ARCHIBALD "ARCHIE" L. DOHERTY, (1864-1930)

Archibald "Archie" L. Doherty, (1864-1930), was born on August 18, 1864, at Ottawa City, Ontario, Canada, son of George R. Doherty, a cabinet maker, and Lydia McPhee Doherty. In 1887 he married Elizabeth (1868-1936), also a Canadian of Irish parents at Canada. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in January 1893.

He originally began coin and stamp dealing as Archie L. Doherty & Co., Coin and Stamp Dealers in February of 1893 and became ANA Member No. 755 listed in the February, 1893 issue of The Numismatist. He began dealing with the Chapman Brothers beginning in March.

His publications contain the claim "Established 1873" which seems preposterous having a coin and stamp business at age 8 and a half or nine operating in Canada. What we shall find interesting is the same claim "Established 1873" and business name United States Coin and Stamp Exchange owned and operated by William O. Staab of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a business name adopted by Doherty in 1894. It seems reasonable that the two men formed a partnership which has heretofore gone undetected. This notion becomes more tenable since no infringement lawsuits ever seem to have been filed by Staab.

Doherty also attended the 1893 ANA Convention.

Doherty's business address in the Masonic Temple designed by the architect John Root had the added advantage of being so tall it introduced the word skyscraper. The engraving of that building by J. Manz & Company became an icon he borrowed to decorate his business stationery in his second year of business. In M. H. Bolender's preface to the June 11, 1932 sale of the Archie L. Doherty estate he relates that Doherty was prominent in Masonic work at the time his firm was located in the Masonic Temple.

Remy Bourne, Fixed Price Lists & Prices Paid for Lists of United States Coin Dealers 1850-1900, Volume 1, Addendum, pages 111-118 lists the 8-page 1893 Price List of Bargains in Coins and Stamps For Sale by The United States Coin and Stamp Exchange; and the 1894-5 Edition, 36 page, Coin Collectors' Manual and Premium Coin Catalogue.

In September 1905 he was elected a member of the Chicago Numismatic Society. The 1910 Census lists him as a Dealer in Coins and Stamps, with his residence in an apartment building at 550 Surf Street.

In 1911, he became a naturalized citizen.

He was present at the October 3, 1913, meeting of the Chicago Numismatic Society cited in the November issue of The Numismatist. Apparently, Doherty retired from the trade as the comment in the Bolender catalogues suggests.

Original New York Times story published July 10, 1899 and reprinted in Dickerman's United States Treasury Counterfeit Detector, Vol. 16, No. 8, August (1899) : 5

The 1920 Census reports him living at 5555 Winthrop Avenue.

The 1930 Census reports him living at the Hollywood Kenmore Hotel, Chicago.

He died on June 28, 1930 and is buried at Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth.

According to M. H. Bolender, Doherty's collection was sold posthumously in a series of seven auctions (see Bolender's 150th sale February 15, 1943, page 4): the first of 1,889 lots sold on June 11, 1932, notable for his collection of 170 Large Cents, Colonials and nearly 400 lots of Washingtoniana.

To read the complete article, see:
DOHERTY, ARCHIBALD L (https://sites.google.com/a/numismaticmall.com/www/numismaticmall-com/doherty-archie-l)

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