Dickeson, Montroville
Born in Philadelphia. Graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He studied the American Indians. From 1837 to 1844 he worked in archaelogy in the Mississippi Valley. He dug over a thousand Indian mounds and collected 40,000 relics and artifacts. He donated this collection to the Philadelphia City Museum.
John J. Egan painted a panorama based on the sketches of Dickeson called Panorama of the Monumental Grandeur of the Mississippi Valley. The painting in tempora on muslin was 7.5 feet by 348 feet. It was used to illustrate Dickeson’s lectures.
Author of The American Numismatical Manual of the Currency or Money of the Aborigines, and Colonial, State, and United States Coins in 1859, 1860 and 1865. It was important at the time as the first comprehensive encyclopedia of United States coinage.
Dickeson sold his collection of 84 New Jersey coppers to Dr. Maris in 1876. His coins were included in 15 auctions, mostly in 1869 to 1871.
Dickeson produced copies of colonial coins including the Sommers Islands Shilling, Continental Currency, and others. He was the intermediary in the sale of dies used to produce the 1804 large cent restrikes. He used a postal die and a new reverse to produce fantasy pattern cents dated 1792.
He died at home in Philadelphia.
bio: Attinelli (*gives DOB as 6/18/1809); CW/NM 3/31/76; NYHSD; NUM/NIN 5/94 obit: AJN 17 Jul 1882 page 23
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1859The American Numismatical Manual Of The Currency Or Money Of The Aborigines, And Colonial, State, And United States Coins. With Historical And Descriptive Notices Of Each Coin Or Series
Dickeson, Montroville Wilson. THE AMERICAN NUMISMATICAL MANUAL OF THE CURRENCY OR MONEY OF THE ABORIGINES, AND COLONIAL, STATE, AND UNITED STATES COINS. WITH HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF EACH COIN OR SERIES. Philadelphia, 1859. First edition. 4to, later tan cloth, original gilt impression of an 1849 double eagle trimmed and inset on the upper cover; brown cloth spine label, gilt. x, (11)-256 pages; handsome lithographic portrait of the author printed in two colors; frontispiece of the Libertas Americana medal; text illustrations; 19 attractive lithographic plates of coins and currency printed in colors and metallic tints. Frontispiece portrait foxed, as usual; occasional foxing throughout, though coins plates are generally free of it. Binding fine, contents very good. The first work covering the entire range of American numismatics, Dickeson's book is a landmark of American numismatic history. By nature a popularizer and showman, he toured the country for several years in the early 1850s lecturing on North American archeology and excavating Indian mounds. His Numismatical Manual (the al was dropped after the first edition) was also clearly intended to reach a mass market. Handsome in format and visual presentation, it was distributed by a major publisher of the day and written in an authoritative manner. Dickeson even envisaged, "if it should be approved, to prepare an edition for the use of schools." Until the appearance of Breen's magnum opus in 1988, it remained the only comprehensive work on American numismatics ever published.
1/1/1860The American Numismatic Manual
One often thinks of the "Red book" as the first standard guide, but Dickeson is the true eye opener. Here is the straw man, the first attempt at a comprehensive overview of American coinage. While the plates look like play money and technical errors abound (for example, the 1797 half dollar is unlisted), Dickeson represents a necessary stepping stone in American numismatic scholarship. An accumulative science by definition evolves, and Dickeson could have done much worse as he drew upon the few written sources along with personal contacts in the nascent numismatic community. The result was the first comprehensive, illustrated view of aboriginal, colonial, federal, pattern, and territorial coinage. While modern guides are far more accurate (and affordable), they do not convey the wonder of birth that one senses in Dickeson. Voted #70 of the top one hundred items of numismatic literature by the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Note: the first edition (1859) is titled the American Numismatical Manual. Later, "numismatical" was shortened to "numiismatic."
