BOOK REVIEW: FORGED IN PHILADELPHIA

While searching eBay a couple weeks ago to find a listing of the Eckfeldt Family Archives that was widely publicized as being offered there for sale, I stumbled onto several other listings for a book titled Forged in Philadelphia by Rebecca Eckfeldt Gibby. Having missed the earlier announcement of this book in The E-Sylum back in March, I was completely surprised and almost immediately ordered a copy of the hardcover edition.

There was nothing within the description that would reveal the real nature of this book, but the fact that the author was an Eckfeldt herself made me believe that there may be some previously unseen documents, memorabilia or facts of interest. Upon actually receiving the book I was pretty disappointed to discover that it's actually a work of fiction loosely based on real characters. The inside of the dust jacket clearly describes the book as "Juvenile Fiction," and this should have been included in the eBay entry. The author is an educator of young children, and this is her first novel.

Using the real persons Jacob Eckfeldt, his son Adam, their family slave Christian and Martha Washington's maid Ona Judge, Gibby pieces together a story in which the U. S. Mint is simply a backdrop. There's nothing here for the numismatist, though the book might make a nice gift for a young person who has already shown some interest in the period or in early federal coinage. The text utilizes imagined dialogue and is written for an age group that I would estimate at 9-13 or so.

The sole illustration is a black-and-white reproduction of the familiar 1914 painting by John Ward Dunsmore titled "Inspecting the First Coinage." The author relates that the story of Martha Washington donating a silver tea service to make the first USA coins was told to her as a child, it having been handed down through the family. She then states that "Research led me to confirm the story of the production of '1500 half dismes' in 1793 [sic] and Adam's part in that historic act." Though not specifically saying so, she implies that the source of the silver has thus been confirmed, a point which most students of our early federal coinage will dispute.

The author provides a brief glossary of names, publications and institutions that is generally more informative than the narrative text, and this is a nice touch.

The book has a list price of $28.99, but I paid $18.18 (a Randall Hoard price?) plus $3.99 for shipping. This was the best price I could find on the hardcover, which comes with an attractive dust jacket, but a less expensive softcover edition is also available.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: FORGED IN PHILADELPHIA (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n12a06.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web