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Recently added to the Newman Portal is John Mutch’s Idaho Trade Token Newsletter for the period 1997-1999. Token collectors frequently collect by state, and these pieces offer a historical connection between the collector and the businesses of bygone days. The first issue discusses accounting records of the Midway Bar (Boise) in 1911 – quite profitable, especially during the winter months. Also included is a note from the 1910 Wardner News noting the county crackdown on dance halls and their “gambling, dancing & kindred vices.” Mutch notes related 10-cent tokens from these mining town establishments. The exhaustive reference site, tokencatalog.com, identifies one such piece, from the J. Farrin & Co. dance hall in Wardner.
Thanks to John Mutch for granting permission and loaning physical copies for scanning.

Link to Idaho Trade Token Newsletter on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/529431
Link to J. Farrin & Co. token on tokencatalog.com: http://tokencatalog.com/token_record_forms.php?action=DisplayTokenRecord&td_id=366157&inventory_id=351887&td_image_id=196850&attribution_id=374739&record_offset=1

The Newman Portal has maintained a scanning operation at the ANS since December 2015, and in that time Internet Archive associates Lara Jacobs (and previously John Graffeo) have scanned 6,000 documents from the ANS library. Periodically, these scans are linked to the ANS library catalog (DONUM) so that DONUM users may access ANS library materials directly through the online library catalog. A recent update was performed in November, so that all documents scanned to date are available through DONUM. See, for example, the DONUM record for the Lewis Roper auction sale catalog (M. Thomas & Sons, 1851). Users may view the scanned document via the links “LINK TO INTERNET ARCHIVE (copy 1)” or “LINK TO INTERNET ARCHIVE (copy 2).” Note, for many auction sale catalogs, ANS has multiple copies, and these often contain varying annotations captured no other place. Thanks to ANS librarian David Hill and programmer Tomàs Cohen Arazi for their assistance with this project.

Author Douglas Nyholm Nyholm has released two volumes related to Mormon numismatics for publication on Newman Portal. Mormon Currency, 1837-1937 (2nd edition, 2015) begins with the 1837 Joseph Smith-signed notes of the Kirtland (OH) Safety Society Bank. Interestingly, the Smith signature is desirable even though many examples are thought to have been signed by Smith’s “scribes” and not Smith personally. Notes are also signed by other Mormon church dignitaries. Mormon paper money follows the migration of the church from east to west, including bank notes of Monroe, MI and scrip from Nauvoo, IL. From here Nyholm moves to the more well-known gold coinage of the Gold Rush era. To complement the gold pieces, a host of scrip and small-denomination currency continued to be issued. This portion of the catalog is the most valuable contribution of the book, illustrating and detailing hundreds of emissions. The overall work is indispensable for collectors of Mormon numismatics, and will be the standard reference for some time. The NLG named this work the Best Book on U.S. Currency for 2010.

Doug Nyholm has also released a companion volume, Updates & Short Stroies About Mormon Currency (2018). This work contains a variety of supplementary material including historical essays, grading, trial strikes, and a review of the Eric P. Newman collection of Mormon scrip, several examples of which sold at the 5-figure level. The Bishop’s General Storehouse $10, pictured here, sold for an astounding $25,850 (Newman VII, 10/2015, lot 18616). Prior to the Newman sale, Nyholm speculated the Bob & Carol Campbell example was the only such piece held privately.

Link to Mormon Currency (2nd edition, 2015) on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/556921
Link to Updates & Short Stories About Mormon Currency (2018) on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/556922