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Bent coins convey various meanings throughout history, with one idea being that ruining a coin symbolizes a sacrifice intended to win favor with fate. Sydney Noe wrote in The Pine Tree Coinage of Massachusetts (1952) “We are told that it was the superstitious belief of the time that wearing a bent coin afforded protection against the power of ‘witches.’ Some of our Pine Tree coins show evidence of having once been bent even though as we see them now they have again been flattened.” Superstition seems to run in inverse proportion to valuation, and it’s a safe bet that no one today is deliberately bending Massachusetts silver coins.

Link to The Pine Tree Coinage of Massachusetts on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/512405

The Glendining numismatic sales form a near endless series, numbering at least 1,435 catalogs published since 1901. Newman Portal has been processing this group at the American Numismatic Society for several months and has now completed scanning of the comprehensive set held by that library. Many thanks are in order, to David Hill, ANS librarian, Lara Jacobs, Internet Archive scanning associate, Bonham’s, for granting permission to scan this series, and collector and author Eric Hodge for originally facilitating this project.

One interesting catalog in this series is the March 12, 1958 sale featuring a collection of medals related to all aspects of the book – printing, booksellers, authors, even papermakers. This collection included several hundred such pieces, generally 18th and 19th century European, which are featured mostly in group lots. Examples such as 1836 Leipzig gold medal commemorating the opening of the Booksellers Exchange are found, or an 1823 Haarlem gold medal marking the fourth centenary of printing. Sadly none of these pieces are plated, but this catalog will still serve as a reference resource for the genre.

Link to Glendining series on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctioncompanydetail/512958