NNP

Eric P. Newman published five editions Early Paper Money of America, the standard reference for colonial paper money, from 1967 to 2008. The NNP Edition of this work is now available on Newman Portal, and combines Newman’s fifth edition text with thousands of colonial paper money examples from the Newman collection. The web format allows for new features, such as hyperlinks in the Continental Currency section that link to the Journals of the Continental Congress and the legislation corresponding to each issue. Additionally, the sheer volume of images presented here would not be viable in a print format, as earlier editions contained representative images only. 

Newman Portal intends to maintain Early Paper Money of America as a living document and invites edits and additional content from interested researchers and collectors.

Link to Early Paper Money of America on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/513468

Fourth in a series of videos aimed at young numismatists, Lianna Spurrier’s latest installment discusses odd denominations in the U.S. series, including two-cent, three-cent, and twenty-cent pieces. Spurrier examines the origin of each issue and explores its use in commerce. The themes explored represent a microcosm of 19th century U.S. economics, touching on the financial balance between gold and silver, Washington politics, and the impact of the Civil War on U.S. coinage. Lianna’s work is graphically rich, authoritatively written, and will appeal to numismatists young and old alike.

Link to Lianna Spurrier videos on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/multimediadetail/529486

Steve Crain, a half dime collector from Maine, has been carefully collecting Liberty Seated half dimes since the 1980s and over that time has formed the most comprehensive die variety reference collection ever built. Heretofore the Daniel Valentine reference (The United States Half Dimes, published in 1931 by the American Numismatic Society as Numismatic Notes and Monographs, no. 48) has been the best variety guide, but the plates, while acceptable for the era, are far eclipsed by today’s digital photography. 

Steve Herrman, working under a 2019 Newman Grant, has delivered approximately 4,000 images that serve to thoroughly document the Crain collection. Included are high-resolution images of each coin, as well as the 2x2 holders that Crain used for annotations. This is the best available photographic guide to the Valentine series and will enable collectors to more readily identify these sometimes ambiguous varieties. Independently, Clint Cummins is building an online attribution guide for half dime varieties that is also worthy of mention. The Cummins site will incorporate the Crain photographs over time.

Newman Portal acknowledges the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society for awarding a Newman Grant for this project, as well as W. Dave Perkins and the Liberty Seated Collectors Club for their support of the project. 

Link to Steve Crain Liberty Seated half dime image collection on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/514182
Link to Clint Cummins’ Liberty Seated half dime attribution guide: https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/hdag/