Dr. Henry R. Linderman letter/signature
hatchet
Posts: 54 ✭✭✭
Dr. Henry R. Linderman, Director of the Mint under two presidents, is famous/infamous in the world of coins, so I thought this site might be a good place for this. He had one son, and that son had no children, so his son's family history papers were passed into my wife's family after he passed away. These photos are some things that were among them, as well as another Medical Ticket not pictured. I'm trying to get a sense of value. I know the medical tickets value in general as they are a collectible niche of their own, but not sure if their being his affects the value. The letter is in his hand with his signature, on Treasury department stationary. I know he signed thousand of documents, but I don't know how common they are outside of archives. Also not sure if these are of interest to coin folks as a curiosity, since they are not directly related to coins at all. 
Dr. H. R. Linderman's Medical Ticket (this is how medical schools worked back then), signed on the back by the teaching doctor.
Personal letter from Dr. H.R. Linderman to his nephew
If anyone has an idea of value range, or how I might find that out besides the normal googling, ebay, etc. that would be helpful. This along with the many other papers will likely get donated to a historical society, but it would be good to know the value of these first. I don't think the other papers have much monetary value. One thing that's clear from them (drafts, etc) is that most of the biographies of H.R.Linderman that appeared in various books were almost surely written by his son, who was an energetic protector of his father's legacy.
Comments
No idea on value. @RogerB who posts on the coin forum might have an idea on historical value.
Personally I love old letters as they are fun to try to decipher.
Linderman was more than just a mint director. He was internationally recognized as an expert in economics and in international financial relations.
The primary interest in the collection would be their historical links to numismatic questions. Those relating to pattern and experimental pieces in his collection and the manufacture and distribution would be of exceptional interest.
If the OP wishes, I can arrange to visit and examine the materials. This can help identify the scope and potential interest in them. As strictly an autograph, I suspect there would be minimal value. But, items of numismatic interest could draw significant interest.
The OP should PM me if more information is desired.
Mr. Burdette (RogerB) is a well-known numismatic historian. I am sure that he could help you.
As we had previously discussed, the most valuable documents would have been his Presidential appointment certificate(s) to the post of Mint Director. If you can retrieve that (those) they would be the highlights of the collection.
The person to contact is Kenneth W. Rendell II. He started his professional career as a coin dealer (I have a couple of his catalogs from the 1950's) and then switched to dealing in antique autographs, letters, manuscripts, etc. His is a major player in this field.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
I second the recommendation of Kenneth Rendell.
Wow, amazing documents !!!
CaptHenway- Yeah, the commissions would have been exciting to find. I believe HRL's son pasted them in the family history notebook/scrapbook he wrote and put together in the 1880's, but then removed them in the early 1900's. This is all that remains:
