The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 4, January 26, 2003, Article 8

1852 MICKLEY DIARY ENTRIES PUBLISHED

  Readers may recall last year's April Fools item in the
  March 31, 2002 E-Sylum (v5n14) titled "MICKLEY
  MYSTERY".    The item implied that diaries of the
  great American collector Joseph Mickley had been
  found.  For years, only one volume of Mickley's diaries
  was known - the 1866-69 volume found by George Kolbe
  and sold to Armand Champa.  Your editor spent a wonderful
  afternoon during a visit to Louisville reading through the
  diary (and other great numismatic rarities) in Armand's
  library.   It now resides in the ANS Library, courtesy of
  Harry Bass.   One of the great mysteries of American
  numismatic literature is the fate of the remaining volumes
  of Mickley's diaries.

  NBS Board member Joel J. Orosz  got the joke.  His
  article on Jacob Giles Morris in The Numismatist had
  contained what was for me a real bombshell -  Joel had
  managed to locate another volume of Mickley's diaries!
  No joke!   Joel shared the story of his discovery of the
  volume in the April 28, 2002 E-Sylum (v5n18).

  While the rest of us were having fun at the 2000 Philadelphia
  ANA Convention, Joel slipped away to the manuscript
  repository of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where
  he discovered the 1852 volume.  Now that's MY kind
  of fun.

  The latest issue of the American Numismatic Society's
  American Journal of Numismatics [Second Series 13
  (2001)], just published, contains Joel's newest article titled
  "Joseph J. Mickley's Diary for 1852: An Annotated
  Transcription."    From Joel's preface:

  "William Du Bois's observation that Mickley had kept a
  journal "nearly all his life" suggests that there was once an
  unbroken string of such volumes, stretching backward from
  his death in 1878 to the 1830's or even the 1820's.  Because
  our knowledge of numismatic history in the United States
  prior to the widespread popularization of the hobby in the
  late 1850s is sketchy at best, the Mickley diaries from the
  early years would comprise the numismatic analogue of the
  Dead Sea scrolls.  The first-hand testimony to be found within
  could settle many arguments and illuminate dark corners.  The
  only problem is that, even with the discovery of the 1852
  diary, the vast majority of Mickley's volumes are still "missing
  masterpieces".

  It seems probable that other volumes of the Mickley diaries
  may still exist, if for no other reason than that a systematic
  search has never been mounted for them."

  Here's one excerpt from the diary:
  "Friday, May 28, 1852 Went to see Mr. Peale at the Mint
  who gave me two Proof Half Dollars of the year 1838, on
  the obverse is a beautiful Head by the late C. Gobrecht
  (then Dyesinker [sic] of the Mint) on [the] Reverse on [sic]
  has a Flying Eagle & the other an eagle without the Shield."

  Joel's annotations make the article a delight for numismatic
  bibliophiles and researchers.   Thanks, Joel!

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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