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

Mar 14 2025

Walter Breen Manuscript on the Stepney Hoard

The Stepney, CT hoard of approximately 200 high-grade Connecticut and Vermont coppers and British halfpence was discovered in 1950 and announced to the numismatic community by Walter Breen in the January 1952 Numismatist. Facts regarding the exact location of the find and circumstances of its discovery are scarce, leading to varying opinions – was the hoard a modern concoction, or did it represent a legitimate contemporaneous deposit? In the August 1998 Colonial Newsletter, Phil Mossman concluded that the hoard was indeed closed in 1788.

We recently received a research request for the 1951 Walter Breen manuscript on this topic. At the time, Breen worked for Stack’s, who handled the hoard. The Breen manuscript was transcribed and published by Phil Mossman in the afore mentioned Colonial Newsletter. While our researcher was aware of the transcribed copy, good research practice demands examining original documents whenever possible. After some searching, a photocopy of the Breen manuscript was located in the Walter Breen papers at the American Numismatic Society library.

Link to Breen manuscript on the Stepney Hoard: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/323
Link to Phil Mossman’s related article in the Colonial Newsletter: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/513972

Mar 06 2025

Dick Johnson Artists Databank Rescued from Digital Oblivion

Through the efforts of Mark Schlepphorst and John Sallay, and the cooperation of Shirley Johnson, the D. Wayne Johnson artist “databank” is now available on Newman Portal. For American artists, this is the most significant contribution to the field since Leonard Forrer’s Biographical Dictionary of Medallists (1902-1930). The work covers seven volumes, nearly four thousand pages, and presents capsule biographies of American engravers along with lists of their related works.

Many thanks to Mark, John, and Shirley for recognizing the value of this work and going above and beyond to ensure its preservation for future generations. Collectors and catalogers of American medals will do well to consult this reference frequently.

Link to D. Wayne Johnson databank on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/booksbyauthor/519080
Link to Leonard Forrer’s Biographical Dictionary on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/booksbyauthor/511633

Mar 04 2025

Newman Portal Adds Southern Gold Society (SGS) Newsletter

Courtesy of David Crenshaw, the newsletters of the Southern Gold Society are now available on Newman Portal. This mission statement of this group notes “The Southern Gold Society was formed to increase the enjoyment and study of Southern gold coins and related history, through an informal, relaxed mix of education and fellowship. “ The SGS periodically meets at regional coin shows, typically in a southern locale.

Particularly noteworthy in this periodical are the feature articles by David Ginsburg, including “Antebellum Gold Deposits at the New Orleans Mint” in the January 2009 issue, “The Post-Civil War Operations of the New Orleans Mint” in the January 2010 issue, and “The Bechtlers’ Production and Some Other Aspects of the Southern Gold Rush” in the July 2013 issue.

Link to Southern Gold Society newsletters: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/555594

Link to Southern Gold Society website: https://www.southerngoldsociety.org/

Link to David J. Ginsburg obituary: https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n06a10.html

Feb 24 2025

U.S. Mint Fixed Price Lists on Newman Portal

Newman Portal has recently processed another batch of U.S. Mint fixed price lists (FPLs), bringing the total size of this series to 131 items, and ranging in time from 1858 to the present date. Although much of the current marketing is electronic, these FPLs serve to document what has become a profitable business for the Mint – creating collectable coins and medals while appealing to the public appetite for “completion” of a given series. A Newman Portal user recently consulted this series to investigate the issue price of American Gold Eagles in 1986.

Link to U.S. Mint fixed price lists on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/512757

Feb 18 2025

Newman Portal Adds Jim Matthews Bust Dime Collection Images

Courtesy of photographer Steve Herrman, images of the Jim Matthews early U.S. dime collection are now available on Newman Portal. The Capped Bust portion of the collection is nearly complete by JR variety and features several examples with late state die cuds. The collection represents a 45-year quest for Matthews, who began collecting the series around the time of the publication Early United States Dimes 1796-1837 (1984) by David J. Davis, Russell J. Logan, Allen F. Lovejoy, John W. McCloskey and William L. Subjack. The majority of the Matthews collection is currently imaged, with the remainder to be posted shortly.

