JACOB "JACQUES" SCHULMAN (1849-1914)

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 17, April 29, 2018, Article 20

John Lupia submitted the following information from the online draft of his book of numismatic biographies for this week's installment of his series. Thanks! As always, this is an excerpt with the full article and bibliography available online. This week's subject is Jacques Schulman and his family dynasty. -Editor

Jacob "Jacques" Schulman (1849-1914), was born at Hilversum, Province of North Holland, The Netherlands, of an affluent Jewish family, the son of David Israël Schulman (1823-), an antiquarian, jeweler, and master clockmaker, and Grietje Spier (1821-).

Jacob "Jacques" Schulman followed in his father's footsteps learning the family business. However, he and his sons as well as their heirs are internationally renown coin dealers.

By the 1870's he aspired to become a professional numismatist. Soon he became an expert in Oriental, Portuguese, Brazilian and South American numismatics.

In November 1880, Jacques established the family business on the corner of the shopping district on Langestraat, Amersfoort, Province of Utrecht, 27 kilometers southeast of Hilversum. His first publication was his fixed price list published in French, subsequently publishing fixed price lists of coins, and auction catalogs for over 60 years.

Jacques Schulman created what he called a novelty in his 1880 publication putting the text into French allowing a broader market for clientele. The Netherlands is the one of the first European countries to establish coin dealing since the sixteenth century with dealers like Abraham van Goorle of Delft (1549-1608), and at Leiden the earliest known coin auction catalogue published in 1599. With three centuries of coin dealing in the Netherlands trading in Dutch and Latin, we find Jacques Schulman publishing in French, the diplomatic language.

He is ANA member No. 653, and later given No. 1749. He was also a member of the British Numismatic Society, Koninklijk Nederlands Genootschap voor Munt- en Penningkunde, La Société Royale de Numismatique de Belgique and also the Société Suisse de Numismatique.

From the start Jacques Schulman kept meticulous records of every coin and medal in his inventory, sales, and auctions. These were index cards that formed a database in the exact same way libraries kept their catalogue card index for books, and other printed materials. The 400,000 cards were donated to the ANS library in 1987.

Jacques Schulman's catalogues are important in numismatic history and in the history of numismatic literature containing a wealth of information.

After his death in 1914, Jacques' sons Max and Andreas and grandson Jacques II continued the family business at Keizersgracht 448, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, remaining one of the most important coin houses of Europe.

To read the complete article, see:
SCHULMAN, JACQUES (https://sites.google.com/a/numismaticmall.com/www/numismaticmall-com/schulman-jacques)

The entire inventory of the Lupia Numismatic Library is for sale. Individual items will be available before the remaining archives are broken up into parcels sold at philatelic auctions in the U. S. and Hong Kong. Check NumismaticMall.com frequently as dozens of new items with estimates will be posted daily until everything is sold.

All inquiries will be given prompt and courteous attention. Write to: john@numismaticmall.com .