal of astronomy, the Sidereal Messenger, made its appearance, and the response was enthusiastic.

Cultural activity and interest on the part of the citizenry at large was expressed not only in the formation of lyceum groups for lectures and societies to further scientific inquiry such as the Chicago Historical Society founded in 1856 or the American Geographical Society established in 1851, but in many other ways as well. The introduction of the penny newspaper and the vastly expanded production of inexpensive magazines and books, including pirated editions of the latest works of famous European authors, were made possible by the introduction of the steam operated rotary press. There was no international copyright agreement and in some cases barely one day elapsed between the arrival of a new work from Europe and its appearance in a pirated edition on the bookstalls of this country.

Public libraries came into existence in profusion throughout the length and breadth of the country, and in some cases the individual communities took the responsibility for providing such a service without waiting for the benefactions of a philanthropist. In 1848 the first public library in Boston was authorized and in 1854 the doors were opened. This was the same year in which the Astor Library in New York City was made available to the general populace, and three years later, in 1857, the Peabody Library in Baltimore was founded. These great collections were only outstanding instances of an entire network of libraries to be found in individual cities and towns. Between 1825 and 1850 no fewer than 250 libraries were established, a figure more than twice the number of the preceding twenty-five years.

Education for the youth of the country was greatly expanded by means of the public school, the emergence of the high school, and an almost unbelievable multiplication of colleges. In 1842 an act of the legislature of Massachusetts required each town to maintain a public school. There were still certain disabilities connected with education in most parts of the country by reason of the rate system which required parents to contribute at least part of the costs of the education of their children, but the literacy rate was increasing in astounding proportions. Even at the highest level of education in the colleges and professional schools, which yielded a certain social prestige to their graduates, phenomenal advances were made. In the decade from 1840 to 1850 the number of colleges increased from 173 to 239. Many were founded in the western states, and even higher education was available on a relatively local level.

New York City, because of its proximity to the center of American culture in New England, and because it was a cosmopolitan, thriving metropolis with a busy port, played a major role in the popularization of intellectual endeavors. New York was the home of Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, who was also a faculty member of New York University. With him in this city resided a host of famous men of letters including John James Audubon, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, George Bancroft, William Cullen Bryant, and Washington Irving. The first of the penny newspapers, the New York Sun, was founded in 1833 to be rapidly followed by the New York Herald under the aegis of James Gordon Bennett, Sr., and the New York Tribune of Horace Greeley. By 1851, the New York Times had made its appearance on the streets of this city. It is true that the tone of these newspapers was much less elevated than that of earlier ones and that there was a tendency to give the people of the city the spice which they desired, but the mere increase in the number of newspaper readers is very significant. This growth of the reading public, of course, was not restricted to the newspapers alone. Journals and magazines such as the Knickerbocker Magazine which began in the same year as the first penny newspaper, 1833, were also widely read.

Probably the most significant phase of the intellectual growth of the city may be seen in the expansion of higher education for all classes within the metropolis. New York University was founded in 1831 and rapidly became the home of a distinguished faculty. In 1841 the higher education of the ever-growing Catholic community was assured by the establishment of Fordham University. Still there were many who lived in New York who were unable to attend colleges and universities because of financial reasons. In 1847 the Free Academy which was shortly to be renamed the City College of New York was founded. Education was now available to all whatever their financial status.

New York, having outstripped Philadelphia, was a thriving seaport with an unrivaled volume of commerce and a constant stream of immigrants which was swelling each year. The city was wealthy and provided all the pursuits desired by the younger people. Theatrical life in the metropolitan area was very vigorous, and the famous stars of the stage appeared regularly. Museums such as that of Barnum were very much in evidence, and lists of amusements were published in the newspapers. For men of letters there was the famous "Bread and Cheese Club" formed in 1824 as a society of authors. The vigorous renaissance which was taking place in the country as a whole was certainly mirrored within New York City.

