NEWMAN PORTAL DIGITIZES FREEMAN CORRESPONDENCE

Harley Freeman, one of the foremost 20th century collectors of colonial currency, maintained an active correspondence with Eric Newman from 1943 to 1973. Newman initiated the relationship by correspondence on February 22, 1943, seeking to exchange duplicate notes, and Freeman returned an extensive response only five days later. Freeman summed up the collecting landscape of the day – he had purchased all the major collections, noting this “leaves me without competition, but it also causes the dealers to forget the series because there are so few who collect the notes….”

For this reason, Freeman offered that “I welcome each newcomer with open arms.” Freeman liked having the best collection, but clearly enjoyed the camaraderie as well. The two began actively trading, and Freeman represented Newman at auctions. Personal anecdotes are sprinkled throughout, and Eric’s tale of misplacing his Connecticut cents in a bathroom linen closet (November 22, 1950) is not to be missed.

In Newman’s March 5, 1962 letter, he raises the topic of purchasing the Freeman collection and writing the definitive work on early American paper money. The transaction was completed in 1963 with payment extending into 1964. As for the standard work on paper money, Freeman explained it in his letter of December 7, 1959. Freeman himself wanted to write the book and described a visit to the Philadelphia dealer Henry Chapman, who had an important collection of colonial currency.

It seems Chapman was also a would-be author and permitted Freeman to only examine the currency on the condition he not take notes. “I was so damn mad that I was tempted to walk out but I did examine his collection” Freeman wrote. Newman, of course, went on to author multiple editions of Early Paper Money of America and acknowledged to Freeman on February 28, 1967 the foundational nature of Freeman’s inventory.

Link to Harley Freeman correspondence on NNP:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/514688

Link to Harley Freeman inventory on NNP:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/514233?Year=1967&displayAmt=50

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