Castorland Jeton Hoard?
tyler267
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I found this on the Newman Numismatic Portal:
The E-Sylum: Volume 11, Number 4, January 27, 2008, Article 15
LESTER MERKIN CASTORLAND HOARD
The title of the John W. Adams article in the next Asylum
"The Story Behind the Castorland Jeton" reminded Alan V.
Weinberg of the story of an old hoard. He writes:
"Approximately 35 years ago Lester Merkin told me, at the
time confidentially, that the original French Family of
the Castorland medal issue still had many hundreds of the
original in silver and was leaking onto the market several
pieces each year. Lester was handling them. So there may
be a hoard of hundreds of Castorland original silver strikings
out there in Europe."
Given the low population of original Castorland Jetons in MS it seems unlikely that this hoard exists, but I guess it could. Anyone have any info or opinions?
Comments
There are lots of hoards in Europe that seem to come up now and again.
Do we know who the original French family of the Castorland medal is?
Good Question, looks like a lot of Families were involved with the Castorland Settlement. This is an excerpt of a document that I found on the internet:
"From Crèvecoeur to Castorland: Translating the French-American Alliance in the Late Federalist Era"
John A. Gallucci
III. The New York Company
12
Let us consider some background. “Castorland” was the name given to a large tract of land along the Black River in northern New York. This land was purchased in 1793 by a French land company, La Compagnie de New York, which had been formed in France during the critical years 1792 and 1793. Involved in this business transaction were leading American and French speculators, such as William Constable; his partner, Alexander Macomb; and especially, James Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, the son of the Le Ray de Chaumont who, during the American Revolution, had provided a home in Paris for Benjamin Franklin. Gouverneur Morris, the American minister to France, was an associate of Constable, who encouraged this and other speculations.v
13
It so happens that Crèvecoeur was an investor in the New York Company and certainly involved in its affairs. His name is found in the list of stockholders. Out of forty-one investors, he is listed third. The legal owner of the land, Pierre Chassanis, holding 204 shares, is listed first; Le Ray de Chaumont, second, with 100 shares. Michel St. John de Crèvecoeur—that is how he is named in this list—held a more modest 10 shares of stock. The fact that he is listed third suggests that he played an important role in the New York Company, even though other investors held more stock than he did.vi
14
In 1793, the New York Company sent to America two agents, or “commissioners,” Pierre Pharoux and Simon Desjardins. Besides beginning the work of surveying, building cabins and roads, they were required by the Company’s by-laws to keep a journal of their work. The result is a daily chronology of their work and travels in America, a journal in the fullest sense of the word. The Journal provides some interesting biographical information then on Crèvecoeur and on his family. One of his sons for example visited the region and appears in the Journal. The Journal was first discovered in the mid-nineteenth century by the historian Franklin B. Hough and has been used sporadically since by historians.vii
I don't know much about these but seems every Baltimore show I shoot a few of them.