This cultural ferment was, however, not equally effective in all fields of scholarly endeavor. In the case of numismatic studies the first half of the nineteenth century must be considered a relatively barren and unrewarding period in this country. Only at the very end of the period was there evidence of growing interest. The general activity which was so much in evidence in other fields was sadly lacking in the study or collecting of coins and medals. It is questionable whether there were actually three hundred numismatic collectors to be found in the United States in the year 1850. Certainly some of those who did engage in numismatic pursuits did acquire valuable collections, but there was not as yet any broad public interest. The cultural horizon was active, as has been pointed out, but it did not include numismatics. Obviously a particular stimulus or series of stimuli were required to create the interest in coins and medals which would make their scientific study possible.

Those few collectors who prior to 1850 had begun to assemble and study the coins and medals which passed through their hands did so for many different reasons, none of which was applicable to the public at large. One of the best known of these early American numismatic collections was that of Joseph J. Mickley, a wealthy piano manufacturer of Philadelphia. Mickley began his hobby, for such it really was, in 1823 with the search for a cent of 1799 in fine condition, simply because he was born in that year and desired to have a cent of that date since he had heard that they were rare. In the course of his efforts to secure a fine specimen, Mickley enlisted the support of his friends. One of these presented Mickley with a very fine specimen of a cent of 1798, and this piece was the first in the formation of the Mickley Collection. The collector's instinct had been aroused.

There is, of course, an apocryphal ending to this story which is contained in the account given by Edward Cogan, the New York coin dealer. According to him, Mickley was unable to secure, even as late as 1867, a fine sample of the cent of 1799. This romantic tale must be discounted because in 1867 Mickley was robbed of approximately $16,000 worth of coins, and he immediately determined to sell the remainder at public auction. The sale catalogue of that auction lists a cent of 1799 which is described as "Very fine indeed, having been but little in circulation, one of the best ever offered for sale, the rarest of American Cents."

Cogan seems to have entered the coin trade quite accidentally in the late 1850's. He had originally come to this country in 1853 from England, and settled in Philadelphia as a dealer in pictures and books. In the latter part of 1856, a friend of his named Ryan brought an electrotype Washington Cent of 1792 to the store in Philadelphia and persuaded Cogan to purchase it for twenty-five cents. Of course Cogan displayed his recent acquisition as a curiosity to his friends and acquaintances. One who chanced to view it offered Cogan fifty cents for it, and this experience seems to have banished all thought of numismatics as a mere curiosity. Ryan had told Cogan that a cent with the date 1815 would be worth at least five dollars and that there was a growing demand for United States cents. Cogan immediately set about collecting a complete set beginning with the year 1793, but he assures us that at that moment he still had not the slightest notion "of ever making it a matter of business." In any event, he continued in the role of the avid collector until 1858, when he realized that the demand for coins was increasing and that the supply was quite adequate to sustain coin trading. Cogan now commenced disposing of his duplicates by sale. Soon he was devoting greater and greater portions of his time to coin trade as a business, and he remained almost exclusively a coin dealer until his retirement in 1880.

The rise in public interest in coin collecting after 1850 which made it possible for Cogan to enter the coin trade must have particular causes apart from the general cultural awakening of the early nineteenth century. Cogan's career in numismatics is contemporary with the first great rise in the spirit of scientific inquiry in the field of numismatics in this country. The decade from 1850 to 1860 is particularly important both for the number of significant changes introduced into the American monetary system and the beginnings of large scale public interest in numismatics. These two facts must be connected in a causal nexus. An examination of the changes introduced into the circulating medium during this period will yield the clue as to why there was a popular rise in coin collecting.

In 1848 gold was discovered in California, and the great quantity of that metal which suddenly appeared on the market caused a very marked change in the relative market values of gold and silver. This change exaggerated a condition which had been noticeable for several years. From 1844 on it was evident that silver was flowing from the country at an alarming rate. In that very year the exports of silver to England exceeded the imports from Mexico. All silver coins in circulation in the United States were non-fiduciary and since the privilege of legal tender extended to include even coinage of foreign manufacture which was also non-fiduciary, the exporters of coin were particularly careful to retain the worst coins at home while the best pieces were sent abroad. Much of the silver currency in common use by 1851 was therefore seriously underweight, and a significant portion of the coinage was of foreign manufacture and not controlled by the American government.

