SEARS MARYLAND LOTTERIES RESEARCH COLLECTION

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 23, June 10, 2018, Article 15

Russ Sears was an E-Sylum regular for many years until his untimely passing in 2017. With his wife Mary Jane (an E-Sylumite herself), they dived headfirst into historical research on their hometown of Baltimore, MD, oftentimes uncovering important facts and information about numismatic and related items including tokens and medals.

Early American History Auctions is offering as a single lot in their June 23, 2018 sale the entire research collection behind their 2016 book on pre-Civil War Maryland lotteries. Here's the lot description and a few photos. What a great opportunity! -Editor

Comprehensive Historical Research Collection of Russ & Jane Sears of more than 30 years containing about 242 Items of highly focused dedicated effort to compile this important Archive many items of which were used for production and illustration of their 190 page profusely Illustrated Reference Book titled, “Pre-Civil War MARYLAND LOTTERIES”.

Though new discoveries for other Lotteries on Maryland possibly exist, we are certain that no other current collection exists having the tremendous organized depth of major types, sub-varieties, advertising, and related historical material for Maryland Lotteries than contained here in massive Russ & Jane Sears collection. This is the foundational collection of material contributing to, and many additionally illustrated within, the 190 page book titled: “Pre-Civil War MARYLAND LOTTERIES.” Sadly, longtime avid collector and author Russ Sears passed on May 18th, 2016. As a tribute to the work accomplished, the core material used to comprise that book if offered here intact. Please view the entire comprehensive listing of related documents, memorabilia, advertising pieces and broadsides of this lot. Also, please view online images of all 242 items, including a copy of Russ & Jane Sears reference book, “Pre-Civil War MARYLAND LOTTERIES.” (approx. 242 items).

Well known to Collectors from across America, and naturally in his home city of Baltimore, Russ was sometimes a guest speaker for his Baltimore Coin Club. He was always a “regular” attendee of the local Coin and Currency shows. When another Maryland collector consigned his collection years ago to auction, then considered the finest known, Russ and Jane embraced that opportunity to greatly expand and enhance the depth of their own collection. Those acquisitions projected their collection, now offered here, to be ranked as the finest, most complete on Maryland Lotteries currently known to exist!

In tribute to their decades of collecting efforts to compile this rare material, it is offered intact, together with a printed copy of their 190 page illustrated reference book “Pre-Civil War MARYLAND LOTTERIES”. We encourage every interested collector to order a copy for their own research library: ISBN - 13:978-1537540085. Russ noted that the book’s title came into being as various state laws were enacted by the legislature declaring public lotteries to be illegal in Maryland in 1859, just prior to the start of the Civil War. The acquisition of this highly important, valuable historical primary reference archive collection can not be achieved as it represents a lifetimes passion. Whether a private collector, representative of an institution or library, this offering is a truly presents a remarkable opportunity! Ex: Russ & Jane Sears Baltimore, Maryland Collection.

RUSS SEARS’ LAST THOUGHTS:
For almost forty years we have collected historical artifacts. Shortly after beginning what seems like a career of collecting, we decided that each artifact had a story. It was fun collecting and it was more fun learning about how the artifact was used, what was going on in history when it was used, who actually touched the artifact and any other information we could find. Our primary interest has been in Baltimore history. As time went on, we expanded the type of artifacts we collected and sometimes acquired more than one type of artifact from the same business or person. Although we began as token collectors, we soon moved into medals. Bill heads and letter heads were used by many businesses and sometimes matched those who used tokens. There was research to be done, but it took time and energy to do it. We seemed to be continually adding new items to our collections and our interest in Baltimore history expanded more and more.

Over the years we accumulated real treasures from history as we collected and research. In some cases we had already learned about a merchant or an industry and worked on adding artifacts from them to our collections. There is something special about an item which was owned or signed by Johns Hopkins, William Welch, Daniel Gilman, John Goucher, Henry Walters, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Frederick Douglass, Enoch Pratt, A. S. Abell and others whose names may not strike your memory like Lyttleton Frye Morgan (Morgan State University), George P. Kane (Police Marshal on April 19, 1861, later Mayor), George William Brown (Mayor on April 19, 1861), John L. Chapman (Mayor for most of the Civil War), Augustus Bradford (Baltimorean and Maryland Governor for most of the Civil War) and many more people who made history.

Since we have been interested in just about all phases of 1800's Baltimore history, we sometimes say that if your ancestor was in Baltimore in the 1800's, we have something from them, their neighborhood or the industry in which they worked. Several years ago, Frank J. Murphy mentioned that his family had a department store on Baltimore Street. That sounded familiar and when we went home, we pulled about a dozen 1880's items from his family's store out of our collection to show him.

Over the years we have presented historical talks to over fifteen local and national/international organizations. Items from our collections have been exhibited at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, The Carroll Museums, Clifton Mansion, Baltimore County libraries and The Fire Museum of Maryland. Our research and articles have won numerous awards, primarily from the Maryland Token and Medal Society. We enjoy history, collecting and sharing.

Over the last several years, we have written and published books on Pre-Civil War Baltimore Lotteries, Baltimore Packing & Canning Industry, Lucky Bucks & Other Comic Play Money from Depression Era Newspaper 1932-43 and Pre-Civil War Maryland Lotteries.

This Cataloguer’s note... There has been no such comprehensive and organized listing of specialized Baltimore, Maryland Lotteries are related materials, or regarding early American Lotteries in general, since dealer Paul C. Richards prepared his extensive price listing of 284 different major issuers and varieties titled, “ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN LOTTERY TICKETS - 1744 to 1844 - A CATALOGUE” which was produced in the 1970s. The collector passion of Russ Sears is well presented, together with his wife Jane, in his 190 page illustrated reference book titled “Pre-Civil War MARYLAND LOTTERIES”. Though difficult to estimate given its size and scope, it was thought best to keep this core collection of 30 years intact, being such a monumental achievement. It is literally irreplaceable, and likely could never be reconstructed again. Please view this comprehensive lot listing and all images Online at: www.EarlyAmerican.com. (242 items).

Here's a selection of lottery tickets. These ultrarare items were often printed by the same firms which printed contemporary paper money and scrip. -Editor