When did the first coin shop open in the U.S.?
DancingFire
Posts: 311 ✭✭✭
maybe like in the late 1800's?
1
DancingFire
Posts: 311 ✭✭✭
Comments
We buyum wampum.
Pay heap highest price!
The day after the first samples of the 1792 half-dimse was presented to members of Congress.
Interesting question.... I have no idea when... or if anyone can answer that question... I would think, in colonial times, money was treated much like money and not a hobby.... So, likely sometime in the 1800's, as wealth increased, an interest in coins grew among the more affluent. That is pure guesswork on my part. Cheers, RickO
The major early centers of numismatic collecting in the U.S. were Philadelphia and New York City. The early dealers started working out of their residences (e.g., John Allan, Augustus Sage) in New York City. John Curtis is known to have had a coin shop. He was active in New York City before the Civil War. Edward Cogan and William Idler had shops in Philadelphia, beginning in the late 1850's. These early dealers typically issued auction catalogs and some commissioned tokens, all of which are now considered collector's items.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Some of the early ones were money changers and bullion dealers and I guess you could argue if those should be included, others had counters in other types of stores.
"Ye Old Coin Shop" Would that be considered the first U.S. Mint in Philadelphia?
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Another question: Who was the first dealer to offer "top dollar" for your rare coins?
It was on a Monday
Steve
I would assume that the earliest "coin shops" were small corners of existing businesses, such as jewelers or monetary exchange shops, where the proprietor happened to dabble in coins. There would not have been enough business to merit a free-standing "coin shop."
At 10 A.M.
Coins were a common part of the inventory of antique and curio shops in the 18th and 19th centuries. emphasis was on ancient coins and medals, but sales were mostly driven by other antiquities. In the US by mid-19th century, books became a popular mix along with medals, painted miniatures and other items. Coins were only part of the collections of most numismatists of the 19th century. The famed ANS was originally an Antiquarian Society.
shop inventories paralleled the contents of private museums and philosophical society collections.
I wonder if back in the day, there was debate about coin/curio shops that handled "modern crap" versus "classic" coins.
Think about it.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Heck no. The modern crap had not been struck yet.
Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
Findley Ridge Collection
About Findley Ridge
IIRC it was next door to that hot dog stand......
In those days, "modern crap" probably included restruck coins and tokens from previously used dies. These included coins made at the Philadelphia Mint which included Gobrecht Dollars and for the more affluent collector, 1804 Dollars. Of course there was a lot confusion over that because the mint officials were swearing, almost on a stack of Bibles, that those 1804 Dollars were genuine and had been made in 1804 despite the fact that the news ones (Type II) had been struck "yesterday."
So far as presidential campaign medalets were concerned, many of the pieces from the 1848, 1852 and 1856 campaigns were being made again. The new ones were frequently made with "gussied up" dies that had been "Proofed" (shined up) and struck on thicker planchets than the original pieces. They also didn't have a hole, which would have used to wear the original pieces during the campaigns.
Here is an example of an original piece and a restrike circa 1860 for Winfield Scott who was the last Whig candidate for president. He ran in 1852.
Original
Restrike
Another class of "modern crap" were the off-metal Civil War tokens. These pieces, which were usually issued in copper, brass and sometimes white metal, were made of nickel or German silver, copper-nickel and more rarely silver. Frequently the silver pieces were struck over a dime. They were never struck in gold although there are some modern day frabrications floating around from time to time. I've seen a few "gold" Civil War tokens, and it was not hard to tell that they were no struck from the original dies, but copy dies.
Today there are collectors who love these off-metal pieces because they are all quite rare, but they have no real basis as historical tokens that were ever intended to be used in commerce. As such they don't mean much to me.
@thebeav....The one next to the hot dog stand was in New York.... In Philadelphia, it was next to the Philly Cheese Steak stand.....
.....Both had a sign 'No food allowed in store'....Cheers, RickO
I'm aware that George Bauer established a coin store in 1886 in Rochester, N.Y. His early focus was on Ancient Roman and Chinese coinage. Certainly not one of the earliest in the U.S. As stated here previously, most likely in Philadelphia or New York City, circa late 1850's.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
Wonder who the first person thrown out of a shop was, for trying to cut in on a deal the shop owner was making with a customer.