The economic difficulties faced by business in a situation wherein the currency was continually declining in quality and quantity required urgent action on the part of Congress. In 1851, after much debate, a bill was passed to provide for the issuance of a fiduciary three-cent piece containing three parts of silver to one of copper. This was the beginning of fiduciary silver coinage in the United States, but even though it was a step in the right direction it did not go far enough. The losses of silver from these shores had been tremendous. In 1850, $2,000,000 worth of silver had been exported, but in 1851, the stupendous total of $23,000,000 was shipped abroad. This was more than the total amount of silver coined during the preceding twenty years. Of necessity, gold was pressed into service to replace silver in the larger transactions while the new three-cent piece suddenly achieved the distinction of being the most important coin in the task of replacing silver currency in smaller transactions. The deleterious effect on commercial transactions of such an unstable monetary system was not lost upon Congress, and in 1853 the logical step of issuing fiduciary silver coins in all denominations, save one dollar, was taken. The one dollar piece was in an anomalous position with respect to the rest of the coinage which was composed of gold coins of full value, subsidiary fiduciary silver coins, and unpopular cents and half-cents of copper.

After the passage of the coinage law of 1855, foreign silver coins ceased to circulate in any quantity in the urbanized commercial areas of the country though they continued in use in the less developed regions. The new fiduciary coins drove the foreign coins from market places save in areas in which those coins were almost the only ones available or in those cases in which the foreign silver was in such poor condition, or of such indifferent weight that it did not circulate at its legal value. Foreign coins which met these conditions were available from older issues of Mexican and Spanish mints. As long as these non-fiduciary inferior foreign pieces continued to appear in the market place the law of 1853 could not yield its full benefits. Further action on the silver coinage was still necessary.

At the same time it should not be forgotten that there had been no substantial reform of the copper coinage, which consisted of the cent and half-cent, and which had proven to be so unpopular. These coins were introduced in 1793, but they had never been used very extensively, and the mint was barely able to cover the costs of manufacturing and distributing them. There had been only minor changes introduced into the obverse and reverse of these pieces from the date of their inception; and since they were not unusually attractive nor commonly used, it is doubtful that many people examined them with any care. The mint was barely able to cover the costs of manufacturing and distributing them. On February 21, 1857, a new law went into effect which abolished the half-cent denomination and specified the details for the manufacture of a new series of copper cents. This new copper cent was given by the mint in exchange for the foreign silver coinage. The right of such exchange, however, was to end two years after the passage of this act, whereby the foreign silver pieces were effectively demonetized and declared to be no longer legal tender. Of course the law was effective in driving the poor quality foreign silver from the market, and since it specified a change in the cent and the elimination of the half-cent, it necessitated a new type for the cent. Even prior to the enactment of the new law, new cents appeared in 1856 as pattern issues, with an attractive flying eagle on the obverse, and in 1857 and 1858, larger quantities of these new cents were issued than had ever been struck of the older types. In 1859 this flying eagle obverse itself was changed to the familiar Indian head type which is still so often a starting point for amateur collectors.

Within the relatively short time of a single decade the currency medium of the country had changed significantly. Older types and the mass of foreign silver pieces had passed from the scene and been retired from circulation in all save the most rural and isolated regions of the country. New types and denominations had been introduced in quantity. Coinage changed more significantly in the decade from 1850 to 1860 than it had in the preceding fifty-seven years. The populace at large was forced to look at and to observe the currency medium more closely because of these changes which had demonetized a large segment of the older coinage. In line with the inquisitive nature of man and the curiosity that was such an important feature of the cultural awakening of the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the more alert and inquisitive members of society began to collect and to study the pieces which passed through their hands. The number of such collectors continually increased, and it was not long before some of these men were turning to coin dealers to secure specimens of coins which would not have reached them by the normal channels of trade. In this fashion the coin trade in the United States was established on a firm footing and was stimulated to greater activity. Men such as Edward Cogan entered the field of coin dealing for the first time and rapidly rose to prominence as the business expanded.

