Montroville Wilson Dickeson

Zoins · December 25, 2019 11:36AM

Montroville Wilson Dickeson was an interesting person, having had a number of medals made including the centennial Continental Dollar for which he may be best known in numismatic circles.

Of note, he had a store card made indicating he was selling Coin & Medal safes made by Evans & Watson. Has anyone ever seen one of these safes?

Here's his store card die muled with the Washington Civil Procession medal from my collection:

Here are photos of an Evans & Watson safe, which has seen better days.

Here's a sign advertising Evans & Watson safes:

http://antiqueadvertising.com/free-antique-price-guide/antique-signs/evans-watson-safes-sign/

Here is how Montroville described the safe in his book:

The American Numismatic Manual of the Currency or Money of the Aborigines, Colonial, State, and United States Coins

https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUYEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA250&lpg=PA250#v=onepage&q&f=false

Here's a portrait included in his book:

The University of Pennsylvania has an interesting biography of him here.

http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/ead/ead.html?sort=title_sort%20asc&id=EAD_upenn_museum_PUMu1080

The Montroville W. Dickeson Collection is a record of Dickeson's expedition to the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys to investigate the origins and archaeology of the North American mound builders. Interested in collecting from an early age, Dickeson left his medical residency and traveled in the South from 1837 to 1844 pioneering in the use of trenches in excavation and strata and cross-sections in description. The collection consists of catalogues, maps, drawings, renderings, photographs, cross-section drawings, and advertising material. Dickeson displayed his collection on his return to Philadelphia and commissioned the Mississippi Panorama painted by John J. Egan, an itinerant Irish artist. Dickeson's collection and the panorama were displayed at his own museum, in subscription lectures, and at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 in Philadelphia. Dickeson engaged in ceaseless self promotion but mostly published in local venues and in serialized format. His advanced archaeological techniques and the catalogues of artifacts from Southern sites no longer in existence, though praised, are not well known.

Walkerfan · December 25, 2019 11:48AM

I LIKE that medal!

GREAT History and thanks for the write-up!

Flatwoods · December 25, 2019 11:49AM

Great post!
I love old safes. I bet those were excellent.

coinsarefun · December 25, 2019 12:07PM

I love that Mule and heard about the safe's but never seen one until now. Thanks for the post.
I have a C.1869) TOKEN RULAU PA-PH 50 COPPER DICKESON'S COIN & MEDAL SAFE, RB MS64RB
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291fifth · December 25, 2019 2:16PM

Medal posts like this one make the forum worthwhile. There is new and interesting information, which is what I like to see in a post!

Nice medal and interesting, and very solid looking, safe.

ricko · December 26, 2019 3:31PM

Great bit of history and cool pictures... I really like that old safe....Being a security buff, it might dissuade some amateurs, but not a pro.... still a cool thing to have. Cheers, RickO

Pioneer1 · January 4, 2020 12:08PM

There is a Numismatist article coming to press in 2020 or 20201 on M.W. Dickeson. From what I understand, Dickeson published the groundbreaking "American Numismatic Manual" in 1859, and Dickeson first described the Sommer Island's schilling. The safe company capitalized on his popularity by advertising using his name for their safes (keep your coins and medals in their safe). The safe store cards and their Sommer Island restrikes are really cool... made by Lovett (of Philadelphia) I believe.... and people want them as seen in the recent Stacks-Bowers Washingtoniana auction.

What is really interesting is the whole history of the continental dollar restrikes (HK-852 to HK-856) .. and the HK-857 to HK-866 medals... and his involvement. While the HK SCD books suggests that his restrikes were 1876 pieces, the new article calls that into question given that there are Edward Cogin and E.L. Mason auction records from the late 1860s - 1870s for these pieces. The thought is that there are c1859-1863 Dickeson pieces in the HK-852 to HK-866 realm that are original strikes, and then the dies were eventually obtained by Elder who did restrikes in the 1910-1920 timeframe.... and then subsequently the modern c1960s restrikes.

The upcoming article also connects the Lovett 1860 medal for Captain Simonton and the Washington Light Infantry to Dickeson's story. That's about all I can say at the moment... and no, I didn't write the article.!

coinsarefun · January 4, 2020 12:40PM

Great information, thanks so much @Pioneer1

joeykoins · January 4, 2020 12:49PM

Interesting indeed! Love the photo's taken of inside the actual safe. Think of all the history of just the contents at one time inside that old safe. Think of all the brand new coins, as well as, all the brand new currency bills that once were contained in his safes? Captivating story and photo's, thanks.

Zoins · January 4, 2020 2:54PM

@Pioneer1 said:
The upcoming article also connects the Lovett 1860 medal for Captain Simonton and the Washington Light Infantry to Dickeson's story. That's about all I can say at the moment... and no, I didn't write the article.!

That's amazing! Do we know which store has the die? Do they still have it or, if not, is the whereabouts still known?

There were 2 pieces I really wanted to get in the William Sphon Baker auction but wasn't able to. I wonder when the whereabouts of these two pieces will become known

The specimen you posted actually looks like it could be Baker's white metal specimen below. There are a number of matching marks, but the recent TrueView has a few more.

Pioneer1 · January 5, 2020 6:55PM

Well............ I have the bronze 1860 medal for Captain Simonton / Washington Light Infantry ... from the Nov 2019 Washingtoniana sale..... but I DO NOT HAVE the white metal piece... and I AM NOT the guy who bought a huge number of the pieces. I specifically bid strong on the bronze piece thinking some friends of mine could get the WM pieces for less..... but ALAS... no such luck. They couldn't bid up to the sale level. So much for trying to coordinate bids.

With all that said, my screen capture of the die is... well... old.... I can't recall which coin shop owns it... but I will dig and try to figure out who has it.

For what it is worth, i'd love to bid and own this... but the prices is WAY out of my range at the moment given impending college payments for my kids:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/colonials/-1616-6pence-sommer-islands-sixpence-large-portholes-au50-ngc-breen-3-w-11445-r6/a/1311-4068.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

Zoins · January 5, 2020 7:16PM

@Pioneer1 said:
Well............ I have the bronze 1860 medal for Captain Simonton / Washington Light Infantry ... from the Nov 2019 Washingtoniana sale.....

Congrats on a beautiful piece. I'm glad you were able to pick it up.

but I DO NOT HAVE the white metal piece... and I AM NOT the guy who bought a huge number of the pieces. I specifically bid strong on the bronze piece thinking some friends of mine could get the WM pieces for less..... but ALAS... no such luck. They couldn't bid up to the sale level. So much for trying to coordinate bids.

I know how you feel. I've held back on items in the past I was hoping friends pick up with the same result in the past. Sometimes, I still think about those and wonder if I should have bid.

For what it is worth, i'd love to bid and own this... but the prices is WAY out of my range at the moment given impending college payments for my kids:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/colonials/-1616-6pence-sommer-islands-sixpence-large-portholes-au50-ngc-breen-3-w-11445-r6/a/1311-4068.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

Wow, that's incredible! Since it was owned by Eric Newman, I wonder why the slab doesn't have the special EPN label?