Joseph Henry Merriam in The Numismatist, circa 1905

Zoins

Here's an article for @DCW!

I love reading old magazine articles and just ran across this one on Joseph H. Merriam from way back in 1905 by A. R. Frey!

Read the entire article on the NNP:

https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/512663

Here's one of Merriam's storecards:

DCW

Thanks, John. This article presumably was used extensively when Dave Schenkman wrote his 1980 article for the Numismatist. Very similar bio.

Its also interesting that even in 1905 and with a family member interviewed for the article, it was "difficult to obtain facts concerning his life." I'm hoping to change some of that with my book

retirednow

Interesting timing ... this past week I Google his name to learn more and that 1980 article was the best that came up ... even old auction catalogs on the Newman Portal were scarce of information. I was thinking about one of his pieces listed in the Stacks auction on Friday ( Judd C-1866-3) , but I knew little about him or his practice.

Zoins

@retirednow said:
Interesting timing ... this past week I Google his name to learn more and that 1980 article was the best that came up ... even old auction catalogs on the Newman Portal were scarce of information. I was thinking about one of his pieces listed in the Stacks auction on Friday ( Judd C-1866-3) , but I knew little about him or his practice.

Very cool that you were reading about this just now! There's been quite a bit of information posted over the years on Merriam here by @DCW who is an avid collector of his work.

Here's the silver (NGC MS65, 2 in silver with reeded edge, Sheldon R8 / Fuld R9) that just sold on Stack's for $10,200:

https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-11E9VD/1866-pattern-three-dollars-judd-c1866-3-pollock-5090-rarity-8-silver-reeded-edge-ms-65-ngc

Judd C-1866-3 is an interesting type. While this has been attributed to Merriam, there's been some discussion that it could be the hand of someone else, like Key. See more here:

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/991971/3-gold-private-pattern-by-joseph-merriam-1866

Here's a Judd C1866-1 from our hosts in gold:

https://www.pcgs.com/cert/36260593

Zoins

So the author of this article is none other than Albert Romer Frey, ANA president from 1905 to 1908 and author of the Dictionary of Numismatic Names.

List of Presidents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Numismatic_Association#List_of_ANA_presidents

Ref: https://auctions.cngcoins.com/lots/view/4-2FUPT5/albert-r-frey-set-of-two-2-new-york-numismatic-club-presidential-medals-in-silver-38mm-2876g-12h-and-bronze-38mm-2850g-12h-artist-jonathan-m-swanson-no-date-1921

• Ref: https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ancient_numismatic_enterprise/9/product/dictionary_of_numismatic_names_by_albert_r_frey_with_glossary_of_numismatic_terms_in_english_french_german_italian_and_swedish_by_mark_m_salton/1544771/Default.aspx
• Ref: https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Numismatic-Names-Albert-Romer/dp/053014879X

retirednow

@Zoins said:

@retirednow said:

Thanks for all the references . yeap.. that was the piece . I need to get into the habit to check this site more often for information
Thanks

DCW

That was quite a price for that piece, but I think it is presumed unique so anything goes.
While it is an interesting piece, I do not think this is Merriam's work. It does not bear resemblance to any of his other tokens and medals, neither in style nor form. I think this was just misattributed long ago and it stuck. Looks like William H Key to me, and he worked at the Mint and presumably had access to the Longacre die.
Interestingly, there are no auction records for these pieces until the 1940s. Since Merriam's work was well known even in his day, it seems highly unlikely that such a significant pattern like this would have escaped.

Zoins

@DCW said:
That was quite a price for that piece, but I think it is presumed unique so anything goes.

While it is an interesting piece, I do not think this is Merriam's work. It does not bear resemblance to any of his other tokens and medals, neither in style nor form. I think this was just misattributed long ago and it stuck. Looks like William H Key to me, and he worked at the Mint and presumably had access to the Longacre die.

Interestingly, there are no auction records for these pieces until the 1940s. Since Merriam's work was well known even in his day, it seems highly unlikely that such a significant pattern like this would have escaped.

Did Merriam have any known connection to the Mint? Merriam was in Boston and Key was in Philadelphia with a connection to the Mint, so it does seem Key would have more access to create such a work.

Zoins

Here's a reeded edge in brass. This is in a user's private registry set.

• Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/37611141
• Sale: https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/1866-3-three-dollar-brass-reeded-edge-judd-c1866-7-ms63-pcgs/a/1297-4026.s

DCW

Merriam had no connection to the Mint. Key, yes as you mentioned. It is actually very close to some of Key's Lincoln pieces.
These are fascinating and very enigmatic. I have a friend that owns a few of them including both gold strikes. One of them was in my collection. He didn't buy the silver one at Stacks as it was about twice what we thought it should sell for.

Zoins

Finally tracked down the TrueView for your unique R10 piece @DCW!

DCW

It looks like they just finally put the True view emblem behind it.

It's the same photo that used to come up on the cert page.

Zoins

@DCW said:
It looks like they just finally put the True view emblem behind it.
...
It's the same photo that used to come up on the cert page.

That’s very likely, and the image with a simple white background is called a CoinFacts image, but it makes all the difference to me to have the official TrueView background so I’m glad they did it!

It's nice to have the TrueView on the cert page now as well.

https://www.pcgs.com/cert/28316804