The growing interest in numismatics did not fail to create some effect in the daily press. In the New York Sunday Dispatch for the year 1857 a series of articles entitled "Gleanings from Coins" ran through some eleven numbers. These articles were simply signed "Gus" and came from the pen of Augustus B. Sage, a coin dealer of New York City. In these articles Sage dealt with the entire field of numismatics, but since there was as yet no dependable scientific volume dealing with American coinage he utilized the U. S. Mint Manual extensively and supplemented it with his own observations. The veteran numismatist and Wall Street attorney, Charles I. Bushnell, responded with a series of very witty articles under the signature of "Numismatist" in the same journal. Bushnell's sarcastic criticisms of the U. S. Mint Manual were devastating, and he clearly proved it to be a work of extremely limited utility. As a result of this tilt in the field of journalism the two men, Sage and Bushnell became fast friends. Bushnell caused a medal to be issued in three examples with the obverse type showing a full length standing figure of Hercules with his club resting on his left shoulder and his right hand pointing downward at a nearly prostrate figure at his feet. The iconographical significance of the scene was elucidated by the inscription "Numismatist for valor, to Gus." One of these medals was presented to Sage, another to the editors of the Sunday Dispatch, and the third Bushnell retained for his own collection. Sage presented his copy of this medal to the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society in 1864. Sage signalized his own very high opinion of Bushnell by issuing the first of the medals of A. B. Sage's Numismatic Gallery in honor of Charles I. Bushnell.

This series of articles and responses in the Sunday Dispatch may not have in themselves been of primary importance in increasing interest in numismatics because they had a very limited circulation, but they are indicative of an advanced state of numismatic interest. Contacts between the different collectors and dealers during this period seem to have been very close, and the circle of devotees expanded as the friends of those already in the field joined in the newly found pursuit.

The time had now come when a society for the pursuit of numismatic endeavors and studies might be formed. A large enough body of men of culture and means existed in several of the major cities of the country, and interest in the field was at a peak. The first such society appears to have been the Numismatic Society of Philadelphia, which was instituted by seven gentlemen of that city on Dec. 27, 1857, but the formal organization of the group was not completed until Jan. 1, 1858. The American Numismatic Society would appear to have been conceived some months later, in March of 1858. It is true that A. B. Sage, the coin dealer, who was one of the most important of the founders of the Society, spoke ten years later of the first meeting as having occurred in 1857, but since his writings show quite conclusively that Sage did not possess an infallible memory, we may presume that he simply erred in recalling the date. In the copies of the Constitution and By-Laws printed in 1864, 1865, 1878, and 1884, however, the claim is made that the Society was actually founded in 1857, but the evidence would seem to indicate that even the first informal meetings for forming a numismatic society in New York were not held until March of 1858.

A diary kept by Edward Groh, one of the founders of the Society, contained evidence that informal meetings were held at the home of Augustus B. Sage at 121 Essex Street as early as March 15, 1858.

According to Groh's diary he went to the home of Augustus B. Sage on the evening of March 15th to attend the first irregular meeting of a proposed new society. Invitations signed by Augustus B. Sage, a dealer in coins, antiquities and other curiosities, Henry O. Hart, James D. Foskett, James Oliver, and Edward Groh himself, had been extended to several people. The purpose of the meeting as expressed in the invitation was to take "the preliminary steps towards the organization of an Antiquarian Society in this city." At that meeting in addition to the signers of the invitation there were present Henry Whitmore, a gentleman of wealth from this city, Dr. Isaac Hand Gibbs, Ezra Hill, "and a number of others." Groh presumed that Theophilus W. Lawrence, a book and print dealer, was among the anonymous others who were present.

The next evening, Tuesday, March 16th, Groh met once again with Sage, Oliver, and Lawrence at the same place. Henry O. Hart, who was to serve with them on a Committee on By-Laws that had apparently been appointed on the first night of their meeting, was absent on this occasion. It is evident from the fact that he never again took part in any of the activities of the Society that he had lost interest in the project. The committee proceeded about its task in a very informal manner because there were chance meetings of various members recorded on several evenings during the month of March, and on some occasions such as March 22nd and March 29th, quite a few of the members appear to have been present. On March 29th, which was a Monday evening, Groh went to what he now referred to in his diary as a "Coin Collector's Meeting," and there he was introduced to some new devotees including John Cooper Vail, an author and journalist who had just joined the group. Vail seems to have been a most unusual person, being described by one of his acquaintances as "a peculiar and eccentric person--the author of extravagant tales for the sensational papers." It was at that meeting also that Dr. Asher T. Atkinson was introduced to the rest of the members of the Society. Dr. Thomas Dunn English must also have been present at that meeting for Groh specifically states that it was then that Dr. English penned the Constitution and By-Laws.

