The E-Sylum:  Volume 4, Number 44, October 28, 2001, Article 6

THREE FINDS FROM CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA    

  Howard A. Daniel III writes: "While recently in Charlottesville,   
  Virginia, to pick up some postal orders at a stamp show and   
  to see some friends, I found the Heartwood Used & Rare   
  Books store.   I found one booklet about the Tamil people   
  of India to give a friend, and three United States publications   
  with numismatic information in them.    

  The first has the outside title of "Acts passed at the First   
  Session of the Sixth Congress of the United States".  The   
  first page has the Congress in Philadelphia and meeting on   
  December 2, 1799.  John Adams was the president and   
  Thomas Jefferson was the vice president.  It was very exciting   
  for me to find this document!    

  It probably describes a couple of hundred acts.  One is to   
  give the privilege of franking letters and packages to Martha   
  Washington.  Another act was to establish a general stamp   
  office and three acts later is one reflecting the mint.  A later   
  act enables the President to borrow money for the public   
  service, and the last one is supplementary to the act   
  establishing the mint, and regulating the coins of the United   
  States.  It must have been a very exciting time to establish   
  the United States and all of its functions!    

  The document is complete but the paper covers and many   
  of the pages are loose.  Some of the pages appear to have   
  also been chewed into by various insects.  It is a very   
  interesting piece of history.    

  The second is from the House of Representatives (Treasury   
  Department)  Document Number 65 of the 2nd Session of   
  the 24th Congress dated January 4, 1837 and is about   
  "Statements showing the condition of certain State banks,   
  etc., etc., rendered in compliance with a resolution of the   
  House of  Representatives of 10th Jul, 1832.  The title of   
  the contents is  "Statements showing the Capital, Circulation,   
  Discounts, Specie, etc., of the different State Banks and   
  Banking Companies in the United States".  There are 216   
  pages in the document.  It has no cover but the pages and   
  charts are in excellent condition for its age.  None of the   
  pages have been cut for it to open like a book, so it is in   
  as-issued condition.  It starts with Maine and each of its   
  counties and cities, then down the East Coast of the   
  United States and into the Southern States, and up into   
  the Midwest and to Ohio.  The information about each   
  bank is very detailed and includes currency and other   
  financial instruments.    

  The third is again from the House of Representatives and   
  it is Executive Document 68 of the 1st Session of the 31st   
  Congress dated May 16, 1850, and that 10,000 copies   
  were printed on June 14, 1850.  The title is the "Letter   
  from the Secretary of the Treasury relative to The condition   
  of the banks in the United States".  This is very much like   
  the above second document but more states and more   
  details. There are 428 pages in the document.   It has a hard   
  cover but the front cover is loose and the binding is very   
  loose.  The pages are in excellent condition, and except for   
  the edges are generally all white.  Twenty-seven states and   
  the District of Columbia are included and there are many   
  different types of financial instruments described that are   
  associated with each bank.    

  I am sure there are other documents similar to the above   
  still in the Heartwood Used & Rare Books store, but I did   
  not have time to look at every shelf.  I will be back there in   
  a few months and will look again, but if you are interested   
  in documents like the above and near Charlottesville,   
  Virginia, please stop at the store and see what you can find."    

  If you are interested these documents, please contact me   
  at my email address of   Howard@SEAsianTreasury.com   

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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