Levick plate first plate on die varieties/marriages for US coins?

halfcentman

I have a question here for people who may have more of an expertise in numismatic literature:

I am working on a talk about the history of die variety attribution. The JNT Levick plate published in the American Journal of Numismatics in 1869 showed a die marriage chart for 22 known varieties of 1793 Large Cents.

I know that the NJ Copper Maris plate was done in 1881. Is there anything which predates the Levick plate for US coins, even if actual coins were not used?

Any help would be appreciated.

Greg

firstmint

FYI - The first American plated (illustrated) auction catalogue was the Mortimer L. MacKenzie, 6-23-1869, sale conducted by Edward Cogan in New York City.

Joseph N.T. Levick was in New York City at the same time. These 1869 issues are the first photographic images of American coins.

Previous illustrations of American coinage and medals were line drawings and medal ruling engraved plates. The first one to display U.S. coinage was the 1842 Eckfeldt/DuBois book. There were numerous plates engraved by W.L. Ormsby (of currency fame) of Revolutionary War heroes in the 1848 Thomas Wyatt book that used electrotypes of medals made by officers of the U.S. Mint in the mid-1840s (no coins).

Among the other early ones, I have encountered a single page plate of two colonial pieces and a 1783 Libertas Americana medal in the 1850 New York State Library collection book. Then there was a lithographic plate in the 1851 Adolphus Hart book. Other American numismatic images can be found in the later Eckfeldt/DuBois's books between 1849-1852, the 1858 John H. Hickox book, the 1859 Montroville W. Dickeson book (with color lithographs), and the 1860 James R. Snowden book. There are several articles in the mid-1860s issues of Harper's Monthly about making money at the Philadelphia Mint. The 1860 William C. Prime book, published by Harper's also had line drawings.

For colonial currency, there was an example depicted in a late 18th century English book, in color no less, from a British army officer who had been captured in the Revolutionary war.