The exact circumstances surrounding the adoption of the constitution are interesting because, as has been noted, Dr. English was not a member of the committee charged with the preparation of that document. At the meeting held on March 16th at the home of Augustus B. Sage, Sage had written a version of the Constitution and By-Laws which was presented to the meeting of March 29th. It is indicative of the forceful character of Dr. English that when the new Constitution was presented at the very first meeting, he stepped forward and, apparently on the spur of the moment, prepared a different version. This new version was accepted by the group and was submitted for final approval to the first formal meeting of the Society on April 6th.

A thorough study of the origins of the American Numismatic Society reveals that there were fourteen gentlemen who were in some measure involved in its foundation. Only twelve of these men were listed among the founders until 1879, when an investigation revealed the participation of the other two. The twelve who were recognized as founders from the very inception of the organization were those who were in attendance at the first regular meeting of the Society which was held on April 6, 1858, at the home of Augustus B. Sage. Some of the twelve were fairly prominent in civic affairs and continued to serve the newly established society in the period following the Civil War. Others, however, are known primarily because of their association with the organization of the American Numismatic Society. One can only speculate that perhaps some of these men died during the course of the Civil War and so did not share in the full fruits of their labors. Only in the case of Dr. Thomas Dunn English, who lost interest in the Society immediately after the first election of officers, and in the case of John Cooper Vail, who was apparently taken sick quite early, can we be certain of the reasons for the disappearance of the names of the various founders who did not participate actively in the later history of the Society. In this latter category were to be found Alfred Boughten, James D. Foskett, Ezra Hill, Jacob J. Melber, James Oliver, and Henry Whitmore.

In addition to the men just mentioned, the first regular meeting of the Society was attended by Dr. Isaac Hand Gibbs, a physician, and Augustus B. Sage, as well as by Asher D. Atkinson, Dr. Thomas Dunn English, and Edward Groh, about whom a certain amount of information is available. Atkinson and English were cousins and had attended the Friends' Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, together. Atkinson, the son of a physician, was born in Philadelphia on September 30, 1821, and received his early schooling in that area, but when he was somewhat older the family removed to New York where he studied medicine. Though he received his degree he never engaged in the practice of medicine but devoted his time to business and became particularly well known as a successful operator in the development of oil wells after 1863. His very fine collection of cents passed through the hands of several collectors and was finally acquired by the United States Mint in Philadelphia?

Thomas Dunn English was by far the best known of the founders of the Society. He was born on June 29, 1819, of Quaker stock in or near Philadelphia. In 1839, after completing his education at the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, he received the M.D. degree with a thesis on the subject of phrenology. During the next three years he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1842, though he did not practice that profession immediately. His chosen field of future endeavor was apparently determined as early as 1859, when he began to write for Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. As a result of his connections with that journal he established a friendship with Edgar Allan Poe. In 1844, he took an active part in the campaign in support of Tyler. As president of a political club, he tells us in his autobiography, he did a good deal of stumping and probably provoked a good deal of ill will by being unnecessarily offensive in his remarks. English also edited the Tyler daily, the Aurora, which soon failed, and as a reward he received the political appointment of weigher of the port of New York. By this point in his career, however, English had produced his most important work. In 1843, the editors of the New Mirror, George P. Morris and Nathaniel P. Willis, asked the twenty-four year old English to write a poem for their publication. English promptly produced Ben Bolt, an engaging poem addressed to a real person by that name and with allusions to still other real people? The poem itself was an immediate success and the suggestion was made to many composers that they fit these stanzas to music. A great many, including English himself who wrote such a composition "entirely for the black keys," tried to do so. In 1846, the poem was used as the lyric to a German air in the drama, "The Battle of Buena Vista," which was playing in a Pittsburgh theater. The play itself collapsed shortly, but the song which had been introduced into it largely by accident lived on in greater fame. In 1895, Du Maurier used the piece quite conspicuously in his novel, Trilby.

