NEWMAN PORTAL ADDS MINT CABINET ACCESSION BOOK, 1856-1903

The Mint Cabinet Accession book, rediscovered within the library stacks of the Smithsonian earlier this year, is now available online in the Newman Numismatic Portal collection on Internet Archive. John Dannreuther, to the amazement of all, exhibited a photocopy of this document during the 2015 Chicago ANA, and the Smithsonian, via Collections Assistant Jennifer Gloede, has now furnished a digital copy to the Newman Portal.

The first portion of the book summarizes the annual expenditures, and this is followed by the more interesting detail of what was added to the collection each year. This list is not comprehensive, but important individual pieces appear, with scattered “group lots” in between. The Mint Cabinet acquired U.S. coins from the year of issue on an annual basis, and one also notices a strong interest in U.S. territorial gold and pattern pieces. Foreign and ancient pieces were not ignored, indeed, the first coin listed for 1858 is a “silver pound Sterling of Charles I,” acquired for $35.

Many more tidbits are waiting to be found, and a careful reading of the buying habits over time may reveal changes in the administration of the Mint Cabinet. Note, not all objects recorded in this book are today present in the National Numismatic Collection. The Mint Cabinet was transferred to the Smithsonian around 1923, but an inventory listing precisely what was transferred is unknown.

To Mint Cabinet Accession book on Internet Archive:
Mint Accounts Book 1856 1903 (https://archive.org/details/MintAccountsBook18561903)

To read about Rediscovery of the Mint Cabinet Accession book in 2015, see:
WAYNE’S NUMISMATIC DIARY: AUGUST 16, 2015 : John Dannreuther (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n33a15.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web