| Description |
Blue Cover Eckfeldt and DuBois With Gold Samples Philadelphia: Published by the Authors, 1850. 12mo, original blue paper boards lettered in gilt and silver, featuring embossed illustrations of American gold and silver coins in metallic tints; all page edges gilt. Fine frontispiece engraving of the Philadelphia Mint building; 60, (2) pages; 3 text illustrations; attractive plate of California and Mormon coins printed in gold and in relief on a royal blue background; two actual samples of California gold on page 45 mounted under a small cardboard rectangle with round windows to allow viewing [the sample on the left contains native grains of gold held in place under mica, and the other sample is a thin sheet of processed ore]; tipped-in illustrated sheet at the end describing Mormon coins. Covers a bit wavy and rubbed, as generally seen; spine somewhat worn; some foxing. Cardboard gold sample holder fully intact. Very good or better, and well above average for the title. A very scarce and delightful numismatic memento of the California Gold Rush days, issued to supplement the authors' landmark 1842 work, A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations. Though the original edition of New Varieties appears to have been substantial, most copies have not survived, and extant copies often have had their gold sample removed. This charming little volume is also greatly desired by collectors of Western Americana, further adding to its scarcity in numismatic channels. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush, No. 67: "Actual samples of California 'grain' and 'bar' gold, and reproductions of privately minted 1849 gold coins of California and of the Mormons in Utah render this little book an extraordinary and colorful contemporary souvenir of the Gold Rush." Estimate $3,500. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Heritage Auctions 11/2018 (Newman XI), lot15209 (realized $3240).
Heritage link: http://www.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1283&lotIdNo=11206 |