By 1845, English was editor of the Aristidean, A Magazine of Reviews, Politics, and Light Literature to which both Poe and Whitman contributed; but which failed after only six issues. The relationship between Poe and English was no longer as happy as it had been, for in 1846 Poe wrote The Literati of New York, a series of papers published in Godey's Lady's Book. To say the least, Poe's criticisms of the intellectual and artistic figures of New York, including English, were impassioned and perhaps overly severe, but it must be remembered that at the time in question Poe was living in very straightened circumstances and watching his always delicate wife waste away before his eyes. Poe's barbed shafts struck home, and English retaliated with a card which was reprinted in the Evening Mirror and which charged Poe with forgery. Of course such a charge could not be upheld and was, in fact, libelous. As a result, Poe in wrath filed a suit against Hiram Fuller, editor of the Evening Mirror, for publishing the libel, and he won, though the suit damaged his reputation.

English changed his residence to Washington during the suit, but in 1848, with others, he started the humorous weekly John Donkey in Philadelphia. It was probably the best known publication of its time though on occasion the wit was somewhat strained. The weekly was sharply critical of Greeley, Poe, and many others, but once again the satire seems to have overlooked the laws of libel, for even though it once attained a circulation of twelve thousand, it was ruined at the end of six months by the numerous court actions brought against it. With his career in journalism somewhat curtailed by these events, English retired to Virginia where he practiced medicine and law. After 1856, he returned to the North and settled in Bergen County, New Jersey, where he was apparently residing at the time he became one of the founders of the American Numismatic Society.

Perhaps the founder who had the greatest influence on the future history of the Society and certainly the one who remained active for the longest period of time was Edward Groh. He was born of German parents in New York City on June 2, 1837, and received his education in local schools. While still a very young man he engaged in the ship-chandlery trade, but later he entered the tobacco business. He appears to have been quite successful in this new enterprise which he continued for all his active life. About the year 1855 Groh began to devote much of his leisure time to the pursuit of numismatics. This new interest supplemented an earlier devotion to entomology which was responsible for his becoming an honorary member of the Louis Agassiz Association. It is evident that Groh was an intellectually curious gentleman whose broad interests encompassed many fields, and in each he strove to have more than a mere dilettante's knowledge. His contributions in these fields are worthy of note even though they could hardly be proclaimed of prime importance.

Groh's interest in numismatics was not restricted to any individual branch of that subject for he was a collector of ancient coins as well as the Rebellion tokens of the Civil War period. He was always on the watch for rare American tokens and store cards and was a recognized authority in that aspect of numismatics. In 1857 the store cards of a certain T. D. Seaman were popular and were sought by the growing band of collectors, but no one had been able to establish the location of Seaman's store. On July 4, however, as Groh was fond of relating, he discovered the sign of T. D. Seaman over a grocery store on a New York corner and set the matter at rest.

He was also connected in a slight way with the production of electrotypes which were just beginning to come into fashion about the middle of the century. At that time the perennial argument that still persists regarding their production was already current. There were those who regarded the electrotype as an illegitimate copy of a work of art which might eventually cause a decline in the value of the original and therefore deserved wholesale condemnation. In 1860 Groh, who was already known as an outstanding collector, brought some castings of an 1836 dollar of the flying eagle type to a jeweler on the Bowery named Posner for the purpose of having them plated. The recently plated pieces were discovered in the possession of the jeweler who was by temperament a very nervous man. The authorities took a great interest in the pieces and arrested Posner for the purpose of ascertaining whether a charge of counterfeiting should be leveled. The process of electrotyping was apparently so new at the time that no definite policy had as yet been established, though it is certain that others had practiced the art somewhat earlier. It was only because the district attorney was apprised of the fact that these new copies were to sell for three times the face value of the coin itself that the matter did not take a serious turn.

Such were the men who met at the home of Augustus B. Sage for the first regular meeting of the American Numismatic Society. At this first meeting Dr. Isaac Hand Gibbs was elected President pro tem and Sage served as Secretary pro tem. A report was read by the Committee on Constitution and By-Laws, but the substance of that report was the product of the mind of Dr. English and not the version first prepared by Sage. The meeting then resolved itself into a committee of the whole to deal with the Constitution and By-Laws, and after discussion of various propositions, Dr. English drew up the final version which was unanimously adopted. Election of the regular officers who should serve in accordance with the provisions of the new constitution was postponed until the following meeting. The American Numismatic Society was now officially launched upon its career.