The author has over 30 years experience in North American numismatics. He is the author of numerous articles about exonumia, including those about tokens, scrip, and the public who used them. He is a member of the ANA, VNA, ACC, C4, CWTS, TAMS, MD-TAMS, AVA, NSCA, and NumisSociety.
Henry D. Higgins was one of the earliest settlers of Mishawaka Indiana. Born on his father’s farm near Syracuse New York in 1822, Higgins was a grandchild of a Revolutionary War veteran who emigrated to America from England. His father, William Higgins, was raised by an uncle in New YorkContinue Reading
Incorporated in August 1864, the National Watch Company was founded in Chicago Illinois as a joint partnership consisting of Chicago’s Mayor and six other men. A month later, the partners began recruiting master clockmakers from throughout the country to join the new venture. Seven watchmakersContinue Reading
Johns Hopkins, a Quaker and a strong proponent of abolition, was a Baltimore businessman who made his fortune in business as well as in the railroads. Upon his death, it was Hopkins’ intent that the bulk of his fortune be used to establish a Baltimore hospital and university. In addition,Continue Reading
A man of many talents and much ambition, Frederick M. Starr was born on May 1st 1799 in the dawning days of the United States. At the age of 20, Starr moved from his birthplace of Warren Connecticut to New York City, where he started work as a clerk atContinue Reading
Conceived and financed by cotton planters who needed a way to get their crop to textile mills in northern states, in 1834 the Tallahassee Rail Road was organized in the Territory of Florida. Being one of the first operational railroads in the United States, construction for its route began inContinue Reading
William W. Wilbur is infamous for having been an auctioneer who owned and operated a mercantile during the pre-Civil War era of Charleston, South Carolina. Wilbur’s business activities were quite varied, and included auctions, retail, brokering, notary, and most notoriously, being an active agent in the slave trade.Continue Reading
It wasn’t until the 1830s that carbonated beverages became popular by the American public. Until that time, manufacturing carbonated water was a very difficult and time consuming process. English Chemist Joseph Priestley in 1767 discovered a method for creating carbonated water by infusing plain water with carbonContinue Reading
In 1770s Kentucky, Blue Lick Springs began its commercial life being used as a source of salt from its trickling streams of saline water. Located above the southern bank of the Licking River, the springs were situated in Nicholas county, across from Robertson county. Within a few years, more productiveContinue Reading
George Kunkel was one of the first promoters of the 19th century genre of Minstrelsy in the United States. Born in Greencastle PA in 1821, Kunkel first arrived in Baltimore in 1855. There he became associated with three prominent places of theatrical entertainment in the city. Minstrelsy were acts andContinue Reading
The enigmatic Beck’s Public Baths token has been a numismatic mystery since the latter part of the 19th century. With its lone obverse device depicting a woman bathing, the only aspect of the token which exceeds the token’s mystery is the beauty of the woman herself. The reverse of theContinue Reading
The old adage “Buy the book before you buy the coin” most certainly applies for those who wish to pursue tokens and exonumia. While there are vast quantities of books which have been published that address U.S. Federal emissions, comparatively very few references exist which address tokensContinue Reading
Below is a comprehensive index of Mossin & Marr’s Patriotic Civil War dies. In addition to being used as Patriotics, the dies were utilized as “stock” reverses for many of Mossin & Marr’s storecards. A total of five stock dies have been identifiedContinue Reading
