Newman Numismatic Portal at Washington University in St. Louis | Comprehensive Research & Reference for U.S. Coinage

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May 07 2024

Newman Portal Search Hints

Newman Portal searches from the home page are exact text only. If you enter multiple words, it will search for that entire phrase.

If you wish to search for multiple terms all one page, but not in exact order, use the search form at https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/powersearchform. For example, if you wish to locate pages containing the words "Washington," "medal," "birth," and "centennial," enter the search:

ItemContent:Washington AND ItemContent:medal AND ItemContent:birth AND ItemContent:centennial

You can also use Google to search the Newman Portal site. From Google, enter, for example:

"washington medals" site:nnp.wustl.edu

Finally, you can search the Newman Portal document repository directly (https://archive.org/details/newmannumismatic), which, in some cases, will deliver additional results. On this page, check the box "Select text contents" before searching.

For additional assistance, please email us at NNPCurator@wustl.edu.

Sep 30 2024

SNS Library Continues Digitization

The SNS numismatic library, privately held in Chicago, launched a digitization effort in 2023 that now numbers over 2,000 scanned volumes. This library specializes in ancient numismatics but also includes important works related to medieval and modern numismatics. Recently scanned is the multi-volume set Recueil De Médailles (1762-1778, twelve parts in nine volumes), a catalog of the Jospeh Pellerin (1684-1782) collection. The bibliographer Bill Daehn gives Pellerin the credit for being “the first to classify Greek coins in geographical order, rather than alphabetical order.”

Wikipedia describes the formation and dispersal of Pellerin’s collection: “Tradition has it that he encouraged the sailors of the French Mediterranean Fleet to buy up such ancient coins as they found on offer throughout their range, which he guaranteed to buy back from them at double the purchase price. In this way he gradually accumulated what became the largest and most valuable collection of ancient Greek coins ever to be held in private hands to that date, amounting to 33,500 coins which he ultimately sold to Louis XVI in 1776 for £300,000. This notable collection, housed in massive original marquetry and ormolu cases in the Louis Quinze style, still forms a nucleus of the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale [BN] de France.” Today, the SNG catalogs documenting the BN numismatic collection describe numerous examples with the Pellerin pedigree.

Link to Pellerin Recueil De Médailles set from the SNS Library: https://archive.org/details/snslibrary?tab=collection&query=pellerin
Link to SNS Library digitization announcement (September 24, 2023): https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n39a09.html

Sep 24 2024

Souvenir Card Collectors Society Updates Journals on Newman Portal

The Souvenir Card Collectors Society (SCCS) promotes the study and collecting of souvenir cards, which are typically issued to mark special occasions and are printed on high quality card stock using intaglio methods (steel plate engravings). SCCS maintains a catalog of souvenir cards and further publishes the Souvenir Card Journal, which is currently in its 44th year. The SCCS has recently extended its run of back issues on Newman Portal, and these are now available through the year 2018.

Illustrated here is an example of the FPS-1939A souvenir card, which commemorates a 1930s traveling exhibit that showed Americans how stamps were made. President Roosevelt was a well-known stamp collector and presumably greased the proverbial wheels of this project, which consisted of a traveling truck with exhibits mounted inside. As visitors exited the truck, they were presented with this souvenir card depicting the White House. Arlie Slabaugh wrote in the November 1982 issue of Coins magazine: “Some collectors consider the Philatelic Truck souvenir sheet to be the first of the Post Office cards. It was issued during 1939-1941 and came in both gummed and ungummed versions and was much smaller than the usual souvenir cards, which are frequently eight-by-six inches.”

Newman Portal acknowledges Greg Alexander, Souvenir Card Journal editor, for his assistance with this title.

Link to Souvenir Card Journal on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/534278
Link to Souvenir Card Collectors Society home page: https://www.souvenircards.org/html/menu_home.html

Image: FPS-1939A, Visit of the philatelic truck