Link to Jim Matthews Early U.S. Dimes on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/518211

Feb 14 2025

President's Day Medal

A summer 1983 fixed price list from Stack’s offers a President’s Day medal, designed by Frank Gasparro: “President’s Day Medal, 1983. 38mm .999 Gold, 44.85 grams. By Frank Gasparro. Washington & Lincoln facing. Rv. Their monuments in nation’s capital. Only 100 struck by Medallic Art Company. In cherry wood case. Brilliant Proof $700.00.” The piece is apparently rare, and appears in only two sources on Newman Portal, the other being a March 5, 1983 article in Numismatic News.

The March 5, 1983 article, by Ed Reiter, quotes Gasparro on the design on the medal. “I had a rough time of it placing the two heads together,” he said. “On the first shot, I put Washington in front of Lincoln with side views of both. But I figured that one or the other was getting hurt. So I put them side by side.” The reverse concept featuring the Washington Monument was considered during the evolution of the Anthony dollar but was ultimately discarded.

Link to Stack’s Fixed Price Lists on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/516535

Feb 03 2025

Super Bowl Toss Coins & Medals

Super Bowl Toss Coins & Medals

With the Super Bowl being the most watched event on the American sports calendar, it’s no surprise that connections to nearly all walks of life, including numismatics, come to the fore. Super Bowl medals were apparently first produced by MintAmerica in North Miami, Florida, beginning in 1973. A Coin World ad (August 22, 1973) notes “the National Football League for the first time has authorized the Official Super Bowl Medals…..” These pieces were 50mm silver proofs.

Coin World reported on February 7, 1973, that a Franklin Mint-produced piece featuring Vince Lombardi was used as the toss coin for Super Bowl VII. The February 14, 1979 edition of Coin World noted that Chicago Bears owner George Halas donated a 1920 double eagle (commemorating the birth year of the NFL) as the Super Bowl toss coin. Halas announced the loser of the toss would receive the coin, which went to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Jack Lambert following the toss ceremony. The Steelers ended up winning both the game and the coin.

The Super Bowl toss coin is currently manufactured by the Highland Mint in Melbourne, Florida. Ten thousand examples are produced, with coin #1 being used for the opening coin toss and coin #0 in case of overtime. The Highland Mint has been producing the Super Bowl coins since the mid-1990s. The Danbury Mint in Norwalk, Connecticut also sells officially licensed Super Bowl “flip coins,” which are marketed as “commemoratives.” A set of 50 such pieces is currently listed on ebay, by a secondary seller, at $800.

Link to Super Bowl XIII coin toss video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9ceVwCdLU0#t=5m53s
Link to New York Times coverage of the Super Bowl XIII coin toss: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6100532/2025/02/03/super-bowl-coin-toss-bet-odds/
Link to CBS coverage of the Highland Mint: https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/coin-that-kicks-off-super-bowl-is-made-in-florida/

Link to “Super Bowl” search results on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/searchwithterms?searchterm=Super%20bowl

Jan 30 2025

Numismatics of Punxsutawney

Wikipedia notes “Punxsutawney is a borough in southern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, United States. Punxsutawney is known for its annual Groundhog Day celebration held each February 2, during which thousands of attendees and international media outlets visit the town for an annual weather prediction by the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil.”

Numismatically, Punxsutawney is best known for a series of National Bank Notes. Issuers includes the Farmers National Bank (charter no. 5965), the First National Bank of Punxsutawney (no. 3030), the Punxsutawney National Bank (no. 5702), and the County National Bank of Punxsutawney (no. 9863). The Andrew W. Pollock III reference on U.S. National Banks is now complete through charter no. 4600 and provides statistical data for the First National Bank of Punxsutawney (no. 3030).

