BOOK REVIEW: THE GOLD INDIANS OF BELA LYON PRATT

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 32, August 7, 2016, Article 9

On August 4, 2016 Charles Morgan of CoinWeek published a review of Allan Schein's new book on Pratt's gold Indian coinage. Here's an excerpt. Be sure to read the complete review online. -Editor

Upon release, the two incuse coins were reviled by collectors. Bela Lyon Pratt’s Indian chief was called emaciated. The reverse – borrowed from Saint-Gaudens’ $10 design – was ridiculed. For years, the coins languished under this prejudice.

But time, and the perspective it allows, has a way of reframing the narrative and it is this author’s opinion that the $2.50 and $5.00 Indian designs are an elevation of American coin art, not a diminishment of it.

Enter author Allan Schein’s new book, The Gold Indians of Bela Lyon Pratt (2016). Schein shares my love for the design and offers an imminently readable history and collector overview of the series. In depth and feel, the volume shows significant growth on the part of the author. While his Un Caballito Peso (2014) broke new ground in terms of an English-language treatment of the popular Mexican coin, virtually every U.S. coin series has seen at least one or two standard reference treatments.

Before this work, collectors had Garrett and Guth, Fuljenz and Winter, and of course the seminal 1970s treatment by Akers for history and date-by-date analysis.

None of these works cover the breadth or depth of the ground covered here. And oh, what ground it is.

“This biography of Pratt,” Schein writes, “is probably the most extensive ever published, yet it includes only a small portion of the materials that were available to me while researching his life.”

What is included is insightful, in that it reveals to those readers who more familiar with Pratt’s numismatic work that he was also a great talent in the classical style. Schein includes many examples of the young artist’s work, such as his earliest collaborations with Augustus Saint-Gaudens and student work from his time at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Pratt’s Library of Congress medallions are majestic, as was his “Winged Victory” gun turret ornament that adorned the 13” forward guns of USS Massachusetts.

But the book’s big reveal comes from Schein’s original research into Pratt’s personal letters and effects.

For instance, the back-and-forth between Pratt and Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, a renowned collector of Japanese Art and a close friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, show the latter’s influence in giving Pratt his big national commission. Bigelow was such a champion of Pratt’s work that his name was, for a time, attached to the coins, which were called the Bigelow-Pratt coins.

Schein’s turn through the Pratt archives provided a number of insights into the design process of the coins. They also revealed much about Pratt, a modest man, whose modest success limited to the financial gains from his art and the quality of his work.

Revealed, too, are the Indian gold coin galvanos, master hubs and dies, along with photographs of Sioux Indian Chief Hollow Horn Bear, the model for Pratt’s design.

The Gold Indians of Bela Lyon Pratt
By Allan Schein
416 PP. Self Published. Color, Softcover. $39.95 MSRP (A hardback edition is forthcoming).

I'm glad to hear a hardbound version is in the works. This book's a keeper for every American numismatic library. I was impressed with the new material Allan has discovered, and as Charles notes, his enthrusiasm for his topic "Scheins" through.

I've always taken a shine to these coins myself. The unusual incuse design makes them a standout in the U.S. series. It's easy to see why they were criticized in the beginning - they were so different than any coin before them that people didn't quite know what to make of them. But I concur with Allan and Charles - these are wonderful designs.

I excerpted the parts of the review concerning Pratt and his life and art, since these are the aspects most students of numismatic history are concerned about. But the book's extensive year-by-year discussions of mintage, rarity, grades and prices will be the meat for most collectors and investors.

So there's something for everyone here, and I concur with Charles' "Highly Recommended" rating. As noted last week, Allan will have books for sale at the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money in Anaheim, and anyone interested can visit him at the Central States Numismatic Society table. After the 15th it will be available on eBay, and through Wizard Coin Supply.

-Editor