Herbert Ellis Morey was an interesting numismatist - his safe was blown up with nitroglycerin

1630Boston

Herbert E. Morey
Biography
Born in Malden, Massachusetts. Graduate of the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1872. He joined his fathers business. His parents were identified with the anti-slavery movement and their home was a stop on the underground railroad.

He became interested in coins in 1857 because of the change in size of the cents. He declined the position of curator of the mint cabinet in Philadelphia.

In 1890 he became a dealer buying out Henry Ahlborn. He sold coins by fixed price lists 1891 to 1897. He was ANA member number 61. He conducted 175 auction sales 1896 to 1919. He died at home in Malden, Massachusetts.

Photograph of Herbert Ellis Morey in the October 1892 issue of The Numismatist. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library
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Herbert Ellis Morey (1848-1925), was born April 21, 1848 to the most affluent family at “Morey House,” Malden, Massachusetts. His parents were very active abolitionists working with William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Philips, and they used their home as one of the stations of the Underground Railroad affording slaves safe passage to Canada. Many slaves were secreted from the Morey home to that of Harriet Beecher Stowe at Andover. His maternal grandfather, Timothy Bailey was the president of Malden Bank. He graduated Malden High School in 1866. He then graduated from the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1872. He was the first baseball captain of the first baseball team ever at Massachusetts Agricultural College. Later on in life his son David Beale Morey will be a famous baseball player at Dartmouth College, at Worcester for the New England League and Middlebury. If Morey had been born a a few years earlier he might have been one of the first professional baseball players in the National League rather than a businessman and coin dealer.
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In 1881 he became a member of the firm at Morey, Smith & Co. They had one son and two daughters. His residences : 49 Haverhill Street, Boston, Massachusetts, and 34 Hillside Avenue, Malden. Business : Room 1, 31 Exchange Street, Boston, Massachusetts, formerly of Malden, Massachusetts. Moved to 41 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts. He styled himself as a numismatist and philatelist dealing in ancient Roman, foreign and American coins, medals, paper money and postage stamps. At one time he was offered the position of the curator of the U. S. Mint at Philadelphia but refused it due to increasing deafness and not willing to leave his home state.

He became a collector as a schoolboy of about eight or nine circa 1857, though his obituary claims since the age of 10, i.e., 1858. Regardless, about thirty-two years later he began as a part-time coin and stamp dealer in 1889. He was married and worked as a bookkeeper until 1890 when he became a full-time coin dealer issuing his first fixed price catalogue serving also as his numismatic auction mail bids catalogue and published ads in The Numismatist. He applied for membership to the ANA in 1891 and is ANA charter member No. 61.
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WAYNEAS

Thanks for the History @1630Boston
Wayne

yspsales

"Well they blew up the Chicken man in Philly last night...

And the blew up his house too..."

Interesting the timeliness of coin dealers.

Sadly too many great stories lost to history.

johnny9434

Got my history lesson today, it's a good thing

crazyhounddog

@yspsales said:
"Well they blew up the Chicken man in Philly last night...

And the blew up his house too..."

Interesting the timeliness of coin dealers.

Sadly too many great stories lost to history.

The chicken man was a mobster and had a bad case of acne as seen in his mugshot.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PhilipTesta.jpg

ricko

Interesting bit of numismatic history... Coin collecting is an enduring fascination and will continue, even if, at some point in the future, coins are discontinued (Though that will be a long time coming). So preserve those zincolns.... Cheers, RickO

joeykoins

Great read. Boy, those old days!
How differently things would have been done today to open the safes.

jayPem

Sweet read!
I like that the police had no "clew"
🤔