Link to “Punxsutawney” auction search results on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/Library/AdvancedSearch?&searchterm=Punxsutawney&contenttype=Auction
Link to Pollock summary for the Punxsutawney National Bank: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/628167

Jan 21 2025

NNP Completes Scanning of Howland Wood Curator Correspondence

Howland Wood served as Curator of the American Numismatic Society from 1913 to 1938 and in that capacity sent and received thousands of letters, which have now been digitized under sponsorship of Newman Portal. This series consists of nearly 3,000 individual correspondent files, with scanning by Internet Archive associate Lara Jacobs launched in late 2023 and recently completed.

One of the final files is that of Mario Zucchi (1872-1949) of the Royal Library in Turin, Italy. In this correspondence, Wood requests plasters of ancient coins of Metapontum and later acknowledges receipt of the same. The Zucchi plasters are presumably no longer in the ANS collection or are uncataloged. The ANS online catalog, MANTIS, reports 520 results on the search term “Metapontum,” but a successive search on the words “plaster” or “cast” reveals no hits.

Most examples of the Metapontum coinage depict barley or grain. The ear of barley was a symbol of this Greek city-state in Magna Graecia (southern Italy) that represented the city's agricultural wealth and reminded trading partners of its abundance. The file concludes with a request to host ANS President Edward T. Newell during his anticipated trip to Turin in spring 1922.

Link to Howland Wood curator correspondence: https://archive.org/details/americannumismaticsociety?tab=collection&query=%22howland+wood+correspondence%22&sort=title
Link to Mario Zucchi correspondence: https://archive.org/details/zucchimariocav1900amer/page/7/mode/1up

Jan 14 2025

NUMISMATIC CONTENT ON THE WAYBACK MACHINE

The Wayback Machine is the most significant collection of archived web pages on the Internet, with a current collection size of 916 billion web pages. Wayback Machine content is frequently accessed by journalists and historians wishing to verify what did, or did not, exist on a certain web page at a certain point in time. Pages from the Wayback Machine have been accepted in courts as a non-partial historical record, and the research value of this archive is hard to overstate.

Under sponsorship of the Newman Portal, the Wayback Machine has archived nearly a thousand numismatic websites, with additional sites being constantly added. More than a few of these sites have in time gone defunct, meaning that this is the only record of the site that is accessible to the general public. The archive is not completely comprehensive, meaning that not every page of every site is saved. However, users will always find top-level pages in addition to substantial subsidiary content.

This Newman Portal collection on the Wayback Machine was launched in 2018 and to date has collected 35 million web pages, representing nearly three terabytes of data. Note, this data is not incorporated into Newman Portal itself but may be searched separately via the Newman Portal collection page on the Wayback Machine site. Wayne Homren has recently created useful search facets, available in the left column, that can be used to narrow search results to topical groups of web pages (for example, tokens, medals, paper money, etc.).

A sample search on the term “Rittenhouse” delivers David Rittenhouse biographies (the first U.S. Mint Director), accounts of the Rittenhouse medal that is awarded annually by the U.S. Mint, press releases regarding the so-called Rittenhouse 1792 half disme (currently on exhibit at the ANA), and Dick Johnson’s account of the Rittenhouse Society medal presented to Eric P. Newman in 2011. Scrolling through the search results further reveals David Finkelstein’s comments on his article in the September 2017 Numismatist, regarding the David Rittenhouse deposit used to coin the 1794 silver dollars.

Note, page retrieval times may be on the order of ten seconds or more, no doubt a consequence of the gargantuan data store, nearly a trillion pages. On the flip side, the immense size of the collection is precisely its strength. This archive will be especially useful when searching for content of recent origin, particularly content that has never reached print. Not every site is ideal for resolving every question, but numismatic researchers will do well to add this resource to their arsenal. We welcome feedback at NNPCurator@wustl.edu.

Link to the Wayback Machine: https://archive.org
Link to NNP collection on the Wayback Machine: https://archive-it.org/collections/9633

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