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Philadelphia: outstanding panel exhibit and exclusive walking-tour presentation
Dentuck
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If you're going to the Philly Expo, make sure you spend a few minutes reading the panel exhibit as you enter. It has photographs and text about Frank H. Stewart, who purchased the original U.S. Mint buildings and did his best to study, document, and commemorate them before he ultimately had them destroyed.
Joel Orosz and Len Augsburger have written an amazing account of Stewart's life and times. It will be published by Whitman early next year. In the meantime, this huge panel exhibit gives you a peek into their research.
From the introduction to their manuscript:
"How did a modest farmer's son named Frank Huling Stewart grow up to buy the first U.S. Mint? How did it come to pass that a hero who made it his mission to preserve 'Ye Olde Mint,' as he fondly called it, become the villain who demolished it? How did a high-school dropout come to write the book that, after the passage of more than eight decades, remains the definitive history of the nation's first coin factory? How did a businessman whose acquaintance with the fine arts was but fleeting come to commission, from first-rate artists such as John Ward Dunsmore and Edwin Lamasure, the paintings that, down to this very day, define our mental image of the first U.S. Mint? . . . . A poor boy made good, bought the Mint, labored to preserve it, failed, demolished it, but in the process gathered a significant coin collection, wrote an indispensable history, and commissioned influential art works. Here, for the first time, is the full story of the paradoxical man and his self-appointed mission --- initially to conserve, eventually to level, finally to commemorate --- the first Mint of the United States."
Yes, I'm Whitman's publisher, so I'm a bit biased toward Len and Joel's book --- but I'm also a coin collector and history buff, and I'm excited to see their book going to press so everyone in the hobby community can enjoy it! Great story, and a great exhibit. Be sure to check it out at the Philadelphia Expo.
Len and Joel are also giving a presentation at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, in Room 305. After their presentation, they'll lead a walking tour that includes an exploration of the early Mint and its neighborhood, with exclusive access to a collection of coins and artifacts being made accessible for their tour. It's all free --- this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear the story directly from award-winning researchers Len Augsburger and Joel Orosz and examine first-hand some hugely significant artifacts of the early Mint.
Plan on being in Room 305 at 12:55 Friday afternoon! I'll see you there.
Joel Orosz and Len Augsburger have written an amazing account of Stewart's life and times. It will be published by Whitman early next year. In the meantime, this huge panel exhibit gives you a peek into their research.
From the introduction to their manuscript:
"How did a modest farmer's son named Frank Huling Stewart grow up to buy the first U.S. Mint? How did it come to pass that a hero who made it his mission to preserve 'Ye Olde Mint,' as he fondly called it, become the villain who demolished it? How did a high-school dropout come to write the book that, after the passage of more than eight decades, remains the definitive history of the nation's first coin factory? How did a businessman whose acquaintance with the fine arts was but fleeting come to commission, from first-rate artists such as John Ward Dunsmore and Edwin Lamasure, the paintings that, down to this very day, define our mental image of the first U.S. Mint? . . . . A poor boy made good, bought the Mint, labored to preserve it, failed, demolished it, but in the process gathered a significant coin collection, wrote an indispensable history, and commissioned influential art works. Here, for the first time, is the full story of the paradoxical man and his self-appointed mission --- initially to conserve, eventually to level, finally to commemorate --- the first Mint of the United States."
Yes, I'm Whitman's publisher, so I'm a bit biased toward Len and Joel's book --- but I'm also a coin collector and history buff, and I'm excited to see their book going to press so everyone in the hobby community can enjoy it! Great story, and a great exhibit. Be sure to check it out at the Philadelphia Expo.
Len and Joel are also giving a presentation at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, in Room 305. After their presentation, they'll lead a walking tour that includes an exploration of the early Mint and its neighborhood, with exclusive access to a collection of coins and artifacts being made accessible for their tour. It's all free --- this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear the story directly from award-winning researchers Len Augsburger and Joel Orosz and examine first-hand some hugely significant artifacts of the early Mint.
Plan on being in Room 305 at 12:55 Friday afternoon! I'll see you there.
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One other presentation caught my eye, "Constitutional Experience with Jefferson and Hamilton," which takes place at 11am on Friday in the same room. I am sure one of topics they will be talking about (debating?) is states rights vs. federal powers, which was a real bone of contention between these two. Be ready to watch the sparks fly! There is an interesting connection to the first Mint here, which will be revealed during the walking tour mentioned above.