NNP

The work of a librarian is endless, with an ever-changing backlog of uncatalogued material and the constant need to prioritize and process the most important content. The American Numismatic Society (ANS) library is no exception, and ANS librarian David Hill has the Sisyphean task of sorting it all out. Among the uncatalogued material, many fixed price lists have not been entered into the ANS library catalog (DONUM). Interestingly, some of these can be found in the ANS multi-volume dictionary catalog (1962 plus later supplements), but for whatever reason, were not included in the eventual computerization of the library catalog. This situation is somewhat relieved with the recent cataloging and scanning of the St. Louis Stamp and Coin Company fixed price lists, c. 1903-1930. 

Fixed price lists are among the most bibliographically challenging of numismatic literature as they often come undated, and without regular titles or sequencing. Charles Steigerwalt, the 19th century Pennsylvania dealer, is especially noteworthy (notorious?) in this regard. The situation is somewhat better for the St. Louis Stamp & Coin fixed price lists. Although published without dates, most are numbered and can be attributed within a year or two of publication. There are three distinct series, beginning with the “Special stock reduction circular” (c. 1903-1905), followed by the “Special bargain list” (c. 1903-1908), and then the better-known “Fixed price list” (c. 1905-1930). Also included in the series are unnumbered and undated items such as  the “Great Snaps (Not Ginger)” edition.

Link to St. Louis Stamp & Coin Fixed Price Lists on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/528772.

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.